Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury performance cars, whose headquarters are at Gaydon, Warwickshire, England. The company name is derived from the Aston Clinton hill climb and one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin. From 1994 until 2007 Aston Martin was part of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company. On 12 March 2007, it was purchased by a British consortium led by David Richards of Prodrive for £479 million.
Classics, DB9, DBS, Several, Vanquish, Vantage.
Author Ian Fleming gave his James Bond hero
Sean Connery
a DB Mark III in the seventh novel, Goldfinger. A long association between 007 and the marque began on screen with the silver DB5 that appears in Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965). This was James Bond's company car, and in GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Pierce Brosnan
appeared to have become his private car. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) a metallic-green DBS appears at the beginning and end of the movie. After an interlude with Lotus, Aston Martins were again used: a charcoal-grey V8 Volante and Vantage in The Living Daylights (1987). After switching to BMW for several films, the Vanquish appeared in Die Another Day (2002). In Casino Royale
(2006) with Daniel Craig, James Bond drives both the classic DB5 which becomes his personal vehicle after winning a poker game, and the new DBS which is revealed to be his new company car in Bond 22. In the film Gorgeous (1999)
Jackie Chan drives an Aston Martin.
Rowan Atkinson's own DB7 Vantage was used in Johnny English (2003).
Aston Martin's model naming can be confusing to the uninitiated. In general, high performance models use the Vantage name, while convertibles are called Volante. Rapide - Addition to the range in 2007 - a long, 4-seater Grand Tourer. A DBX model was mentioned on the call announcing the sale of Aston Martin to the consortium led by David Richards and CEO, Ulrich Bez. No further details were provided. The DBX was later revealed to be a possible new flagship for Aston Martin based on the Zagato and compete against the Mercedes McLaren SLR, with speed over 205 mph and a V12 mid engine tuned to produce 700 bhp.
Although Gauntlett was contractually to stay as chairman for two years, his racing interests took Aston back into sports car racing in 1989 with limited European success. However, with engine rule changes for the 1990 season and the launch of the new Aston Martin Volante model, Ford provided the limited supply of Cosworth engines to the Jaguar cars racing team. As the "small Aston" DB7 would require a large engineering input, Ford agreed to take full control of Aston Martin, and Gauntlett handed over the company chairmanship to Hayes in 1991. In 1992, the Vantage version was announced, and the following year the company renewed the DB range by announcing the DB7.
On 12 March 2007 a consortium led by Prodrive chairman David Richards purchased Aston Martin for £475m/USD$848m. Prodrive has no financial involvement in the deal. Ford will keep a stake in the company (valued at GBP 40 million / USD 70 million). The consortium also consisted of John Sinders, an Aston Martin collector; and two Kuwaiti investment companies, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. On 19 July 2007 the last car, a Vanquish S, was produced at the Newport Pagnell plant. Nearly 13,000 cars had been made there since 1955. All production was concentrated at Gaydon, with the old premises remaining in Aston Martin ownership as the restoration and service department. Aston Martin has also boosted its worldwide appeal by opening more dealers in Europe, as well as branches in China for the first time in its 93 year history in Beijing and Shanghai. This has brought their dealership programme to 120 dealers in 28 countries.
