Aston Martin

Founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, Aston Martin made wind-in-the-hair sports cars. The stories of Aston Martin and Lagonda were linked inextricably after both marques were taken over by David Brown in 1947, but each had an illustrious career before then. The great days of Lagonda were in the 1920s when they made fine fast tourers, reminiscent of scaled-down Bentleys, and in the 1930s when they built powerful and handsome cars. Aston Martin was 'one of the greatest of all sports cars', to quote William Boddy and today it is one of the most respected car marques in the world. Like many other British motor manufacturers between the wars, Aston Martin never made a profit, but unlike others, it was never allowed to die. Aston Martin had an irresistible attraction for investors, who stepped in to bail it out with unswerving blind optimism. Stability only came with ownership by David Brown, whose DB initials marked out the best British sports cars of their day. Famous models included the DB5 or James Bond fame, to the DB9 in the 21st century. More changes of ownership after the 1970s sometimes threatened the survival of the marque, but the 21st century saw a fresh start for Aston Martin, and the revival of Lagonda.