Aston Martin Lagonda Limited
is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon
, Warwickshire
. The company name is derived from the name of
one of the company's founders, Lionel
Martin, and from the Aston Hill
speed hillclimb near
Aston
Clinton
in Buckinghamshire
From 1994 until 2007 Aston Martin was part of the
Ford Motor Company, becoming part of the
company's
Premier Automotive
Group in 2000.
On 12 March 2007, it was purchased for £479
million (US$848 million) by a joint venture company, co-owned by
Investment Dar and Adeem Investment
of Kuwait
and English
businessman John Sinders. Ford retained a US$77 million
stake in Aston Martin, valuing the company at US$925 million.
History
Foundation
Photograph of Lionel Martin
Aston Martin Mk II 1935
Aston Martin 2-Litre 2/4-Seater Sports
1937
Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and
Robert Bamford. The two had joined forces as
Bamford & Martin the previous year to sell cars made by
Singer from premises in Callow Street,
London where they also serviced
GWK and
Calthorpe vehicles.
Martin raced specials
at Aston
Hill near Aston Clinton, and the pair decided to make their own
vehicles. The first car to be named
Aston Martin
was created by Martin by fitting a four-cylinder
Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of a
1908
Isotta-Fraschini.
They
acquired premises at Henniker Place in Kensington
and produced their first car in March 1915.
Production could not start because of the outbreak of
World War I, and Martin joined the
Admiralty and Bamford the
Royal Army Service Corps. All
machinery was sold to the
Sopwith Aviation Company.
Inter war years
After the war the company was refounded at Abingdon 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 cars to compete in the French Grand
Prix
, and the cars set world speed and endurance records
at Brooklands
. Three works Team Cars with 16 valve
twin cam engines were built for
racing and record breaking: chassis number 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. Approximately 55 cars were built for sale in two
configurations,
long chassis
and short chassis. The company went bankrupt in 1924 and was bought
by Lady Charnwood, who put her son John Benson on the board. The
company failed again in 1925 and the factory closed in 1926, with
Lionel Martin leaving.
Later that year, Bill Renwick, Augustus (Bert) Bertelli and a
number of rich investors, including Lady Charnwood, took control of
the company and renamed it Aston Martin Motors, and moved it to the
former Whitehead Aircraft Limited works in Feltham.Renwick and
Bertelli had been in partnership some years and had developed an
overhead cam 4 cylinder engine, using Renwick's patented combustion
chamber design, and had tested it in an Enfield Allday chassis. It
was the only 'Renwick and Bertelli' motor car made. It was known as
'Buzzbox' and survives to this day.
They had planned to sell this engine to motor manufacturers, but
having heard that the Aston Martin car was no longer in production
they realised that they could capitalise on the reputation of the
Aston Martin name (what we would now call the brand) to give
themselves a head start in the production of a completely new
car.
Between the years 1926 and 1937 Bertelli was the technical director
of Aston Martin, and the designer of all subsequent Aston Martin
cars during this period, these being known as the 'Bertelli cars'.
They included the 1 1/2 litre 'T-type', the 'International, the 'Le
Mans, the 'MKII' its racing derivative the 'Ulster, and the 2 litre
15/98 and its racing derivative the 'Speed Model'.
Mostly open two seater sports cars and mostly bodied by Bert
Bertelli's brother Enrico (Harry)a small number of long chassis
four seater tourers, dropheads and saloons were also
produced.
Bertelli was very keen to race his cars and he was a very competent
driver. One of the very few motor manufacturers to actually sit in
and race the cars he designed and built, the competition no doubt
'improved the breed' and the 'LM' team cars were very successful in
national and international motor racing including at Le Mans and
the Mille Miglia.
Financial problems reappeared in 1932 and the company was rescued
by L. Prideaux Brune who funded it for the following year before
passing the company on to Sir Arthur Sutherland. In 1936, the
company decided to concentrate on road cars. Car production had
always been on a small scale and until the advent of
World War II halted work only about 700 had
been made. During the war years aircraft components were
made.
The David Brown era
1958 Aston Martin DB Mark III
In 1947,
David Brown Limited
bought the company under the leadership of managing director Sir
David Brown—its "post-war
saviour". David Brown also acquired
Lagonda
that year, and both companies shared resources and workshops.
