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Home , Aston Martin, Aston Martin DB2, Aston Martin DB4, Aston Martin DB5, Aston Martin DB6, Aston Martin DB7

Aston Martin Limited is a British manufac- turer of luxury sports and grand tourers. IIt wwaass founded in 1913 by and Robert Bamford.rd. The firm became associated with luxury grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional char- acter following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger .. The company has had a chequered financial history, in- cluding 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 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 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 , 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 , which went on to set world speed and endurance records at .. 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 , and the ited works in . 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 . 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 -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 . modernising its line, producing the V8 Vantage in 1977, Financial problems reappeared in 1932. The company the 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 concen- trate on service and restoration. At this point Curtis at- tended the1980 Pacesponsored StirlingMossbenefit day at 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 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. -designed engine. Both companies shared Appointment bythe Prince of . 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 , in an attempt to re-root the Bond- the coachbuilding company which Aston Mar- back to a more -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 , and sold a Volante to included a Tickford , 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 were theManufacturersChampionshipin both 1982 and1983. staying at the home of Contessa Maggi, the wife of the It also finished seventh in the 1982 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 , all-time low of 30 cars produced in 1982. vice-President of . 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 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. Virage range—the first new Aston launched in 20 years. Gauntlett remained chairman of the AML company 55% Although Gauntlett was contractually to stay as chairman owned by ALL, with Tickford a 50/50 venture between for two years, his racing interests took Aston back into ALL and CHI. The uneasy relationship was ended when racing in 1989 with limited European success. ALL exercised options to buy a larger share in AML; However, with engine rule changes for the 1990 season CHI’s residual shares were exchanged for CHI’s complete and the launch of the new Aston Martin Volante model, ownership of Tickford, which retained development of Ford provided the limited supply of engines to existing Aston Martin projects. In 1984, Titan the main the racing team. As the “small Aston” DB7 shipping company of the Papanicolaou’s was in trouble, would require a large engineering input, Ford agreed to so Livanos’s father George bought out the Papanicolaou’s take full control of Aston Martin, and Gauntlett handed shares in ALL, while Gauntlett again became a share- over the company chairmanship to Hayes in 1991.[18] In holder with a 25% holding in AML. The deal valued 1992, the Vantage version was announced, and the fol- Aston Martin/AML at £2 million, the year it built its [15] lowing year the company renewed the DB range by an- 10,000th car. nouncing the DB7. Although as a result Aston Martin had to make 60 mem- bers of theworkforceredundant, Gauntlett bought a stake in Italian styling house Zagato, and resurrected its collab- 1.6 Ford era oration with Aston Martin. Ford placed Aston in the , in- vested in new manufacturing and ramped up production. In 1994, Ford opened a new factory at Banbury Road in . In 1995, the company produced a record 700 vehicles. Until the Ford era, cars had been produced by hand coachbuilding craft methods, such as the English wheel. In 1998 the 2,000th DB7 was built, and in 2002 the 6,000th, exceeding production of all previous DB models. The DB7 range was boosted by the addition of V12 Vantage models in 1999, and in 2001 the company introduced the V12-engined . At the North American International Auto Show in De- troit, Michigan in 2003, Aston Martin introduced the Vantage from The Living Daylights AMV8 Vantage . Expected to have few changes before its introduction in 2005, the Vantage In 1986, Gauntlett negotiated the return of fictional brought back the classic V8 engine to allow the company British secret agent James Bond to Aston Martin. Cubby to compete in a larger market. 2003 also saw the open- 4 1 HISTORY in Aston Martin’s history. Also introduced in 2003 was production is now concentrated at on the former the DB9 coupé, which replaced the ten-year-old DB7. A RAF V-bomber airfield.[27] In March 2008 the company convertible version of the DB9, the DB9 Volante, was in- announced a partnership with to outsource troduced at the 2004 Auto Show. manufacture of over 2,000 cars annuallyto Graz, Austria, In October 2004, the company set up the dedicated reassuringly stating: “The continuing growth and success 12,500 square metres (135,000 sq ft) AMEP engine pro- of the company is based upon Gaydon as the focal point duction plant within the Niehl, Cologne andheart of thebusiness, with thedesign andengineering of all Aston Martin products continuing to be carried out plant. With capacity to produce up to 5,000 engines a [28] year by 100 specially trained personnel, like traditional there.” Aston Martin engine production from , More dealersinEuropeandthenew pair in China brought assembly of each unit is entrusted to a single technician the total to 120 in 28 countries.[29] from a pool of 30, with V8 and V12 variants assembled On 1 September 2008, Aston Martin announced the re- in under 20 hours. By bringing engine production back vival of the Lagonda marque, proposing a concept to be to within the company, the promise was that Aston Mar- shown in 2009 to coincide with thebrand’s 100th anniver- tin would be able to produce small runs of higher perfor- sary. The first production cars are slated for 2012. [30] mance variants engines.[19] This expanded engine capac- ity allowed in 2006, the V8 Vantage sports car to enter In December 2008, Aston Martin announced it would cut production at the Gaydon factory, joining the DB9 and its workforce from 1,850 to 1,250.[3] DB9 Volante. The first four-door sports cars In December 2003 Aston Martin announced it would re- rolled out of the Magna Steyr factory in Graz, Austria turn to motor racingin 2005. A new division was created, in 2010.[31] The contract manufacturer provides dedi- called , which became responsible, cated facilities to ensure compliance with the exacting together with , for the design, development, and standards of Aston Martin and other marques, includ- management of the DBR9 program. The DBR9 com- ing -Benz. has publicly speculated petes in the GT class in sports car races, including the about outsourcing all of Aston Martin’s operations with world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. the exception of marketing.[32] In September 2011 it was announced Rapide production would be returned to Gay- In 2006, an internal audit led Ford to consider divesting don in the second half of 2012, restoring all manufacture itself of parts of its Premier Automotive Group. After there.[33] suggestions of selling Jaguar Cars, Land , or Cars were weighed, Ford announced in August 2006 it had engaged UBS AG to sell all or part of Aston Martin at auction.[20]

