Skip to main content

Watch pro drivers joyride in $83.4 million worth of Aston Martin cars

It’s all in good fun when three employees rip it up inside and out at British luxury sports car maker Aston Martin’s new St Athan plant in South Wales. A promotional video shows off the new super spacious facility along with 65 million pounds ($83.4 million) worth of Aston Martin hardware.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Aston Martin has already started redeveloping the St Athan plant’s three super hangers into a state-of-the-art luxury vehicle factory. The St Athan facility is Aston Martin’s second U.K. manufacturing plant.

The film was produced to celebrate the transfer of ownership to Aston Martin. It is not a typical blue sky corporate production panning wide open spaces and exalting the company’s past and future people and products, however. In this corporate video, the cars are the stars, which is only fitting — as well as great fun.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The premise of the video is three employees, after delivering cars to the lineup of 28 varied historic and current Aston Martins, decide to break in early the next morning to have some fun with the impressive lineup of sports cars and race cars. Two Aston Martin Racing’s World Endurance Championship (WEC) drivers, Darren Turner and Nicki Thiim, are joined by Aston Martin Chief Engineer Matt Becker.

The drivers sneak by snoozing guards at the factory gate. The cars include a restored 1921 A3, a 1958 DBR1, a One-77, a number of Vantages, a Rapide S, an Aston Martin Vulcan, and more. There is even a Cygnet minicar that stays still while two other cars blast around it like wolves circling a lone sheep.

The drivers take the cars out three at a time and spend most of their time drifting and blowing wide donuts around each other. It’s all great fun until President and CEO Andy Palmer shows up. Suddenly the drivers disappear.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Palmer grills three security guards who claim to have heard nothing. After telling them they can forget about getting company cars, Palmer puts the guards to work cleaning up skid marks in one of the hangers.

Editors' Recommendations

Bruce Brown
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
Rivian R2 vs R1S: How will Rivian’s cheaper SUV compare?
The front three-quarter view of a 2022 Rivian against a rocky backdrop.

Rivian has finally unveiled the R2, its long-awaited attempt at a more affordable electric SUV. The new vehicle may not be available just yet, but fans of Rivian's design aesthetics and feature set are already looking forward to being able to order the new car. The R2 is targeted at being a more affordable take on the electric SUV and will sit alongside the flagship-tier R1S.

Let's get this out of the way right now: The R1S is most likely going to be a better vehicle than the R2. Rivian isn't replacing the R1S with the R2 — it's releasing the R2 as a more affordable alternative, and there will be some compromises when buying the R2 over the R1S.

Read more
Cybertruck production reportedly halted over pedal issue
Tesla CEO Elon Musk behind the wheel of a Cybertruck.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk behind the wheel of a Cybertruck. Tesla

Tesla’s Cybertruck has been hit by a production delay caused by an issue with a part of the vehicle, a number of media reports have claimed.

Read more
Don’t let the gimmicks fool you. The Ioniq 5 N is a serious track car
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N drifting.

We’re finally getting to the fun part of automakers’ methodical quest to replicate their lineups with electric cars.

Performance versions of ordinary cars have been a staple of the auto industry for decades. But while we’ve already seen some variants of EVs boasting more power and more impressive stats — think Tesla Model S Plaid or Lucid Air Sapphire — the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is the first to truly apply that format to an EV.

Read more