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Welcome to the Aston Workshop news section. This section will update regularly, enabling you to keep up to date of changes and new information relating to the Aston Workshop and the Aston Martin Marque.
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The Aston Workshop in Beamish is gearing up for the opening of its state-of-the-art Paint and Body Centre in a £500,000 extension.
The 20,000 square feet facility has the latest technology and equipment to restore and repair any Aston Martin to the highest standard and the company is forecasting an increase of 20% in sales over the next 12 months. The expansion has also created seven new jobs for experienced welders, spray painters, panel beaters and fabricators bringing the total workforce to 24 Aston Martin specialists.
Aston Workshop, which also specialises in sourcing and sales of Aston Martins and reconditioned and new parts, was founded in 1988 by enthusiast Bob Fountain to lovingly restore and repair the classic car using traditional methods and time-honoured techniques with the utmost care and attention to detail. The business has grown steadily through word of mouth and the workshop now spans 35,000 square feet. It also has one of the largest show rooms of new and used Aston Martins in the North East of England with around 60 models on display.
More than 50% of the company’s sales come from overseas with a large proportion coming from the USA, Europe and Asia where the Workshop arranges for cars to be transported to the North East for some tender loving care. Its website www.aston.co.uk is believed to be the second most visited site after Aston Martin’s own and attracted 250,000 unique visitors last year.
Aston Workshop has received awards in the USA Switzerland, Hong Kong and Netherland including Antwerp classic Salon 2002, Concours D’Elegance Categorie 3 1951-1975,
Benson & Hedges, Concours Class Winner B, 23rd July 1989, Callendar Park and
Benson & Hedges, Concours Class Winner E, 24th July 1988, Callendar Park
Numerous other titles have also been won by clients privately entering vehicles fully restored by Aston Workshop.
The addition of the Paint and Body Centre means that the Aston Workshop now has greater capacity to undertake any job from a simple health check and service to a part or full restoration for all models from pre-war to DB7 Vantage. The Centre has room for 18 working bays and is one of the best equipped, purpose built facilities in the UK.
Among the equipment installed is the Globaljig, the only body repair jig (equipment that straightens and realigns cars) capable of repairing any crash damaged Aston Martin to the standards required. This enables the company to work with newer models as well as the older classics. Aston Workshop’s new digital paint matching and mixing system also allows the Paint Centre to achieve a superior finish using the latest paint techniques to ensure optimum restoration of cars.
The Centre has two Category A preparation booths which allow staff to work on both chassis and body at the same time preventing cross contamination of materials used.
After all bodywork is complete their classic and modern Aston Martins are prepared and painted by highly skilled paint sprayers in the latest Junair Spraybooth equipped with centre floor mounted lift and quad drying system.
The Centre is a much needed addition to the existing workshop which includes the engine, machine shop, mechanical, building and trim rooms as well as parts and servicing.
Bob Fountain, the owner of The Aston Martin Workshop said: “The new Paint and Body Centre has been built out of necessity to meet the growing and exacting demands of our customers and will enable us to further expand sales world-wide. We now have the capacity, skills and knowledge to accommodate these needs whether it’s rectifying minor blemishes or resprays to a complete restoration of a ‘barn-found’ classic. Our fully functioning body shop can provide a full range of facilities from painting to jig work to full crash repair.
“It’s our quest to meet the exacting standards of the international market place and to provide the very best facilities to keep the Aston Martin legend alive and ensure that all our cars are as good – if not better – today then the day they left the factory.”
In the near future the company is also planning to update their website to full ecommerce for new and used Aston Martin parts which dealers and customers can benefit from as well as an improved online gift and merchandise shop within the Workshop.
Bob, who is an Aston Martin enthusiast is also gearing up to take part in the challenging Peking to Paris Endurance Race which initially took place in 1907 and was won by Prince Borghese of Italy. The race, which takes place on 27th May, is the only trans-continental competition which covers the greatest distance between two capital cities and will involve a ten day stretch with no fuel or water crossing Mongolia. Bob will complete the race in a specially restored 1934 Aston Martin Lagonda. The car is being restored and prepared substantially to its original specification..
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