Aston Martin

Aston Martin is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, founded in 1913 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. Bamford and Martin, both mechanics, set out to prepare and sell Singer cars for hill climbing and racing. Production of Aston Martin cars began in earnest at the conclusion of World War I, with a range of record-breaking racing cars that would later be known as the Green Pea, the Halford Special and the Razor Blade. Early sporting successes weren’t enough to make the company profitable, however, and by 1926 the factory had closed and both Bamford and Martin had left. In spite of these periods of financial difficulty, the Aston Martin name had developed a level of credibility, and over the next several decades the brand passed through numerous different owners, each looking to capitalize on the Aston Martin reputation. Under the direction of car designer, builder and driver Bert Bertelli in the 1920s and 1930s, the new Aston Martin Motors resumed production of racing cars, releasing the Le Mans, the MKII and the Speed Model. By the 1960s, as a subsidiary of David Brown Limited, Aston Martin had shifted its focus to road cars, cementing its status as a high-quality manufacturer with the introduction of the DB4 and DB5 models. The 1970s and early 80s was a period of great upheaval, with the company changing hands a number of times. Despite some popular releases during this time, including the Volante and V8 Vantage, it wasn’t until 1986 that the future of Aston Martin began to look a little less uncertain. With the company in the hands of Ford, production numbers of the DB7 model - later replaced by the Aston Martin DB9 coupe - broke all previous records many times over. In 2007, the company was again sold, this time to brand devotee David Richards. Richards, CEO of racing company Prodrive, has redirected the company’s resources to the construction of motor sport vehicles. The new Aston Martin Vantage is billed as the fastest and most agile model ever made in the range. Aston Martin vehicles have the distinction of being 007’s car of choice in many of the Bond movies, from Goldfinger (1964) to Quantum Solace (2008).