whensalesof the hugelycostlyVirage werea
worryinglysluggish40 cars per year. The DB7
becamethe highest-volumeproductionAston
Martinever, with morethan 7000built.”
“It was a difficultjob for me,” he reveals.“I’d
neverdonea wholecar before.Importantly,
whileIwasatFordIwassurroundedbyateamof
designersand managers;at TWR,Iwasworking
onmyown.Itwasthemostpressurisedsituation
I’d ever experienced.In the early days, I’d some-
timesgo homefeelinga little depressed.There
was nowhere to hi de, but I ha d a good friend in
clay modeller Andrew Miles. It was he who
helpedme a lot throughthosestressfuldays.”
As we walkaroundthe DB7, I ask Callum
whichcars influencedhim: “Certainlythe origi-
nalDB4Superleggera,aswellastheZagato–and,
believeit or not, the Nissan300ZX.I foundthe
proportionsof that car quiteinspiring.”
Helookscarefullyatthefrontaltreatmentand
the stance:“Fromthe outset,therewerehuge
challenges.Thankfully, To m trustedme, I do
have a pragmaticheadon my shoulders.I was
fortunatethat, in To m, I had a boss who wanted
the car to look the way it did. We mademajor
changesto the frontand rear overhangsof the
XJ-S.Also,the frontcowl was new. It was, after
all,goingtobesmallerthantheprototypeXJ41.”
“I’m quitehappywith the graduallysloping
rear,”he assertsaswemovearoundthecar.“The
aerodynamicsweren’ttoogreatbecausethetran-
som was too low, but we did improveit whenwe
createdthe moreaggressiveVantagein 1999.”
“Theoriginalcar was a V12,”he explains,
“whichhad a lowerengineline. Then,for cost
reasons,we wentto a superchargedinline-six.
The top of the enginecamevery closeto the
underside of the
bonnet,so I tookall
of the drawingsand
workedout the shape
of the bonnetfor it to
comfortablyclearthe
top of the powerunit.
“I calledTo m over
and askedfor his opin-
ion. He said,‘I don’t
like it,’and I replied,
‘Neitherdo I.’ So, off
he thenmarchedtothe
chassisengineering
guysandsaid,‘Droptheengineby25mm.’With
a small,autocraticoutfitsuch as TWRyou can
dothatsortofthing.Withinafewweeks,thejob
was completedwith a redesignedsubframe.”
“Thesafetyregulationsthat were comingout
of the Statesduringthe early 1990sdidn’t really
affectthiscar,”he continues,“althoughatTWR
wedidhaveacleverbunchofengineerswhotook
the shapeand madeit workwithinthe confines
of the US impactconstraints.For example,we
had enoughrigidityin the roof structureto pass
therollovertestsofthetime.However,therewas
alot of discussionaboutthe strengthin the front
ofthebodyenvelope.Intheevent,theengineer-
ing guyswereable to producea shapethat
withstoodall the impactassessments.”
“It’s very busy, isn’t it?” he musesas he climbs
insideto assessthe interior. “We raidedmany
manufacturers’parts bins to makethis car...”
The programmeprogressedquicklyonce the
initialtask of developingthe shapewas finished:
“By way of comparisonwe broughtin a DB5,
which stayed around the workshops for someDecember 2015 Classic&SportsCar 157Clockwise:mulletsa-go-go
withdesignteamthathad
readiedthecarforlaunch;
Bloxham,wheretheXJ220
hadalsobeenbuilt; Geneva
debut,’93;fullyengineered
prototypes– sunroofof
earlycarswasdroppedas
a standarditem;Callum
pointsouttoTaylorthat
‘six’wasloweredrather
thanalteringbonnetline