Aston Martin AMB 001 goes testing

Aston Martin and Brough Superior’s limited edition AMB 001 has been put through its paces at the Pau-Arnos circuit in France – and we’ve got our hands on some photos and a video of it in action.

The brainchild of Aston Martin and historic British bike builder Brough Superior, the AMB 001 was first shown to the world at the big bike shows at the end of last year – and after a few months of waiting, it looks like the limited edition 300kmph track bike is nearly ready to go.

Caught testing on track wearing Aston’s long-standing test livery, the turbo-charged V4-powered AMB 001 superbike looks like a capable bit of kit. It kicks out 180bhp and promises to offer huge amounts of torque right through the rev range.

100 of the track-only superbike will be assembled by hand at Brough’s current factory in Toulouse, with first deliveries expected for Autumn this year.

Speaking about the on track test, Aston Martin said: “Prototype testing is one of the most vital parts of the development process with a test motorcycle allowing the team to validate the chassis geometry, the ergonomics and dynamic behaviour. In the same way that Aston Martin’s vehicle dynamics engineers can ‘read’ a car, Brough Superior’s test rider feeds back on all areas of performance, from the overall dynamic feel of the bike to details regarding cornering, braking, acceleration and the like.”

Aston Martin executive vice president and chief creative officer, Marek Reichman added: “Everybody involved has managed to make tremendous progress with the development of AMB 001, despite the challenges we have all been facing. This special motorcycle is, like our road cars, the result of beautiful design melding with modern technology to produce a bike that any collector will be proud of. We are delighted to see how much progress has been made, both on and off track and look forward to the moment when production starts for this stunning machine.”

Brough Superior chief executive Thierry Henriette said: “One of the key design features of the AMB 001 is an aluminium fin that runs along the full length of a carbon fibre tank, passing under the saddle and out onto the rear. The body holding the fin and supporting the saddle is one of the areas where we called on the unique knowledge of Mecano ID, who joined the project to apply specialist aerospace-quality carbon fibre skills to the exclusive AMB 001.”

We can’t wait to check out the production bike in action!