Ever since the company was founded, the Aston Martin brand has been associated with both the world of racing and absolute luxury. Performing exceptionally well in both areas, the company are now revered as one of the most illustrious car brands in the world, regularly producing some of the most powerful, sumptuous and beautiful looking cars from any car manufacturer around the globe.
Whether you're an avid Aston Martin fan or not, these 7 facts are taken from various points throughout the company's intriguing history.
1. The full name of the company is Aston Martin Lagonda Limited and was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Initially called Bamford and Martin (the duo started creating cars a year earlier), the Aston part of the company name comes from the Aston Hill race track where Lionel Martin competed in several races.
2. Owned by Martin and Bamford for over three decades, the company was taken over by David Brown Limited in 1947. This take over is widely considered to be the aspect that saved the company after World War II and it was also the time when Aston Martin added Lagonda to their name, as David Martin took over the Lagonda company in the same year.
3. Throughout the 1970s, the company changed hands several times, largely because of financial troubles.
Starting with Company Developments Ltd taking over in 1972, three years later in 1975 and the company was sold to Peter Sprague and George Minden who ran the company for five years until 1980 when Victor Gauntlett and Tim Hearley took over in 1980.
4. The Gauntlett and Hearley era is one of the most prominent in the car manufacturer's history, for a variety of different reasons. For example, the 1980s saw Aston Martin thrown into the mainstream limelight as a pre-production Vantage was included in the James Bond film 'The Living Daylights', whilst later on in the decade, the company re-entered several mainstream racing events.
In addition, the first new model to hit Aston Martin dealers was in 1988, when the Virage models began to be manufactured.
5. Further to Ford purchasing a substantial share in the company in 1987 (according to the April 2003 edition of the Classic Driver newsletter), they took full control of the company in 1991, which they retained for 15 years until they put the company up for auction in 2006.
6. After a year of auctions, consisting of different rounds (the first of which closed on 30 November 2006), Aston Martin was bought by David Richards, backed by a consortium, on 12 March 2007 for a reported fee of 475 million pounds.
7. Throughout the manufacturer's history, they have produced a vast array of different car models and whilst all being aimed at the high end of the car market, have almost all sold well and been fantastically received.
The current model lineup consists of seven different cars - the V8 Vantage, V8 Vantage Roadster, V12 Vantage, DB9, DB9 Volante, DBS V12 and DBS Volante.
Author Resource:-
Jardine Motors Group UK operates a large portfolio of specialist franchises of the world's most prestigious marques, including Aston Martin dealers.
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