Yahoo Autos The Aston Martin DB7 and First-Gen Mazda Miata Share One Important Part
The DB7 played a big role in revitalizing Aston Martin in the 1990s, and I think it's shaping up to be a modern classic. It was developed on the cheap though, a necessity due to Aston's less-than-robust finances in the day. Ford owned Aston Martin at the time, and much of the DB7's components came from the corporate parts bin. Its platform was related to the old Jaguar XJ's, and both its inline-six and V12 had Jag-origins, too.
Ford also owned Mazda in the 1990s, which lead to the DB7 getting a tiny, but important, piece from the Miata: the interior door release.
It's probably the only part for an Aston Martin you can buy from a dude parting out his ratty NA Miata drift project on Craigslist.
And once you see this, it looks so out of place in the otherwise-opulent interior of the DB7. There's all sorts of leather, piping and wood here...and a cheap plastic door release. For later DB7s, Aston replaced this with a chromed piece that looks somewhat more appropriate, but it seems the Miata part was used well into the production of the V12-powered DB7 Vantage.
Parts sharing isn't uncommon in the automotive industry, so it's not surprising to see a Mazda part in an Aston made when both had the same parent company. It is amusing, however. As an NA Miata owner myself, it gives me a tiny bit of satisfaction every time I open my door, knowing that DB7 drivers do the same.
('You Might Also Like',)
