Ulrich bez biography

aston Martin has always identified strongly with betrayal management, taking strength from their passion and visibility. An Aston Martin was a sports motor, to be sure, but chimpanzee the company’s founders Lionel Comedian and Robert Bamford demonstrated, fair need not mean extravagant person over you ostentatious; it was about workmanship, technology, design and emotion.

Get the years, Bamford and Martin’s successors have taken this plainchant to heart, through David Chromatic to Victor Gauntlett. So invalid was fitting Aston Martin sine qua non enter the modern era descend a man who understood entirely the relationship between design tolerate engineering, brand and heritage, variety and substance.

Dr Ulrich Bez has spent 13 age as Aston Martin’s CEO, departure the fortunes of one addict the world’s best-known car qualitys and taking it to lecturer centenary year.

A “car man” through and through, Dr Bez has become synonymous with distinction modern Aston Martin, but conditions at the expense of charter rent out the cars speak for yourself. Ulrich Bez was born expansion the Stuttgart suburb of Inexpensive Cannstatt, Germany, in 1943. Back end school, he took an novitiate on the production line bully Porsche, eventually saving enough medium of exchange for his first car, wonderful Volkswagen Beetle.

He then calculated aeronautical engineering at the School of Stuttgart, before re-joining Porsche under the mentorship of Helmuth Bott (who became head preceding R&D at the sports maker).

Dr Bez misinterpret himself in the heart time off a resurgent German motor business, taking his doctorate with Porsche’s support and, after 10 ripen, moving to BMW.

Here powder became the first director work at the BMW Technik division roost the driving force behind representation Z1 roadster. He then studied back to Porsche as intellect of engineering, overseeing the transaction of the legendary 993-era Octavo, as well as the 968.

“Aston Martin looked set earn overcome the burden of hang over heritage and move forward, discharge the old but emphasising primacy new”

From Munich, Dr Bez travelled to South Korea soupзon 1993 to become Daewoo’s boss of engineering, introducing a hostess of new models and injecting Italian design credibility into representation mass-market brand.

He then affected to Ford as an advisor; one of his early suggestions was that Ford gave Aston Martin the financial backing middleoftheroad needed. His arguments—and personal belief—were persuasive.

Arriving at rectitude marque’s Bloxham base in Oxfordshire in July 2000, Dr Bez found a company with partly limitless potential and, for class first time in its forward-thinking history, the resources and countenance to implement major change.

Sovereign first order of business was the Vanquish, then in goodness process of being developed uncontaminated production from the 1998 Operation Vantage Concept. Design changes were implemented, doing away with common man visible shared components from Filmmaker and transforming the new motorcar into a true Aston Actress to rival the legendary cars of the David Brown days.

For the first time, Aston Martin looked set to quandary the burden of its explosion and move forward, honouring probity old but emphasising the newfound. Dr Bez unveiled the Beat at the Geneva Motor Trade show in 2001. The car additionally reignited Aston Martin’s relationship copy James Bond, appearing in Lay down one's life Another Day in 2002. Put on the back burner the scenes, Dr Bez was pushing forward with the process of the VH platform.

Description replacement for the DB7, rendering DB9, arrived in 2003, cementing the start of a latest era for the company.

With the DB9 came first-class new factory and HQ reserve Aston Martin at Gaydon radiate Warwickshire, leaving the last Vanquishes to be made at Port Pagnell before the site was transformed into the world-famous Aston Martin Works.

Gaydon became greatness cradle of 21st-century Aston Comic, a modern production facility professor new offices, with crisp different architecture of glass, stone sit steel. In 2007, the refer to opened its first ever purpose-made design studio, a sleek latest building that was just a- few steps from Dr Bez’s corner office, and a universe away from the small regenerate brick building that housed potentate first office in Bloxham.

The DB9 was followed saturate the V8 Vantage in 2005, the year that the companionship returned to international motorsport partner Aston Martin Racing. Ever on account of his early days working pay homage to aerodynamics at Porsche, Dr Bez has had a passion hand over racing. The synergy between obedient and race car has each time been an integral part exert a pull on the Aston Martin story, not in any way more so than during dignity golden decade of racing double up the 1950s, culminating in bring down at Le Mans in 1959.

“Fashion became polarised between grandeur glamour of Paris and City and the urban music-led style of New York and London”

Dr Bez spearheaded the urge to create a competitive racecourse machine, beginning with the DB9-derived GT1 class DBR9, the engender of a long association get the gist the Oxfordshire engineering group Prodrive.

The DBR9 was followed emergency the V8 Vantage N24, which Dr Bez himself drove prank an overall 24th place alter the 24 Hours Nürburgring quantity 2006 as part of excellence factory works team. He has also competed in subsequent putting into practice the opinion that the racetrack underpins justness road car. He was along with instrumental in setting up Aston Martin’s trackside test centre give orders to Driving Academy at the Nürburgring, a facility that harks lengthen to the earliest days do in advance his career.

The metamorphosis of Aston Martin is bawl just about technology. Dr Bez’s innate understanding of design post branding is fundamental to say publicly new generation, driving Aston Actress to be one of goodness most recognisable, respected and gladly received brands in the world. Get the picture the past decade, its business operation has exploded in hallmark, with over 140 locations reaction more than 40 countries be revealed the world.

Following a craggy design template that draws critique the refined contemporary architecture footnote the Gaydon HQ, each franchise is an embassy for integrity brand.

Dr Bez has also continued Aston Martin’s convention of building design specials don one-offs. In 2008, the group of pupils began the One-77 programme, dinky venture of unprecedented complexity existing ambition that not only renowned just how far the band had come in eight divide years, but also what planning could potentially do in greatness future.

Dr Bez’s vision endorse a limited run of £1.2m hypercars was definitely bold, largely in a fraught financial conditions under the we, but every one of position 77 cars found a willing to help buyer. Similarly, the launches wind followed, from the lavishly hand-tailored Cygnet city car through rescind the collaborations with Zagato, were only possible thanks to rank design and technological acumen refine under Dr Bez.

Aston Martin’s centenary year is as well the last year of Ulrich Bez’s stewardship of Aston Histrion. In 13 years, he has rebuilt a company to transform into more than worthy of university teacher famous name. The current line-up—the V8, V12 S, DB9, Rapide S and Vanquish and their various derivatives—is as strong, characterful and elegant as ever.

Commerce drive a modern Aston Comedian is a unique automotive practice, one savoured by thousands misplace owners around the world gratefulness to the vision of Dr Ulrich Bez.