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FEATURE DRIVE STORY WORDS DAN TRENT PHOTOGRAPHY SIM MAINEY FindFind thethe beautybeauty A tour of northern England, exploring creative director Marek Reichman’s journey to Aston Martin, reveals some unexpected influences on the cars he has shaped 126 AUTUMN 2019 VANTAGE VANTAGE AUTUMN 2019 127 126 FEATURE Marek Drive Story.indd 126 21/08/2019 08:18 126 FEATURE Marek Drive Story.indd 127 21/08/2019 08:20 FEATURE DRIVE STORY he long-outdated ‘grim up north’ stereotype may no longer be a true reflection of this proud region’s post-industrial identity. But there’s an undeniable grit to both mindset and landscape, seemingly far removed from the more idealised vision of Englishness that many might associate with Aston Martin. Yet, thanks to Sheffield-born chief creative officer Marek Reichman, the influence of the urban and natural Tscenery of the north is present in everything from Vantage to Valkyrie. Hence the inspiration for a bit of a road trip in one of his cars, tracing a chronological and geographical path through his upbringing to better understand how these surroundings inform the spirit of the Vantage we’ll be driving. From Marek’s hometown of Sheffield we’ll follow his journey across the Pennines and North York Moors to Middlesbrough, where he studied industrial design and combined his fascination for the manufacturing process with influences from the rich landscape, history and traditions. ‘I can appreciate the beauty in anything,’ muses Marek, relaxing in an office stacked with an eclectic array of inspirational objects, ranging from boutique bicycles to hand-crafted Japanese teapots. ‘Whatever it might be, I’ve got a strange affinity to ‘From an observing and studying it. And it’s a funny thing, you grow up in the industrial north and not many early age I was people would assume you’re born with these instincts.’ But, as we’ll see, for all the associations surrounded by with heavy industry, the region has also nurtured artistic talent, and expressed its traditions keenly people physically in more creative ways. ‘I think one of the reasons I wanted to be a maker of stuff and an inventor of stuff was because I grew making stuff’ up in Sheffield,’ reflects Marek. ‘My dad was a blacksmith, not in one of the big steelworks but in – Marek Reichman Clockwise from above a more boutique shop that did everything from Reichman today, recalling his wrought iron gates to chains for ships. It’ll all be formative years in the north automated now, but he did it one link at a time, all of England; Vantage pauses at Spout House on the North by hammer. So from an early age I was surrounded York Moors – as a car-mad by people physically making stuff.’ student, Reichman would often drive these roads; fine It therefore seems appropriate to start our cutlery being crafted at David journey in the city where Marek grew up, and one Mellor Design, a process that that so perfectly embodies the way extremes of captivated the young Marek industrial and natural landscape coexist here. Sheffield’s roots are of course in metalworking, the invention of stainless steel here and the city’s association with the cutlery industry proving technical innovation and design have always rubbed shoulders. Not so long ago, giant steelworks beside the M1 broadcast Sheffield’s might; these days the more obvious landmark is the Meadowhall shopping centre, which says much about how the world has changed. The fact that sites of former steelworks are now overspill car parks for the mall is evidence 128 AUTUMN 2019 VANTAGE 126 FEATURE Marek Drive Story.indd 128 21/08/2019 12:26 126 FEATURE Marek Drive Story.indd 129 21/08/2019 12:26 FEATURE DRIVE STORY that the city’s industrial past is steadily being occupying a distinctive circular building Above and right Between cities steeped erased. It’s not all gone though, the main route designed by Sir Michael Hopkins, where visitors in steelmaking and from the M1 taking you right through the can still observe the manufacturing process manufacturing lies some truly beautiful countryside middle of Sheffield Forgemasters, with grand from start to finish. Mellor’s son Corin has taken and some superb driving red-brick offices towering over one side of the the business on and, like his father, enjoys living roads, whose challenging road and the stacks and chimneys of the works and working on the same site, flitting between topography is meat and drink to the agile Vantage on the other. It may be a shadow of what was this charming rural location and the hustle and once there, but the fact that your arrival in the bustle of the firm’s flagship stores in Marylebone city is through the centre of a metalworks says and Sloane Square. The influence of his father’s much about its roots. Even at this early