1.7 2007—the Richards era 1.8 2012—Investindustrial stakeholding and new chief executive officer On 12 March 2007, a consortium led by Prodrive chair- man David Richards purchased Aston Martin for £475m (US$848m).[21] The group included American invest- In late 2012, Investment Dar reviewed its stake, with ment banker John Singers and two Kuwaiti companies, Mahindra & Mahindra emerging as a potential bidder Investment Dar and Adeem Investment;[22][23] Prodrive for as much as half of Aston Martin.[34][35] Instead, Ital- had no financial involvement in the deal.[24] Ford kept a ian private equity fund Investindustrial signed a deal on 6 stake in the company valued at £40m (US$70m). December 2012 to buy 37.5% of Aston Martin, invest- ing£150 million as a capitalincrease.[6][7][36][37] This was To demonstrate the V8 Vantage's durability across haz- confirmedby AstonMartinina pressreleaseon7 Decem- ardous terrainand promote the car inChina, the first east- ber 2012.[38] In April 2013 it was reported that Dr Ulrich west crossing of the Asian Highway was undertaken be- Bez would be leaving his role as chief executive officer to tween June and August 2007. A pair of Britons drove take up a more ambassadorial position[39] widely seen as 12,089 km (7,512 miles) from Tokyo to be- the first move by the new shareholders in reviewing the fore joining the European motorway network for another leadership and strategy of the company. On 2 Septem- 3,259 km (2,025 miles) to London. The promotion was ber 2014, Aston Martin announced they had appointed so successful the company opened dealerships in Shang- [40] [25] the executive Andy Palmer as their new CEO hai and Beijing within three months. with Ulrich Bez retaining a position as Non-Executive On 19 July 2007, the NewportPagnell plant rolled outthe Chairman. As sales had been declining, from 2015 As- last of nearly 13,000 cars made there since 1955, a Van- ton Martin sought new customers (particularly wealthy quish S. The Tickford Street facility was converted to As- female buyers) with cars like Lagonda and DBX while 2.3 Other 5

1.9 Relationship with Mercedes-AMG • 1989–2000

In 2013 Aston Martin signed a deal with Daimler AG • 1993–2000 to supply new Mercedes-AMG power plants for the next • 1996–2000 Aston Martin V8 /V8 Volante generation line up. Daimler AG now owns 5% of Aston [43] Martin. Mercedes-AMG will also supply Aston Mar- • 1993–2003 Aston Martin DB7/DB7 Vantage tin with electrical systems. This technical partnership will support Aston Martin’s launch of a new generation • 2001–2007 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish/Vanquish of models that will incorporate new technology and V8s. S

• 2002–2003 Aston Martin DB7 Zagato

2 Models • 2002–2004 Aston Martin DB AR1

• 2004– Aston Martin DB9 2.1 Pre-war cars

• 2005– Aston Martin V8 and V12 Vantage • 1921–1925 Aston Martin Standard Sports

• 2007–2012 Aston Martin DBS V12 • 1927–1932 Aston Martin First Series [44] • 2009–2012 Aston Martin One-77 • 1929–1932 Aston Martin International

• 2010– Aston Martin Rapide/Rapide S • 1932–1932 Aston Martin International Le Mans

• • 1932–1934 Aston Martin Le Mans 2011–2012 Aston Martin Virage/Virage Volante

• • 1933–1934 Aston Martin 12/50 Standard 2011–2013 Aston Martin Cygnet, based on the Toyota iQ[45][46] • 1934–1936 Aston Martin Mk II • 2012–2013 • 1934–1936 Aston Martin Ulster • 2012– Aston Martin Vanquish/Vanquish Volante • 1936–1940 Aston Martin 2-litre Speed Models (23 built) The last 8 were fitted with C-type bodywork 2.3 Other • 1937–1939 Aston Martin 15/98

• 1944 Aston Martin Atom (concept) 2.2 Post-war sports and GT cars • 1961–1964

• 1948–1950 Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports (DB1) • 1976–1989 Aston Martin Lagonda

• 1950–1953 Aston Martin DB2 • 1980 Aston Martin Bulldog (concept)

• 1953–1957 Aston Martin DB2/4 • 1993 Lagonda (concept)

• 1957–1959 Aston Martin DB Mark III • 2007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS (concept) • 1958–1963 Aston Martin DB4 • 2007–2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage N400 • 1961–1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato [47] • 2009 Aston Martin Lagonda SUV (concept) • 1963–1965 Aston Martin DB5 • 2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Carbon Black • 1965–1966 Aston Martin Short Chassis Volante Edition[48]

• 1965–1969 Aston Martin DB6 [48] • 2010 Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black Edition

• 1967–1972 Aston Martin DBS • 2013 Aston Martin Rapide Bertone Jet 2+2 (con-

• 1969–1989 Aston Martin V8 cept)

• [49] • 1977–1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage 2013 Aston Martin CC100 Speedster (concept)

• 1986–1990 Aston Martin V8 Zagato • 2015 Aston Martin DB10 (concept) 8.3 Content license 11

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