Aston MartinAston 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.[2] They acquired premises at Henniker Place in Kensington and produced their first car in March 1915. Production could not start because 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.
Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. In 1915, they produced their first cars. But World War One meant everything had to be put on hold.
Again after the war, a new company was founded in Kensington. The new car carried the the Aston-Martin name. But the company soon had problems, going bankrupt in 1924. Lady Charnwood took control but the company again failed in 1925.
In 1926, a new group of investors took control and renamed the company to Aston Martin Motors. The company moved its plant to Feltham. Despite continued problems and changes of ownership the company survived and during World War Two produced aircraft components.
In 1947, David Brown Limited took control of Aston Martin. In 1972, a Birmingham-based consortium took control and later in 1975 sold out to a North American partnership. In 1993, Ford took full control of the company.
Aston’s situation in the late 1960’s prompted it to expand into the luxury saloon market by reviving the dormant Lagonda nameplate. David Brown hired ex-Rover and Rootes stylist William Townes to put the then-radical wedge shape into a 4-door sedan for the sporting set. By its launch in 1974, noted Gary Axon in Classic and Sports Car magazine, Aston had spent so much on developing the car that it was “destitute.” This time, an American-Canadian investment group, led by Peter Sprague and George Minden bought the company, renamed it Aston Martin Lagonda (1975) Limited, and moved ahead to begin filling the orders that came from the London Auto Show.
Yet another ownership change occurred in 1981 when Victor Gauntlett and Pace Petroleum saved the company financially. While the overall outline of the Lagonda never really changed, numerous details and improvements continued to captivate its wealthy US and Middle Eastern buyers. Only around 1,300 cars ever saw production from 1980 – 1990, when Aston Martin – again near bankruptcy – pulled the plug. Enter Ford in 1987; its own financial problems forced it to sell this division this month.
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. 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, 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 Citroën plant in Feltham. Benson brought in Augusto Bertelli as designer. The 1929 Aston Martin International was a successful racer and was followed by the Le Mans and the Ulster. 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.
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 racing DB3 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).
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