hour, the work on Marek and the informal connection hum of furnaces, clang of metal and sight of come as a pleasant revelation to Corin – the workers arriving for the morning shift proves fact that both have found success expressing Sheffield is still a city defined by steel, albeit the industrial traditions of their hometown now at the specialist, high-end of the spectrum, through creative and luxurious product design with specialist components for the defence and is a happy coincidence. nuclear industries. The short drive here has revealed another Stereotypical boxes having been ticked, in a aspect to Marek’s ‘find the beauty’ mantra too, leafy suburb close to the city centre we find namely the proximity of Sheffield’s gritty side Broom Hall, former home and studio for with the beauty and splendour of truly stunning ‘The Vantage celebrated silversmith and industrial designer countryside. Out here the Vantage is in its David Mellor. The young Marek used to while element too, its pugnacious proportions ready is in its away time here, enjoying a unique insight into to tackle the tight and twisty roads while the how design and manufacturing are one and the crackles of the exhaust reflect off the granite element, the same. ‘They had an open studio and you could rockfaces and dry stone walls. sit outside the building and watch the whole And it only gets better the further north crackles of process, from drawing to model making, then to we go. Over Holme Moss into Huddersfield, we the foundry and then the finished articles,’ he skirt Leeds before branching off the A1 at reflects. ‘As a young teenager I used to watch Thirsk, heading for the North York Moors via the exhaust the designers sketch and make stuff and that Sutton Bank. We’re tracing Marek’s path from was it really, I knew what I wanted to do.’ school days in Sheffield to his university years reflecting off David Mellor Design has since relocated to in Middlesbrough, another town built on steel the nearby Peak District town of Hathersage, and heavy industry. The picturesque market rockfaces’ 130 AUTUMN 2019 VANTAGE VANTAGE AUTUMN 2019 131 126 FEATURE Marek Drive Story.indd 130 21/08/2019 08:18 126 FEATURE Marek Drive Story.indd 131 21/08/2019 08:18 FEATURE DRIVE STORY town of Helmsley provides a handy lunch stop; Above and right natural scenery and the expansiveness of the Even though he knew he a gaggle of motorcyclists relaxing in the town landscape had further influence on Marek and wanted to be a car designer, square hint at the fun to be had on the local his university friends too: cheap lodgings in Reichman studied industrial design at Teesside roads. Its comparable length and topography to Middlesbrough meant they could channel University; heavy industry the Nürburgring mean the 13-mile road to money into classic cars to enjoy out here. and iconic structures like the Newport Bridge (below nearby Stokesley is something of a magnet for ‘As soon as we got our grant money we’d right) also inspired him petrolheads of all persuasions – Aston Martin’s look in the local paper – you could buy some own test centre beside the famous German track amazing things back then,’ laughs Marek. ‘I had is core to the development of all of its cars. a Sunbeam Alpine, an Alfasud, a Rover P6, a ’63 Little surprise, then, that the Vantage feels Mini, a 425cc 2CV, a Series II Land Rover, all right at home, the twists, turns and crests all sorts of things – we just kept switching, buying reminiscent of the famous track, the final section one at the beginning of term, doing a little work feeling distinctly Germanic thanks to the pine to it, selling it, and then upgrading or buying plantations bordering the road. One advantage something else. If you had the desire to find of testing at the ’Ring is that, as with British stuff you could do it all cheaply.’ B-roads, the surface is bumpy and unpredictable, But why Teesside? Put simply, the quality of ‘Suddenly meaning the Vantage has a natural sense of flow the education and a valuable lesson he’d learned on both roads and racetracks. Rather than try to at school in Sheffield. ‘I had a great mentor I wasn’t isolate you from your surroundings, it helps called Jock Mitchell, who was the most amazing you to enjoy and appreciate them, with the aim design technology teacher,’ Marek recalls. ‘I’d embarrassed of making every mile memorable. And that it answer his briefs very quickly but he would does, the turbocharged torque of the V8 always ask me: “But why, laddy?” I’d say I’d to be from ensuring effortless progress, punctuated by the answered his question but he’d say: “Find out click-clack of the shifter paddles you’re the why; you’ll thank me in the end!” I actually encouraged to use in this type of driving.

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