Topic: Solved - NEH 3523: Aston Martin Barchetta based on DB4 chassis - 2002

[Carnut]

What's this, by whom, from when - for 1 point?:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS OBTAINED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD, AND THIS PUZZLE IS ONLY OPEN TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED THEIR AGREEMENT TO THAT IN THE THREAD IN THE NEWS AND INFORMATION SECTION.

[Carnut]

Easy Expert point?

[oko94]

Aston Martin DB4 Zagato Barchetta made by Aston Engineering in 2002, based on a shortened DB4 chassis

[Carnut]

Aston Martin DB4 Zagato Barchetta made by Aston Engineering in 2002, based on a shortened DB4 chassis

Despite appearances, that's not what it is..

[oko94]

Well, it could be an Aston Martin DB4 GT Barchetta by Evanta (license plate DBZ 42), launched in 2013, but I've found the unaltered version of the puzzle's photo : it's coming from a web site dedicated to Aston Martins and it is indeed described as the 2002 Aston Engineering's Barchetta (license plate XSL 526). And I saw the very same car in a classic car event near Paris in 2004, so it cannot be the 2013 Evanta.

[Carnut]

Well, it could be an Aston Martin DB4 GT Barchetta by Evanta (license plate DBZ 42), launched in 2013, but I've found the unaltered version of the puzzle's photo : it's coming from a web site dedicated to Aston Martins and it is indeed described as the 2002 Aston Engineering's Barchetta (license plate XSL 526). And I saw the very same car in a classic car event near Paris in 2004, so it cannot be the 2013 Evanta.

You may be right..
My intention was to post the Evanta but it's very hard indeed to tell the 2 apart as the differences between them are very minor.
It looks like I've chosen the wrong picture and have posted the earlier Zagato car by mistake.  How annoying!

It doesn't make any difference to you, however -  you get your point and it's solved anyway!

This is what I should have posted:

[sixtee5cuda]

I also came to the conclusion the puzzle car was not an Evanta.  I studied interior photos of both the Aston Engineering car, and the Evanta.  The differences are minor, but noticeable.  The Evanta is a good copy, but the quality is slightly lower than the Aston Engineering car.

[oko94]

When DBZ 42 was unveiled it was easy to tell it apart from XSL 526 as it lacked the sweeping chrome stripe on its side, but now there are pictures of DBZ 42 with the same chrome stripe...

[Paul Jaray]

I saw that car too around 2004 during a Roma-Liegi event...I remember I did not know it, I looked for more info about and found the puzzle pic.

[oko94]

I've just checked the photos I took in 2004 and the car had a DBZ 42 license plate...so I was mistaken in thinking that the Evanta was DBZ 42.

So, let's do it again.

When the Aston Engineering Barchetta was unveiled in 2002, it was registered XSL 526 and had a side chrome stripe (that's how it is on the puzzle's photo). At some point between 2002 and 2004 it got re-registered DBZ 42 and still had its chrome stripe (that's how it was when I shot it in 2004). Later, the chrome stripe got removed but the registration hasn't changed.

When the Evanta barchetta was launched in 2013, its license plate was blacked out and it had no chrome stripe. I haven't found pictures where it sports a license plate number.

[Carnut]

I'll have to look into that.
I thought DBZ was one car and XSL the other, not that they were the same car.
Incidentaly XSL 526 is what's called an age-related plate, which is supposed to look like it's a plate originally allocated to a pre-1963 car (when UK registrations changed to have a year-suffix).  Normally they are allocated either to a car whose age cannot be ascertained (such as an import) or a car whose number has  been transferred to another car.  Age-related plates are supposed to be non-transferable, which I understood to mean you're stuck with them, but in actual fact you can probably take them off and bin them if you have a better number to put on.  Which might be what happened with the Zagato Aston.  To anyone who understands UK plates age-related plates look just like what they are, something allocated by bureaucrats to look old!  But I suppose they're better than sticking a 'Q' plate or a modern plate on!

[Paul Jaray]

According to what I found, Jean Christophe Marchand and his friend, Frédéric Simon created this car helped with car designer Pierre Ménard to adjust the design.
Base car, a wrecked DB4 from 1961 was found in Chartres, France, from Jean-Louis Hébert.
Body was commissioned to Shapecraft, Northampton.
Engine was found in England from a dealer that worked on the Zagato's DB4 2VEV, that had that engine before, and shipped to Aston Engineering in Derby to have it fixed. Capacity passed from 3.7cc to 4.2cc.
It was completed in May 2001.

From Aston Engineering's website:

A customer came to us with a sketch and asked if we could build it. The result was this DB4 Zagato, christened the 'Barchetta'.

[Paul Jaray]

This ambitious project was undertaken by the Derby based company Aston Engineering, based on a standard DB4 chassis and a sketch provided by owner. This was substantially re-engineered with a shortened wheelbase and substantial strengthening to improve torsional rigidity following the removal of the roof. No fabric roof appears be have been made for the car – if it rains, the driver and passenger will get wet, much like the similar DB AR1.

The engine was uprated to 4.2 litre specification and with tuning, the straight 6 cylinder produces around 350 bhp. The finished car is about 25cm shorter and 130 kg lighter than the donor car, so with the 4.2 engine, the Barchetta is a more than a match for the regular Zagato

Just to be clear – this is not an actual period Aston Martin model or indeed built by Zagato but is a wonderful way of taking a poorly DB4 and making something different from the normal ‘replica’ that has become rather too commonplace.

The car was Marchand & Simon's project.