Revived Aston Martin Bulldog supercar set to return to its owner in America after an extensive restoration and impressive top-speed feats
After 7000 hours of restoration, reaching its 200mph speed goal, and 1664 days at Classic Motor Cars (CMC) in Bridgnorth, the Aston Martin Bulldog is returning to its owner in the United States. The legendary British car is on its way to Pebble Beach Concours in California, where it will be judged in the wedge-shaped concept car and prototype class.
Tim Griffin, the Managing Director of CMC, said: “We are proud and privileged to have restored Bulldog and it is a testament to the team in Bridgnorth that this was acknowledged with three major awards: RAC Restoration of the year, the Coppa d’Oro award at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Ville D’ Este and The Victor Gauntlett Trophy which was awarded to the team by the Aston Martin Owners Club.” The Bulldog was produced in 1979 by Aston Martin and styled by William Towns. In period, the Bulldog failed to reach the 200mph goal set for it, and was sold off by Aston Martin.
Styled by William Towns, the Bulldog was a one-off concept car created by Aston Martin in the late 1970s to showcase the capabilities of its then-new engineering facility. The car’s current owner sent it to Shropshire specialist CMC for a full restoration, with a plan to then run the car at over 200mph and take it on a world tour. Following its 18-month nut-and-bolt restoration, the restored Aston Martin Bulldog was publicly unveiled by two Royal Naval Apprentices at the Concours of Elegance event at Hampton Court Palace on September 3, 2021.
In period, Aston Martin believed that the car was capable of well in excess of 200mph thanks to its low drag coefficient and twin-turbo 5.3-litre V8 producing over 600bhp. However, the project was deemed too expensive when Victor Gauntlet became chairman of Aston Martin in 1981. The Bulldog was close to its target having reached 192mph at Millbrook – which was still enough to confirm its position as the fastest road car of all time for over six years.
The car has since been restored by an 11-strong team led by Richard Gauntlett, son of Victor Gauntlett who was Managing Director at Aston Martin when the Bulldog was curtailed. During the intervening 40 years it was purchased by an owner in the Middle East and was sighted in various global locations before being bought by Phillip Sarofim in the US, who entrusted its rebuild to CMC.
The restoration hit a small snag when CMC had to take a break due to the covid-19 pandemic in 2020; according to CMC managing director Nigel Woodward, this hiatus allowed the team more time to do research on the Bulldog. Speaking in 2020, Woodward said that “the initial publicity received from when we announced the restoration has resulted in people sending us a number of historical pictures we had not seen before.” The completed car remains faithful to the original design, but has been future-proofed with new engine management systems and liquid-cooled turbochargers.
The Aston Martin Bulldog reached 162mph in November 2021 at the Yeovilton Navy base in Somerset at its first shake down session, before reaching 205.4mph in Campbeltown, Scotland in June 2023 in the hands of Aston Martin works driver, Darren Turner.
