It’s been an exciting few days for the Aston Martin Bulldog as the car won ‘Restoration of the year’ at the Royal Automobile Club, Classic Motor Cars Ltd (CMC) who have restored the car in 18 months, also won specialist of the year at the Octane Historic Motoring Awards and then on Saturday November 27th the Bulldog hit 162mph as the car performed its first shakedown.

Richard Gauntlett, who represents the owner of the car Phillip Sarofim, and who sent the car to CMC for the restoration was elated: “Seeing the car run like this for the first time in forty years is a dream come true. I grew up with the car, I had a poster of it on my bedroom wall. I cannot thank the team at CMC enough for the hard work that they have put into this Project.”

The first shakedown was not about going straight out and breaking records, but to check everything over on the car and gather useful data. The blustery conditions were also not ideal. An initial 162mph is a remarkable effort and reports from CMC managing director Nigel Woodward suggest the car is more than capable of hitting its target. With the car getting to over 160mph in just ¾ of a mile with a 50 mph crosswind and all while running reduced boost and partial throttle.

Richard added: “The car will be tested again either this year or at the beginning of next at the Royal Naval Air Station before we go for the 200-mph record that it never did in 1980. The location of that attempt is still being discussed." There’s clearly a lot more to come and we can’t wait to be there for that special day.