Cars
Broken Dreams: Aston Martin Bulldog. Ambition Fulfilled
Aston Martin's Bulldog, a one-off prototype from the late '70s, failed to reach its 200 mph goal—until a 2023 restoration finally saw it hit 331 km/h. The wedge-shaped car, once abandoned, became a record-breaker decades later.
Naming a car designed to break a speed record Bulldog is an odd choice, considering bulldogs are clumsy and slow. In the late 1970s, Aston Martin, struggling through a difficult period, decided to make a bold move: to exceed the top speed of its direct competitors—the Ferrari 512BB and Lamborghini Countach — by breaking the 200 mph (322 km/h) barrier.
To achieve this, they designed the Bulldog, powered by Aston Martin’s first-ever turbocharged engine: a 5.3-liter V8 with twin Garrett AirResearch turbochargers, centrally mounted.