In 1955,
David Brown bought the Tickford
coachbuilding company and its site at Tickford Street in Newport Pagnell
, and that was the beginning of the classic series
of cars bearing the initials "DB". In 1950, the company
announced the
DB2, followed by the
DB Mark III in 1957 and the
Italian-styled 3.7 L
DB4 in
1958. All the cars established a good racing pedigree for the firm,
but the DB4 was the key to establishing the company's reputation,
which was cemented by the famous
DB5 in 1963. The company continued
developing the "grand touring" style with the
DB6 (1965–70), the
DBS, and the
DBS
V8 (1967–72).
1970s — Changing ownership
Despite the cars' appreciation in value, the company was often
financially troubled.
In 1972, it was sold to a company called
Company Developments Ltd., backed by a Birmingham
-based consortium, and chaired by chartered accountant and company
director William Willson,
(MBE). The company was resold, following a further
bankruptcy event, by the Receiver in 1975 to North American
businessmen Peter Sprague and George Minden for £1.05 Million. A
successful turn-around strategy led to the recruitment of 360 new
employees and, by 1977, a trading profit of £750,000. The new
owners pushed the company into modernising its line, producing the
V8 Vantage in 1977,
the convertible
Volante in 1978, and
the one-off
William Towns-styled
Bulldog in 1980. Towns also
styled the futuristic new
Lagonda saloon, based on the V8
model.
In 1980 Aston-Martin had plans, which did not materialize, to buy
MG, which they would have utilized as a
sister marque, probably building smaller sports cars. Ideas were
plotted to design a new model and they revealed to the press their
approach to an 'updated' '1981' model
MGB.
The company was badly hit by the economic contraction of the early
1980s as worldwide sales of Aston Martin shrank to three per week
and chairman
Alan Curtis together with
fellow shareholders American
Peter
Sprague and Canadian
George Minden
came close to shutting down the production side of the business, to
concentrate on service and
restoration.
At this point Curtis
attended the 1980 Pace sponsored Stirling
Moss benefit day at Brands Hatch
, and met fellow Farnham
resident
Victor Gauntlett.
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 the sales team, and after
some development and a lot of publicity when it became the world’s
fastest 4-seater production car, was able to sell with success the
Aston Martin Lagonda into
Persian Gulf states, particularly Oman
, Kuwait and Qatar
.
Understanding it would take some time to develop new Aston Martin
products, they bought
Tickford to develop
automotive products for other companies. Products included a
Tickford Austin Metro, a
Tickford Ford Capri and even Tickford train
interiors, particularly on the
Jaguar
XJS. Pace continued sponsoring racing events, and now sponsored
all Aston Martin Owners Club events, taking a Tickford engined
Nimrod Group C car owned by AMOC President
Viscount Downe, which came third in the
Manufacturers Championship in both 1982 and 1983. It also finished
seventh in the
1982 24 Hours of
Le Mans race. However, sales of production cars were now at an
all time low of 30 cars produced in 1982.
As trading became tighter in the petroleum market, and Aston Martin
was requiring more time and money, Gauntlett agreed to sell
Hays/Pace to the
Kuwait
Investment Office in September 1983. As Aston Martin required
greater investment, he also agreed to sell his share holding to
American importer and Greek shipping tycoon
Peter Livanos, who invested via his joint
venture company with
Nick and
John Papanicalou, ALL Inc.
Gauntlett remained chairman of the AML company 55% owned by ALL,
with Tickford a 50/50 venture between ALL and CHI. The uneasy
relationship was ended when ALL exercised options to buy a larger
share in AML; CHI's residual shares were exchanged for CHI's
complete ownership of Tickford, which retained development of
existing Aston Martin projects. In 1984, Titan the main shipping
company of the Papanicolaou’s was in trouble, so Livanos's father
George bought out the Papanicolaou's shares in ALL, while Gauntlett
again became a shareholder with a 25% holding in AML. The deal
valued Aston Martin/AML at £2 million, the year it built its
10,000th car.
Although as a result Aston Martin had to make 60 members of the
workforce
redundant, Gauntlett bought a
stake in Italian styling house
Zagato, and
resurrected its collaboration with Aston Martin.
In 1986, Gauntlett negotiated the return of fictional British
secret agent
James Bond to Aston Martin.
