Great Marques—The Aston Martin Story

World-renowned for prestige and driving excitement-and as the maker of James Bond’s favorite cars-Aston Martin is a prime example of a small British marque: building sports cars against the commercial odds, yet surviving decade after decade thanks to the support of devoted owners and dogged backers.

“It must be placed high on the list of the world’s most desirable grand touring cars.”

AUTOSPORT MAGAZINE ON THE DB4GT, 1962

ASTON MARTIN BEGAN in 1913 in a London garage, founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. Avid drivers, the pair soon built their own sports car using an old Isotta Fraschini chassis and a Coventry-Simplex 1.4-liter engine, and entered it in time-trial events. It performed so strongly in a 1914 hill climb at Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, that the machine was christened the Aston Martin, and registered for the road in 1915. World War I prevented the car from going into production, with Aston and Bamford being called up for military service and the machinery sold to Sop with, the aircraft manufacturers. The partnership resumed after the war, but it was beset by financial problems. Bamford eventually left in 1920.

Martin, with the help of his wife, Kate, then became a full-fledged car maker. He relaunched the Aston Martin as a simple sports car in 1921, featuring a custom-made, lightweight, 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine. While the car forged a formidable reputation on the race track, its manufacture was slow and chaotic. After several changes of ownership, the company moved to Feltham, Middlesex, in 1926. A year later a new 1.5-liter car was designed by the Italian Bertelli brothers, with Augusto overseeing the engineering and Enrico the low-slung bodywork.

Despite the near-constant internal upheaval, in the eyes of the public, Aston Martin produced fast, robust, exclusive sports cars that inspired enormous loyalty from their owners. The cars proved well able to cope with the Le Mans 24-hour race in France, making their debut in 1928.

During World War II, Aston Martin made aircraft components. After the war, Aston Martin, almost bankrupt as ever, was bought by David Brown, a Yorkshire industrialist. He had seen it for sale in the classified advertisements of The Times newspaper. Brown also acquired the Lagonda marque and combined the best of both traditions in the DB2 sports car, which married Aston’s capable chassis with Lagonda’s superb 2.6-liter, six-cylinder engine. The DB2 completed Le Mans in 1949, while still in protoype form.

Aston Martin’s future as a great marque was sealed at Le Mans in 1950, when Abecassis/Macklin brought a DB2 home fifth overall and won the 3-liter class; Parnell/ Brackenbury finished an overall sixth and came second in the 3-liter class. For the 1951 race, the factory team exceded itself, with DB2s finishing third, fifth, and seventh, while two privately entered DB2s came 10th and 11th. Five finishes from five starters in this 24-hour killer was an astounding achievement for a near-standard, two-seater street machine like the DB2. Another highlight saw Aston Martin clinch the World Sports Car Championship constructors’ title in 1959 with the DBR1 racing car.

Brown realized that, to be profitable, Aston Martin’s expensive, hand-built road cars had to be sumptuous as well as brawny. After Brown took over the Tickford coachbuilding company in 1955, Aston Martin interiors became increasingly luxurious, and the cars’ paintwork more lustrous. Modern technology such as disc brakes and overdrive were added, but automatic transmission arrived only in 1959.

For the DB4 of 1958, Aston Martin turned to Italian bodywork specialists Carrozzeria Touring, who provided the sleek styling and the method of lightweight construction. But the DB4 retained a steely edge: DB4 GTs and GT Zagatos were fearsome track cars. Launched in 1964, the DB5 might have seemed just a more powerful and aerodynamic evolution of the DB4, were it not for a starring role as James Bond’s car in the 1964 film Goldfinger. This big-screen fame made the Aston Martin marque synonymous with the suave, ruthless secret agent. And the movie mystique endures: An original DB5 film car sold at auction for £2.6 million in 2010. The DB6 of 1965 and DBS of 1967 preceded a brand new V8 engine in 1969, but the golden era ended three years later when David Brown sold the company. Aston Martin muddled its way through the 1970s and 80s, kept afloat by the wedge-shaped Lagonda limousine, which found favor with Middle Eastern buyers. A firm financial footing came only after Ford’s purchase of Aston Martin in 1987.

The new management decided to retain the entirely hand-built Aston Martin, now in its Virage incarnation, alongside a new production-line model, called the DB7, which would be smaller and cheaper. The DB7, which used some Jaguar components, was launched in 1993. It proved highly popular, as has its DB9 successor (there was no DB8), which was introduced in 2003. Aston decided next to confront the Porsche 911 with its own compact sports car. It built an all-new assembly plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire—the firm’s first purpose-built home—to make the highly acclaimed V8 Vantage, which reached eager fans in 2005.

In 2007 Ford sold Aston Martin to a Kuwaiti-funded consortium led by David Richards, founder of rally team Prodrive. Even before this change, Aston Martin had returned to the world of motor sport. Consecutive wins at Le Mans in the GT1 class in 2007 and 2008 were followed by a fourth place overall at the 2009 event with a new LMP1-class car—the fastest gas car in the field. In 2009 the VI2 Vantage GT claimed victory in its class at the Nürburgring 24-hour race on its competitive debut.

In 2009, showing pragmatism rarely seen under previous owners, Aston Martin unveiled the Cygnet city car, a joint venture with Toyota. This new addition to the Aston Martin range gives the owners of today’s Vantage, DB9, DBS, Rapide, or One-77 models a matching urban runabout. It also helps the company meet legal obligations for car manufacturers to reduce average fuel consumption and missions in their ranges.

1913 Bamford & Martin Limited is founded in London.

1915 The first Aston Martin car is registered.

1921 The first 1.5-liter production cars arrive, and the first competition car makes its appearance.

1927 The 1.5-liter is launched in “T” touring and “S” sports forms.

1928 Aston Martin International uses dry-sump lubrication.

1936 The 2.0-liter 15/98 replaces the 1.5-liter car; it has simplified specifications.

1949 Prototype DB2s compete at Le Mans.

1955 Aston Martin buys the Tickford coachbuilding company.

1958 The DB4 is unveiled with an all-new, 3.7-liter, 240 bhp engine.

1959 Aston Martin wins the World Sports Car Championship constructors’ title with the DBR1.

1964 Aston Martin introduces the DB5.

1965 The DB6 replaces the DB5.

1967 The DBS offers modernized styling and later, from 1969, a new V8 engine.

1976 The four-door Aston Martin Lagonda is unveiled, reaching customers four years later.

1978 The Volante, a convertible, joins the V8 range.

1984 The 10,000th Aston Martin is built.

1990 Sales of the Aston Martin Virage start.

1987 Ford buys Aston Martin, bringing financial stability to the company.

1993 The DB7-a smaller, cheaper Aston Martin-is launched; 5,000 DB7s will be built by 2001.

2001 Aston Martin introduces the V12 Vanguish.

2003 The DB9 replaces the DB7, with a V12 engine as standard; a purpose-built factory opens at Gaydon.

2005 The V8 Vantage, a Porsche 911 rival, goes on sale.

2006 The 30,000th Aston Martin is built.

2009 The V12 Vantage and One-77 supercar are launched, along with the Cygnet city car, a joint venture with Toyota.

2010 The Rapide is a new four-door model.

 

It is a quote. The Definitive Visual History Of The Automobile 2011