Aston Martin Cars

The Aston Martin brand was born and bred in England, and the company specializes in building cars that place emphasis equally on understated elegance and discreet, but high performance. The Aston Martin lineup is very small, but very specialized; on it, you will only find high-performance vehicles. The brand has made its name as a producer of high-line, curve-hugging, sleek cars. Here, you will learn more about the history of Aston Martin cars.

Aston Martin was founded in 1914 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. The two men had enjoyed some success in the selling of Singer race cars, but they wanted to build cars themselves. The brand was named after one of its founders and a hill climb called Aston Clinton, where the founders' Singer racers competed.

At its start, Aston Martin was known almost exclusively in racing. By the twenties, the brand had made its way overseas, as a participant in the Grand Prix of France; it also ran in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Aston Martin had its share of struggles in the late 20s and early 30s, as it changed hands more than once. However, the Aston Martin brand established its reputation with race vehicles like the 1934 Ulster.

After the war, the Aston Martin brand changed hands yet again. It was sold off to David Brown, who was an industrialist and owner of a tractor company. In 1947, after Brown bought the company, he decided to introduce some new models. The first of those was the DB1 of 1948, and that model was quickly followed by the DB2 and DB3.

The Fifties saw the Aston Martin brand as a winner on the race track; the DB2 had a podium finish in the appropriate class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As the 50s ended, Aston Martin introduced the DB4, which won at the Nurburgring, the RAC Tourist Trophy, and the World Sportscar Championship.

During the 60s, the car company began producing the DB5. The coupe looked good enough to be on the silver screen, and it was the chosen vehicle for James Bond (played by Sean Connery) in Goldfinger. By the time that decade ended, Aston Martin had expanded to include the DB6 (the brand's first four-seater) and the DBS V8.

The 1970s saw Aston Martin go through some trying times, as the brand was sold yet again in 1972. The company did manage to launch one new model, the V8 Vantage, in 1977. In 1987, the company was bought out by Ford Motor Company, who invested millions of dollars into R&D in order to restore the Aston Martin brand to the glory it had in the past.

By the Nineties, Ford's efforts were paying off quite well. The DB7 launched in the middle of the decade, and met both critical and consumer acclaim. The company's fortunes continued to rise as the 2000s went on, with the introduction of the Vanquish V12, the V8 Vantage, and the DB9. However, Ford's financial woes led to its sale in 2007 to an investment group; the most recent models include the DBS and the Rapide. The current Aston Martin lineup includes some of the most desirable cars in the world.