Aston Martin

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. IIt wwaass founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford.rd. The firm became associated with luxury grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional char- acter James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger .. The company has had a chequered financial history, including bankruptcy in the 1970s, but has also enjoyed Aston Martin 2-Litre 2/4-Seater Sports 1937 long periods of success and stability, including under the ownersershipofof David Brown, ffroromm 19194747 toto 19197272 anandd ofof ththee Ford Motor Company from 1994 to 2007. be named Aston Martin was created by Martin by fitting a In March 2007, a consortium of investors, led by David four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of Richards, purchchased 92% of AsAston Martin ffor £4799 a 1908 Isotta-Fraschini..[10][11] [4] millilion, wiwith FoFord reretaitaining a £40 millilion stastakeke.. They acquiuired prpremises at Henniker Mewsws[12] inin DaDavid RiRichchards became chchairairman of AsAston Martintin.. Kensington and produced their first car in March 1915. In In Decemember 2012, the ItaItalilian priprivavate eqequiuity ffund Production could not start because of the outbreak of [5] Investindustrial signed a deal to buy 37.5% of Aston World War I, and Martin joined the Admiralty and Bam- [6][7] Martin, investing £150 million as a capital increase. forford thethe Royal Army Service Corps. All machinery was sold to the Sopwith Aviation Company.. 1 1 Hisstotorryy 1.1.2 InInteter war yeyeararss After the war, the company was refounded at Abing- don Road, Kensington and a new car designed to carry the Aston-Martin name. Bamford left in 1920 and the company was revitalised with funding from Count Louis Zborowski. In 1922, Bamford & Martin produced carss to compete in the French Grand Prix, which went on to set world speed and endurance records at Brooklands.. Three works Team Cars with 16-valve twin cam engines weree builtlt fforor racingng and recrecord breaking: chassississ numberer 1914, later developed as the Green Pea; chassis number 1915, the Razor Blade record car; and chassis number 1916, later developed as the Halford Special.. Early Aston Martin marque Approximately 55 cars were built for sale in two config- urations, long chassis and short chassis. The company went bankrupt in 1924 and was bought by Lady Charn- 1.1.1 Foundiding wood, who put her son John Benson on the board. The company failed again in 1925 and the factory closed in Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and 1926, with Lionel Martin leaving. Robert Bamford..[8] The two had joined forces as Bam- Later that year, Bill Renwick, Augustus (Bert) Bertelli ford & Martin the previous year to sell cars made by and investors which included Lady Charnwood took con- Singer from premises in Callow Street, London where trol of the company. They renamed it Aston Martin Mo- they also serviced GWK and Calthorpe vehicles. Martin tors and moved it to the former Whitehead Aircraft Lim- raced specials at Aston Hill near Aston Clinton, and the ited works in Feltham. Renwick and Bertelli had been in 2 1 HISTORY cam four-cylinder engine using Renwick’s patented com- in 1958. bustion chamber design, which they had tested in an En- While these models helped Aston Martin establish a good field Allday chassis. The only “Renwick and Bertelli” racing pedigree, the DB4 stood out and yielded the fa- motor car made, it was known as “Buzzbox” and still sur- mous DB5 in 1963. The company stayed true to its vives. emerging "grand touring" style with the DB6 (1965–70), The pair had planned to sell their engine to motor manu- and DBS (1967–1972). facturers, but having heard that the Aston Martin was no The six-cylinder engines of these cars from 1954 up to longer in production realised they could capitalise on its 1965 were designed by Tadek Marek. reputation to jump start the production of a completely new car. Between1926 and1937 Bertelliwas both technical direc- 1.4 1970s—changing ownership toranddesigner of allnew AstonMartins, since known as “Bertelli cars”. They included the 1½-litre “T-type”, “In- The Aston Martin company was often financially trou- ternational”, “Le Mans”, “MKII” and its racing deriva- bled. In 1972, the firm was sold to Company Devel- tive, the “Ulster”, and the 2-litre 15/98 and its racing opments, a Birmingham-based consortium chaired by derivative, the “Speed Model”. Most were open two- William Wilson, MBE.[13] seater sports cars bodied by Bert Bertelli’s brother Enrico The company was resold in 1975 by its receiver follow- (Harry), with a small number of long-chassis four-seater ing a further bankruptcy to North American businessmen tourers, dropheads and saloons also produced. Peter Sprague and George Minden for £1.05 million.