In its centenary year, British Airways is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of its most iconic airplanes, the Concorde! Aston Martin appears keen to celebrate the groundbreaking, supersonic airplane too, revealing the special edition Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde yesterday, 50 years after Concorde first took to the air.
For those few who haven’t heard of Concorde before. It flew between 1976 and 2003 as the first commercial supersonic passenger plane. It was operated exclusively by British Airways and Air France. It was developed and manufactured as a joint venture between Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). It’s success was due to the fact that it cut travel times roughly in half, due to the fact that it could travel at supersonic speeds.
For its homage, Aston Martin’s Q by Aston Martin division has created 10 special edition versions of the DBS. It joins the Aston Martin Wings Series, following on from the Vanquish S Red Arrows Edition; Vantage Blades Edition; and the V12 Vantage S Spitfire 80. The commission comes via Aston Martin Bristol.
On the outside, the unique touches include bespoke side strakes milled from solid aluminium; a bespoke livery comprising British Airways colours on the roof strake, aero blade and rear diffuser; black tinted carbon fibre roof with Concorde silhouette graphic; the famous British Airways ‘Speedmarque’ logo in chrome on the front wings; a Q by Aston Martin wing badge with black enamel infill; authentic jet black painted Civil Aviation Authority aircraft identifier numbers and bespoke inspection plaques signed by Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO Andy Palmer and British Airways Chairman Álex Cruz.
The interior gets predominantly blue design features. It includes the Concorde logo on the front seat facings; a Mach Meter graphic embroidered on the driver’s side sun visor; a unique headliner featuring printed Alcantara displaying a ‘sonic boom’ graphic; paddle shifters made from titanium from Concorde compressor blades; floor mats in Terence Conran design pattern; seatbelt buckle badges milled from solid aluminium and bespoke sill plaques.
Aston Martin will handle the sale of the 50 unit production run. Parts of the proceeds from the sale of each individual car will be donated to the Air League Trust, a not-for-profit organisation that teaches under-privileged children how to fly, and offers support for them to work in engineering.
