Aston Martin’s product development director Ian Minards will be offering a unique insight into the car-maker’s 100-year engineering history at a special lecture being given at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon.

The lecture takes place on Sunday October 19 and will see Mr Minards give a brief overview of the history of Aston Martin, followed by a detailed look at the tools and techniques used to engineer cars manufactured at the Gaydon factory today.

Mr Minards graduated from Birmingham University with a mechanical engineering degree, before spending seven years working on prototype builds at Jaguar, most notably the XK8 project.

After working as a consultant he moved to Aston Martin’s former HQ at Newport Pagnell to run the ‘works service’ division, where Aston martin owners could have their cars serviced or restored.

In 1999 Mr Minards assumed responsibility for the creation of an all-new Aston Martin, becoming chief programme engineer on the Vanquish.

Following its launch he became Aston Martin’s sales boss and looked after franchises and dealer development.

In 2004 he returned to engineering, overseeing the launch of the V8 Vantage, the second of the new-generation Astons in the wake of the DB9.

He has been product development director at the Warwickshire-based car-maker since 2006, overseeing a host of new models including the DBS, Rapide and Cygnet.

Emma Rawlinson, family and lifelong learning officer at the Heritage Motor Centre, said: “We’re delighted that Ian Minards will talk about 100 years of engineering at Aston Martin and give participants an insight into this iconic car.”

The lecture takes place from 2-5pm and tickets cost £15. They can be booked via www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk or by calling 01926 645033.