Cubby Broccoli had chosen to recast
the character using actor
Timothy
Dalton, in an attempt to re-root the Bond-brand back to a more
Sean Connery-like feel. Gauntlett
supplied his personal pre-production
Vantage for use in the
filming of "
The Living
Daylights," and sold a Volante to Broccoli for use at his home
in America.
Gauntlett turned down the role of a KGB
colonel in
the film, however: "I would have loved to have done it but really
could not afford the time."
Although the company was doing well, Gauntlett knew it needed extra
funds to survive in the long term. In May 1987, Gauntlett and
Prince Michael of Kent were
staying at the home of Contessa Maggi, the wife of the founder of
the original
Mille Miglia, while
watching the revival event. Another house guest was
Walter Hayes, vice-President of
Ford of Europe. Despite problems over the
previous acquisition of
AC Cars, Hayes saw
the potential of the brand and the discussion resulted in
Ford taking a share holding in September 1987. In 1988,
having produced some 5,000 cars in 20 years, a revived economy and
successful sales of limited edition
Vantage, and 52
Volante Zagato coupes at £86,000
each; the company finally retired the ancient V8 and introduced the
Virage range - the first new
Aston launched in 20 years.
Although Gauntlett was contractually to stay as chairman for two
years, his racing interests took Aston back into sports car racing
in 1989 with limited European success. However, with engine rule
changes for the 1990 season and the launch of the new
Aston Martin Volante model, Ford
provided the limited supply of
Cosworth
engines to the
Jaguar cars racing team.
As the
"small Aston" DB7 would
require a large engineering input, Ford agreed to take full control
of Aston Martin, and Gauntlett handed over the company chairmanship
to Hayes in 1991. In 1992, the
Vantage version was announced,
and the following year the company renewed the DB range by
announcing the
DB7.
The Ford era
Ford placed Aston in the
Premier Automotive Group,
substantially invested in new manufacturing and quickly ramped up
production.
In 1994, Ford opened a new factory at
Banbury Road in Bloxham
. 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-engine
Vanquish.
At the
North American International Auto Show in Detroit,
Michigan
in 2003, Aston Martin introduced the AMV8 Vantage concept
car. Expected to have few changes before its introduction in
2005, the Vantage brought back the classic V8 engine to allow the
company to compete in a larger market.
2003 also saw the
opening of the Gaydon factory, the
first purpose-built factory in Aston Martin's history. Also
introduced in 2003 was the
DB9
coupé, which replaced the ten-year-old
DB7. A
convertible
version of the DB9, the
DB9 Volante, was
introduced at the 2004 Detroit Auto Show. In 2006, the
V8 Vantage sports car entered
production at the Gaydon factory, joining the DB9 and DB9
Volante.
In December 2003 Aston Martin announced it would return to motor
racing in 2005. A new division was created, called
Aston Martin Racing, which became
responsible, together with
Prodrive, for
the design, development, and management of the DBR9 program.
The DBR9
competes in the GT class in sports car
races, including the world-famous 24 Hours of
Le Mans
.
Sale by Ford
In 2006, under mounting financial pressure, an internal review of
costs and realisable value on investment led Ford to consider
divesting itself of parts of its
Premier Automotive Group. After
suggestions of selling
Jaguar Cars,
Land Rover or
Volvo
Cars, Ford appointed
UBS AG to sell Aston
Martin by
auction. At the end of August
2006, Ford announced that it would be willing to sell all or part
of Aston Martin. Bill Ford said: "As part of our on going strategic
review, we have determined that Aston Martin may be an attractive
opportunity to raise capital and generate value".
The first round of the auction closed on 30 November 2006. One of
the four survivors was Syrian-born billionaire
Simon Halabi, while the Australian bid included
James Packer, Australia's second
richest man. The German auto newspaper
Autobild reported
on 2 February 2007 that the luxury goods conglomerate
LVMH had bought the company for an undisclosed sum. The
paper cited "anonymous, but well-placed sources" with the
information. It was later reported by Autocar magazine that LVMH
had denied the news as "rubbish".
2007 — A new era begins
On 12 March 2007 a consortium led by
Prodrive chairman
David Richards purchased Aston
Martin for £475m/$848m.
Prodrive has no
financial involvement in the deal. Ford will keep a stake in the
company (valued at
£ 40 million /
$ 70 million).
The consortium also
consisted of John Sinders, an Aston Martin collector; and two
Kuwaiti investment companies, Investment Dar and Adeem
Investment Co.