[14] Bertelli was a competent driver keen to race his cars, one A successful turn-around strategy led to the recruitment of few owner/manufacturer/drivers. The “LM” team cars of 360 new employees and, by 1977, a trading profit of were very successful in national and international motor £750,000.[14] The new owners pushed the company into racing including at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia. modernising its line, producing the V8 Vantage in 1977, Financial problems reappeared in 1932. The company the convertible Volante in 1978, and the one-off William was rescued for a year by L. Prideaux Brune before pass- Towns-styled Bulldog in 1980. Towns also styled the fu- ing it on to Sir Arthur Sutherland. In 1936, Aston Martin turistic new Lagonda saloon, based on the V8 model. decided to concentrate on road cars, producing just 700 In 1980 Aston-Martin sought to buy MG, planning to de- until World War II halted work. Production shifted to sign a new model and offering their take on an updated aircraft components during the war. 1981 model MGB. The acquisition never developed, as the company was badly hit by the economic contraction of the early 1980s. Worldwide sales shrank to three cars 1.3 David Brown era per week, promptingchairmanAlan Curtis, Sprague, and Minden to consider shutting down production to concentrate on service and restoration. At this point Curtis at- tended the1980 Pacesponsored StirlingMossbenefit day at Brands Hatch, and met fellow Farnham resident Victor Gauntlett. 1.5 1980s—Victor Gauntlett Gauntlett bought a 12.5% stake in Aston Martin for £500,000 via Pace Petroleum in 1980, with Tim Hearley of CH Industrials taking a similar share. Pace and CHI took over as joint 50/50 owners at the beginning of 1981, with Gauntlett as executive chairman. Gauntlett also led 1958 Aston Martin DB Mark III the sales team, and after some development and public- ity when it became the world’s fastest 4-seater production In 1947, tractor manufacturer David Brown Limited car, was able to sell the Aston Martin Lagonda in Oman, bought the company under the leadership of managing Kuwait, and Qatar.[15] director Sir David Brown—its “post-war saviour”. The company also acquired Lagonda that year for its 2.6-litre In 1982, Aston Martin was granted a Royal Warrant of W. O. Bentley-designed engine. Both companies shared Appointment bythe Prince of Wales. The companyholds resources and workshops, leading to the classic “DB” se- the warrant to this day. ries of cars. In 1950, the company announced the DB2, Understanding that it would take some time to develop followed by the DB2/4 in 1953, the DB2/4 MkII in 1955, new Aston Martin products, they created an engineer- 1.6 Ford era 3 other companies. It was decided to use the name of Timothy Dalton, in an attempt to re-root the Bond-brand the coachbuilding company Tickford which Aston Mar- back to a more Sean Connery-like feel. Gauntlett sup- tin had owned since 1955, the name being already associ- plied his personal pre-production Vantage for use in the ated with quality cars in the public perception. Products filming of The Living Daylights , and sold a Volante to included a Tickford Austin Metro, a Tickford Ford Capri Broccolifor useat hishome inAmerica. Gauntlett turned and even Tickford train interiors, particularly on the down the role of a KGB colonel in the film, however: “I Jaguar XJS.[15] Pace continued sponsoring racing events, would have loved to have done it but really could not af- andnow sponsored allAston Martin OwnersClub events, ford the time.”[16] takinga Tickford-enginedNimrodGroup C carownedby The company needed funds to survive in the long term. AMOC President Viscount Downe, which came third in In May 1987, Gauntlett and Prince Michael of Kent were theManufacturersChampionshipin both 1982 and1983. staying at the home of Contessa Maggi, the wife of the It also finished seventh in the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans founder of the original Mille Miglia, while watching the race. However, sales of production cars were now at an [15] revival event. Another house guest was Walter Hayes, all-time low of 30 cars produced in 1982. vice-President of Ford of Europe. Despite problems over As trading became tighter in the petroleum market, the previous acquisition of AC Cars, Hayes saw the po- and Aston Martin was requiring more time and money, tential of the brand and the discussion resulted in Ford Gauntlett agreed to sell Hays/Pace to the Kuwait Invest- taking a share holding in September 1987.[17] In 1988, ment Office in September 1983. As Aston Martin re- having produced some 5,000 cars in 20 years, a revived quired greater investment, he also agreed to sell his share economy and successful sales of limited edition Vantage, holding to American importer and Greek shipping ty- and 52 Volante Zagato coupes at £86,000 each; the com- coon Peter Livanos, who invested via his joint venture pany finally retired the ancient V8 and introduced the company with Nick and John Papanicolaou, ALL Inc.

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