Over it's near 100 year history, Aston Martin has provided it's numerous owners with fluctuating fortunes (they first went bust way back in 1925) but the appeal of their powerful, hand built sports cars has always ensured that the company survived.
Founded in 1914 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin (the 'Aston' name comes from a hill climb in which they competed) the company had racing aspirations from the off with class successes coming at Le Mans.
The classic road cars really began with the DB1 in 1948, followed in 1951 by the DB2 - the first to wear the 'Vantage' badge, being the most powerful derivative in the range. However, it was the DB5 that gave Aston Martin international fame after it featured in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger.
The famous Aston V8 first appeared in the DBS in 1969 and was subsequently fitted into the powerful V8 Vantage, the fastest car of it's day, with a near 20 year production span. The unit also saw life in Aston's first true supercar the 186mph Vantage Zagato of 1986.
In 1987, Aston moved to a higher level under new owners Ford. The gorgeous DB7 showed the way, followed by the Vanquish, DB9 and highly desirable V8 Vantage - all of them vying for their respective best in class. It is a tribute to the new marketability of Aston Martin that Ford has announced they are up for sale to boost Ford's own flagging fortunes.
No comments:
Post a Comment