Luxury Car Brands: Aston Martin

Aston Martin or Aston Marin Lagonda Global Holdings is an independent manufacturer of luxury cars, sports cars, and grand tourers. Ever since they were established in 1913, the company has a history that is filled with several difficulties. Nevertheless, they proved that they can withstand the test of time because Aston Martin still exists as one of the world’s top luxury car manufacturers. That’s why, in this article, we are going to talk about the significant events that help Aston Martin achieve the status they have today.

Important Events in Aston Martin’s History

Aston Martin was founded by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, and the company was initially named “Bamford and Martin Limited Company in 1913. Both of them wanted to create their own cars, as Lionel Martin raced at Aston Hills in England. So when they established their own company, they quickly began creating a car that has a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine along with the chassis of a 1908 Isotta-Fraschini. They put all their time in deciding the name of their car, and they eventually came up with the name “Aston Martin.”

The name Aston came from the Aston Hills and Martin from, of course, Lionel Martin. After they decided on the name of the car, they soon decided to begin mass production. But because World War I started, they could not do it. That’s why Martin and Bamford waited until the war was over to re-establish their company and work on the new designs for their cars.

But for some unknown reasons, Robert Bamford decided to leave the company in 1920. It left Lionel Martin to find funding from different sources. After two years, Martin had the company going, and they started to participate in the French Grand Prix, where they broke records in speed and endurance. Unfortunately, Aston Martin’s success did not last long because they went bankrupt in 1924.

During that same year, Lady Charnwood, Augustus Bertelli, and Bill Renwick decided to buy the company and change the name of the company to Aston Martin Motors. But then again, they saw failure in 1925. A year after that, the Aston Martin factory closed, and Lionel Martin was forced to leave what he started as well. But Bill Renwick and Augustus Bertelli never gave up, and they decided to start building Aston Martin again.

1930-1960

The ‘30s were not a good decade for Aston Martin, even if they are under Bill and Augustus’ leadership, and the company once again experienced financial difficulties. That’s where L. PrideauxBrune decided to take over the company, but he soon passed it to Arthur Sutherland. And it was only during this time when the company started to mass-produce road-going Aston Martin cars.

But because World War II started, Aston Martin halted their car production, which once again resulted in financial difficulties. After the war, David Brown decided to take over the company and helped it get back on its feet. In 1950, Aston Martin announced their DB series, and eight years after that, they released the famous DB2/4 Mark II, DB Mark II, and DB2/4 cars.

1960-1980

All of the models that Aston Martin released in the ‘50s helped them to establish a strong reputation, especially in Britain. Which is why the company soon made a strong comeback in the car industry. In 1963, Aston Martin released its famous DB5 cars.

Since its founding, Aston Martin had encountered several financial difficulties. In addition to that, they also faced the same problems in the ‘70s. Unfortunately, they did not get the chance to recover from it successfully. In 1972, David Brown decided to sell Aston Martin to Company Developments. After three years, it was sold once again to another company.

This time, the company used a successful strategy. It recruited over 360 new employees, which led to another success for the company. In 1977, the new owners finally stopped Aston Martin’s grand tourer series and modernized their style. That’s why in 1978, Aston Martin introduced their convertible Volante, which was followed by the V8 Vantage in 1977.

1980-2000

In the ‘80s, Aston Martin decided to by the famous company, MG and they laid plans to produce a new car that has innovative designs and features, which led to the introduction upgraded version of the famous MGB. Unfortunately, this decision never moved forward because the company suffered severely because of the economic crisis that happened in the ‘80s, and they once again fell into failure.

At the end of the ‘80s, Pace Petroleum and Victor Gauntlett bought Aston Martin, and Ford purchased 75% of Aston Martin’s shares. And in the ‘90s, the Virage went into production. After three years, Ford Motor Company entirely took control of the company because they were able to purchase 100% of its shares. The ‘90s was considered to be the most successful era for Aston Martin.

Aston Martin was able to release and produce a handful of their famous models during Ford’s management, such as the DB7 Volante, DB7 Vantage, V8 Vantage Le Mans, V12 Vantage, DB9g Volante, V12 Vanquish. And in 2005, Aston Martin once again returned in the racing scene.

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