In an emotional meeting the Aston Martin Vulcan has been treated to a flypast by the Cold War-era bomber which inspired its name.
Avro Vulcan XH558 is currently completing a farewell tour ahead of its final ever flight later this month, and made a special flypast of its Aston Martin namesake at Yorkshire’s Elvington Airfield.
“Clearly the Avro Vulcan provided the inspiration for the naming of our most extreme sports car, and I’m delighted that we have been able to unite the ‘two Vulcans’ and deliver our own tribute to this world-renowned aeronautical phenomenon”, said Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer.
The 800-plus bhp, all-carbon fibre, track-only Aston Martin Vulcan will commence delivery later this year, with just 24 examples being produced.
Vulcan XH558 is one of the few machines of even greater rarity; it is the sole remaining flightworthy Avro Vulcan and when it retires from flight status it will become the centre point of an Aviation Academy & Heritage Centre at its Robin Hood Airport home in Doncaster.
The Vulcan’s finest hour came in 1982 when a sister aircraft, XM607, pulled off what at the time was the longest range bombing raid in history as part of the Operation Black Buck mission to hit the Argentine controlled Port Stanley Airport runway during the Falklands War. At the controls that day was Martin Withers DFC, and now as Operations Director of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust which operates XH558 he was also at the controls for the Elvington flypast.
“Personally, it is great to know that the Vulcan name will live on not only in the history books, and at the new educational centre in Yorkshire, but via Aston Martin’s incredible new sports car”, said Withers.
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