Aston Martin Lagonda and Airbus Corporate Helicopters (ACH) have lifted the veil on the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition, the first fruit of their new partnership. The new design for the ACH130 is aimed at those who love both helicopters and high-performance luxury cars. There are four interior and exterior designs by Aston Martin to choose from.
The aeronautical designers at ACH and the automotive designers at Aston Martin have worked closely together for over a year. The intent was to marry ACH’s key values of excellence, quality and service with Aston Martin’s commitment to beauty, handcrafting and automotive art to bring a new level of aesthetics and rigorous attention to detail to the helicopter market.
The helicopters are embellished with signature Aston Martin elements, starting with the Aston Martin wings, which are embossed onto leather features throughout the cabin.
The Stirling Green external scheme, which is already flying on the first aircraft, features a painted gradient that fades down into Jet Black on the underside of the helicopter with Skyfall Silver around the cowlings. Further external liveries are available with other Aston Martin paint colours including Xenon Grey, Arizona and Ultramarine Black.
Inside, the automotive-inspired cabin is trimmed in Pure Black ultra-suede with a palette of selectable leathers comprising Oxford Tan, Pure Black, Cormorant and Ivory.
On the rear of the front seats the same brogue detailing that is found in a DB11 runs down the centre of the seat and the doors have been trimmed with leather. By using materials from the Aston Martin automotive palette, the interior sits in harmony with those of Aston Martin sports cars.
Each of these special-edition helicopters will have a plaque on the instrument panel showing the partnership logos, the registration of the aircraft, the edition number and the owner’s name, should they wish.
“We have our own set of automotive design principles but in recent years we have been learning how to apply our principles to other areas of design, such as architecture, motorcycles and now helicopters,” said Marek Reichman, vice president and chief creative officer at Aston Martin. “This first application of our design practices to a helicopter posed a number of interesting challenges but we have enjoyed working through them. Beauty is of vital importance to Aston Martin and to our customers and we think the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition is an inherently beautiful machine. It provided a wonderful canvas for our team to work on, so we now look forward to seeing everybody’s reaction.”
“The ACH130 Aston Martin Edition is optimally positioned in the market for hands-on owners who draw satisfaction from personally piloting their aircraft and it generates strong brand loyalty,” said Frédéric Lemos, head of ACH. “In the same way Aston Martin’s products are cars for drivers who relish being at the wheel and they inspire a comparable attachment to the brand. So they are the perfect partner for us in developing this superb new ACH130 Aston Martin Edition.”
The ACH130 Aston Martin Edition is available on request with deliveries taking place from the first quarter of 2020.
