Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with expensive grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional character James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger. Their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to Charles III since 1982, and has over 160 car dealerships in 53 countries, making it a global automobile brand. The company is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. In 2003 it received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. The company has survived seven bankruptcies throughout its history.
| Website | astonmartinlagonda.com |
|---|
The headquarters and main production of its sports cars and grand tourers are in a 22-hectare (55-acre) facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England, on the former site of RAF Gaydon, adjacent to the Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon Centre. The old 3.6-acre facility in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire is the present home of the Aston Martin Works classic car department, which focuses on heritage sales, service, spares and restoration operations. The 36-hectare (90-acre) factory in St Athan, Wales features three converted ‘super-hangars’ from MOD St Athan, and serves as the production site of Aston Martin’s first-ever SUV, the DBX. Aston Martin plans on building electric vehicles on both its Gaydon and St Athan factories by 2025.
Aston Martin has been involved in motorsport at various points in its history, mainly in sports car racing and also in Formula One. The Aston Martin brand is increasingly being used, mostly through licensing, on other products including a submarine, real estate development, and aircraft.
COMPANY HISTORY 1913 – 1920
An icon is born
A rich and prestigious heritage defines aston martin as something truly unique within automotive history.
Founded in 1913 by robert bamford and lionel martin as ‘bamford & martin ltd’, the company has developed into an iconic brand synonymous with luxury and elegance. 1914 saw the birth of the name ‘aston martin’ following one of lionel martin’s successful runs at the aston hill climb in buckinghamshire, england. Within a year the first aston martin had been built and registered with the name and by 1920 the business had relocated to kensington.
COMPANY HISTORY 1922 – 1928
Racing debut
Competing in the 1922 french grand prix saw aston martin take its first historic steps in overseas competition with two cars completing the race.
Financial problems plagued the company over the next decade with the business forced to close in 1925 only to be rescued by a group of investors in 1926, forming ‘aston martin motors ltd’.
The business was soon on a sound footing, with a competitive range of sports cars and an increasing reputation for engineering and design. This progress lead to the first entry of an aston martin in the le mans 24-hr race in 1928.
COMPANY HISTORY 1930 – 1939
Production increases
Aston martin won great acclaim at le mans, when the 1.5l model took a clean sweep of the podium places within its class at the 1933 race.
Road car production numbers continued to increase throughout the 1930s with 140 cars being built in 1937, the highest pre-war figure.
1939 saw the production of the aston martin atom, an avant-garde prototype developed using an early form of space-frame chassis and independent suspension – a further development of aston martin’s engineering excellence.”
*Information from Astonmartin.com
**Video published on YouTube by “ Alux.com“