On 19
July 2007 the last car, a Vanquish S, was produced at the Newport
Pagnell plant. Nearly 13,000 cars had been made
there since 1955. All production was concentrated at Gaydon, with
the old premises in Tickford Street remaining in Aston Martin
ownership as the restoration and service department.
Aston
Martin has also boosted its worldwide appeal by opening more
dealers in Europe, as well as branches in
China
for the first time in its 93 year history in
Beijing and Shanghai. This has brought their dealership
programme to 120 dealers in 28 countries.
On 1 September 2008, Aston Martin announced the revival of the
Lagonda marque. A concept will be shown in
2009, coinciding with the brand's 100th anniversary. The first
production cars should come in 2012.
In December 2008, Aston Martin announced that it would cut its 1850
workforce by 600.
2009 — Return to Le Mans
In January 2009 it was announced that the company was entering the
2009 Le Mans 24 Hours race as a factory team in the prestigious
LMP1 division. After competing throughout the 2008 season with a
Lola B08/60 LMP1 Coupe under the Charouz Racing banner, Aston
Martin will use a slightly modified Lola LMP1 design for their
programme. Three Lola-Aston Martins have been entered in the 2009
Le Mans 24 Hours by Aston Martin but only two have been confirmed
with sponsorship. Aston Martin will also compete in the complete Le
Mans series with the Lola-Aston Martin LMP cars, starting at
Barcelona in early April. The programme got off to an unfortunate
start at the pre season Paul Ricard test on March 8 when Tomas Enge
destroyed the 007 car in an accident. Aston Martin Racing have
subsequently taken delivery of a new Lola to replace the written
off chassis.
Aston Martins in film and culture
Models
image: 
.jpg|1967 - 1989 one-77image:
Aston_Martin_DBS_V8_and_Series_II.jpg|1967 - 1989 DBS and later V8sImage:2001DB7.jpg|2001 Aston Martin
DB7
Vantageimage:aston.db9.coupe.300pix.jpg|2004 Aston Martin DB9 coupéImage:Aston Martin DB
AR1.jpg|DB AR1
roadsterImage:Amvanquish.jpg|Aston Martin V12 Vanquishimage:Zagato_Paris.JPG|2003
DB7 Zagato (coupé) and
(roadster)image:Aston_Martin_DB9_Volante.JPG|2006 Aston Martin
DB9 Volante (convertible)image:Aston
Martin V8 Vantage 001.JPG|2007 V8
Vantage
Aston Martin's model naming can be confusing to the uninitiated. In
general, high performance models use the
Vantage name, while
convertibles are called Volante. The current V8 and V12 Vantage
series is an exception to this however, as it is a range of its own
rather than a higher performance version of another car.
Pre-war cars
- 1921-1925 Aston Martin Standard Sports
- 1927-1932 Aston Martin First Series
- 1929-1932 Aston Martin International
- 1932-1932 Aston Martin International Le Mans
- 1932-1934 Aston Martin Le
Mans
- 1933-1934 Aston Martin 12/50 Standard
- 1934-1936 Aston Martin Mk II
- 1934-1936 Aston Martin Ulster
- 1936-1940 Aston Martin 2 litre Speed Models (23 built) The last
8 were fitted with C-type bodywork
- 1937-1939 Aston Martin 15/98
Post-war Sports and GT cars
Other
Current models
Future models
- Rapide - Addition to the
range in 2009 - a long, 4-seater Grand Tourer
- Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS (600bhp) - Announced at the
official opening of Aston Martin's first-ever dedicated design
centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire, on Tuesday 11 December 2007.
- Cygnet, based on the Toyota
iQ.
Race cars
- See also: List
of Formula One constructors, Aston Martin Racing
Whole race cars (post-war)
Engine supply only
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key)
See also
Notes
- BBC News Article
- Lionel Walker Birch Martin (1878 – 14 October, 1945) was a Cornishman
- TLD - Press (Allies/MI6) -
thegoldengun.co.uk
- ClassicInside - The ClassicDriver
Newsletter
- Keeping the best of British running -
smh.com.au
- motorauthority.com
- Syrian in last four for Aston Martin - Times
Online
- Packer sets his cap at Aston Martin -
Telegraph
- 00-Heaven! Bond's Car British Again |Sky
News|Home
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056869/trivia
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