Fun Fact of the Day: Did You Know That Aston Martin’s Engines Are Made in Germany?

By Gunnar Heinrich

ASTON MARTIN has been practicing a bit of trans-Euro production since 2004, apparently.

Aston follows in the tradition of other British marques; Bentley, for instance, had some of its cars made in Italy by Pininfarina. So, Aston friends, if you thought your V8 or V12 came from Newport Pagnell, you’re a bit off the mark.

From the DBS through the V12 Vantage, all Aston Martin powerplants come from a (not so) little assembly shop in Cologne where workers are free to gnaw on brätwurst and be merry on Schnäpse while tuning Aston engines to outrageous heights of creamy torque.

Not quite, but sort of:

Located in a separate building at Ford’s Niehl Engine Plant, the Aston Martin Engine Plant is equipped to work solely on Aston Martin engines and the building carries the Corporate Identity of the marque.

The layout of AMEP consists of a 12,500 square metre production hall, which has sufficient capacity to support Aston Martin’s requirements today and in the future. The facility broadly comprises four distinct areas; one to machine engine cylinder blocks, one to machine cylinder heads, one to assemble all engine components and an area for goods received and engine shipment. All engine testing is completed within the assembly process and unlike normal engine production, both cold tests and hot tests are completed concurrently on all engines.

The facility is capable of machining and assembling V8 and V12 engines simultaneously. Each technician will build a complete engine from start to finish – at full production more than 30 technicians will be building engines.

Built in compliance with ISO 14001 environmental regulations, the facility also benefits from state-of-the-art features including an adaptive lighting system that automatically adjusts according to the level of available daylight. Additionally, all of the equipment used within the facility has been specifically chosen not to exceed a noise level of 77 db(A), aiding a pleasant working environment.

Did I mention that Aston also has a dedicated test center at the Nürburgring?