I took these photographs on days when the staff car parks were open for visitors to the annual Bonham’s auctions – I don’t want anyone to think I was trespassing without permission or anything. Gradually over the years, the bramble bushes and weeds enveloped the cars until they were almost submerged in the undergrowth. As the site of the factory changed hands in the Autumn of 2007, I’m quite sure that all these cars were quickly removed and destroyed.

There are some very interesting details on these pictures that are of note. The interior shot shows the original centre console with the Ford Ka air vents. This was one item that was changed before production shortly after Dr Bez joined AM. Also the round rear lights (Ford Cougar?) were dropped. I believe (but I don’t know as a fact) that the original idea was to have these covered by smoked covering, as seen on Project Vantage, but once tried out, the light output was below what was legally acceptable.

Very early AMVO3 Vanquish was spotted my myself at the back of the Newport Pagnell factory about 2001. This Lincoln LS looking mule was also spotted in 1999 by Autocar magazine, around Hethel in Norfolk. This happens to be close to Lotus cars who helped develop the Vanquish tub. Noted by Autocar was the familiar rumble of a V8, not a V12. There were of course no V8 Vanquish.

One small note is that even in 2013, Google Earth still shows a view of Newport Pagnell with the factory complete, although with no workers cars in the car park, so assume that the picture was taken on a Saturday or Sunday. The eleven crash-tested yellow Vanquishes are clearly visible from space.