Aston Martin used to have a program that helped people become acquainted with the manufacturer’s cars in Winter conditions. Specifically, driving instructors would take people for hot laps on a snow-covered course with various Aston Martin models. Sadly, even professional instructors have times they exercise poor judgment. One of those times was the trigger for the cancellation of the program altogether.

Who is Emile Bouret?

Emile Bouret is an automotive designer, artist, stunt driver, and professional instructor. He is also a semi-regular visitor to the VinWiki studio. VinWiki is an automotive YouTube channel that centers each episode on automotive stories. In a video that dropped earlier today, Mr. Bouret revisits the studio and shares his story about how he had direct involvement with the Aston Martins On Ice program being terminated. 

Aston Martin creates beautiful performance machines that are pricey when compared to your average new Toyota Camry TRD. But, they are also a brand of manufacturer that has become iconic. Recurring roles in the James Bond 007 franchise has served to elevate public awareness of the automaker. For many, if an Aston Martin is good enough to be picked by a secret agent, it is a good enough performance car for them even in the snow and ice.

Driving for the Aston Martins On Ice program

In 2016, Mr. Bouret had another opportunity to work on the Aston Martins On Ice program. He and other instructors would take the cars through a track that had been laid out in the snow for the program. They would show attendants how to handle the cars through the turns while being in full control. All of this was also filmed by a production company.

After the sessions, there were about twenty vehicles that needed to be brought back to the hotel to be prepared for transport. As the vehicles and drivers were being shuttled around, the filming company asked for three drivers to return to the track for some final shots. 

Mr. Bouret had just finished the successful event for Aston Martin but felt it would be in poor taste to say no to the production company. Begrudgingly, he agreed to return to the track for the filming of the final shots. That’s when things went haywire.

Stopping an Aston Martin on ice is tricky even for the best

Against his better judgment, Mr. Bouret returned to the track and began turning laps with other drivers. Sadly, the track had become mostly ice. So, the cars became harder to control. As can be imagined, several laps in, the unthinkable happened. Mr. Bouret spun his car. One of the other cars behind him did not have enough room to stop on the ice. Hence, two Aston Martin vehicles collided. 

Mr. Bouret mentions more than once in the video that each of the cars is worth multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. Any accident with any of them is kind of a big deal. This collision was no different. So, he had to call those in charge of the training for the Aston Martins On Ice program to reveal what happened. Of course, there was much emotional agony.

Eventually, the program was canceled. Years later, Mr. Bouret had an opportunity to meet up with his friend from Aston Martin. He took that opportunity to ask if the program was canceled in response to his track incident. The answer came back, “Well, it certainly didn’t help!”