Video: Aston Martin and Brough Superior AMB 001 testing on track

Aston Martin and Brough Superior have started dynamic prototype testing of the AMB 001 – an ultra-exclusive track-only motorcycle set for first deliveries before the end of 2020.

Limited to 100 units worldwide, the AMB 001 in these images wears Aston’s traditional prototype camouflage as it’s seen tearing around the Pau-Arnos circuit in France.

Set to cost £96,936 (108,000 Euros including VAT), the AMB 001 features a turbocharged motor with 180hp, but the main aim of this circuit testing is to hone the bike’s chassis and ‘validate its geometry’.

Brough Superior CEO 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.

Aston Martin Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman said: “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.”

Keep an eye out on MCN for more details on the AMB 001 as they emerge.

Video interview: Aston Martin and Brough Superior AMB 001

First published 14 February 2020 by Dan Sutherland

As its understated name subtly hints at, the AMB 001 is the first collaboration between Aston Martin and Brough Superior.

Two of Britain’s most famous automotive brands have united to produce what’s set to be the most exotic, expensive and rarest new bike of 2020.

Limited to 100 units, each costing €108,000 (around £93,000), the AMB 001 is a track-only, non-road-legal machine. At its heart is a turbocharged, 180bhp version of the 997cc 88° V-twin powering Brough’s current range.

Not having to meet any noise or emissions standards certainly helps when upping the power from the naturally aspirated motor's 101bhp...

Further information describes the turbocharger as having 'variable geometry'. This high-tech design often uses pivoting vanes or an adjustable collar on the compressor to effectively simulate changing the size of a turbocharger throughout an engine’s rev range.

In practice, this should make for minimal lag and optimum boost at all rpm. The AMB 001 also features an intercooler to reduce the temperature of the compressed air entering the engine, further improving power.

Like Brough’s existing bikes, the AMB 001 uses a machined titanium backbone frame, with a double-wishbone fork up front. At the rear is a carbon fibre subframe, while some of the carbon bodywork is structural too.

There’s even a carbon fibre fin that runs the length of the bike, over the top of the tank and nestles up to the colour TFT dash, aping the style of the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar. Adorning this fin is the legendary Aston Martin wing logo – not just paint or a decal, but a nine-micron-thick laser-cut sliver of stainless steel sitting beneath the lacquer.

They’re not the bike’s only wings. Integrated into the bodywork are downforce-producing winglets, their shape taken from an S-shaped curve found on the front of Aston Martins. Another nod to its four-wheeled siblings can be found in the AMB 001’s Stirling Green paintscheme, as traditionally used on Aston’s racing vehicles.

The bikes will be hand-built at Brough’s headquarters in Toulouse, France, with the first models due for delivery at the end of 2020. While the AMB 001 lives in the world of ultra-exotica for now, it’s described as marking 'the first chapter' of the partnership between Aston and Brough.

Fingers crossed the second chapter comes with a more affordable price tag.

More from MCN

Aston Martin team up with Brough Superior for new bike project

First reported 24/10/19





Aston Martin and Brough Superior have announced that they will be unveiling a motorbike at the Eicma motorcycle show in Milan on Tuesday, November 5.

The luxury car maker will put their famous winged badge on a motorcycle for the first time but the bike will be a ‘strictly limited edition’ run.

There’s no word on what it will cost (if you have to ask, etc) but with Aston Martins costing as much as a house, and the 2018 Brough Superior SS100 costing £59,999, the collaboration between the two is likely to be eye-wateringly expensive.

But the brands are not giving much away at this stage, releasing a vaguely motorbike-shaped collection of black lines as a teaser image.

"This is a fascinating and very popular project for myself and my team," said Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman.

"The opportunity to collaborate with Brough Superior has given us the chance to bring our own unique views on how beauty and engineering can combine to create a highly emotive piece of vehicle design."

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