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93-573: In 1922 Bamford & Martin company (that later became Aston Martin ) produced cars to compete at the Brooklands racing circuit, for Grand Prix racing, and to set world speed and endurance records. Two works Team Cars with 16-valve twin-cam engines were built for racing, a record car known as the Razor Blade was built, and a number of other cars were built for customers for racing. One of these customer cars, chassis number 1916, registration number OR1,

186-511: A 12.5% stake in Aston Martin for £500,000 via Pace Petroleum in 1980, with Tim Hearley of CH Industrials taking a similar share. Pace and CHI took over as joint 50/50 owners at the beginning of 1981, with Gauntlett as executive chairman. Gauntlett also led the sales team, and after some development and publicity when the Lagonda became the world's fastest four-seater production car, was able to sell

279-503: A London businessman, who insisted to reporters that Aston Martin remained a British controlled business. Sprague later claimed he had fallen in love with the factory, not the cars, the workforce's craftsmanship dedication and intelligence. At this point, he and Minden had brought in investor Alan Curtis, a British office property developer, together with George Flather, a retired Sheffield steel magnate . Six months later, in September 1975,

372-628: A Tickford Austin Metro , a Tickford Ford Capri and even Tickford train interiors, particularly on the Jaguar XJS . Pace continued sponsoring racing events, and now sponsored all Aston Martin Owners Club events, taking a Tickford-engined Nimrod Group C car owned by AMOC President Viscount Downe , which came third in the Manufacturers Championship in both 1982 and 1983. It also finished seventh in

465-489: A bronze and steel foundry in Penistone where unemployment was severe. The new foundry used a new technique of steel casting and was a rapid success. As well as meeting his group's own needs the foundry made precision castings for a wide range of industries and use in aircraft airframes, aero engines, electricity power stations, oilfields and oil refineries. In 1929 he was made a director and after his uncle Percy's death in 1931

558-413: A consortium led by Prodrive chairman David Richards purchased Aston Martin for £475 million (US$ 848 million). The group included American investment banker John Sinders and two Kuwaiti companies namely Investment Dar and Adeem Investment . Prodrive had no financial involvement in the deal. Ford kept a stake in Aston Martin valued at £40 million (US$ 70 million). To demonstrate

651-531: A corner of Park Gear Works; however, they disagreed over design details, which led David Brown to design his own version, the David Brown VAK1, which was introduced to the market in 1939, with over 7,700 units eventually sold. Harry Ferguson went to America and did a deal with Henry Ford to incorporate his system in the Ford N-Series tractor , before setting up Ferguson Tractors . The Second World War saw

744-657: A full-year pre-tax profit of £87 million (compared with a £163 million loss in 2016) Aston Martin in August 2018 announced plans to float the company at the London Stock Exchange as Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc . The company was the subject of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange on 3 October 2018. In the same year, Aston Martin opened a new vehicle dynamics test and development centre at Silverstone's Stowe Circuit alongside

837-663: 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. The headquarters and main production of its sports cars and grand tourers are in a 55-acre (22 ha) facility in Gaydon , Warwickshire, England, on

930-524: A link with the company in his role as its honorary president. In his personal life, Brown played polo at Ham Polo Club in the summer and during the winter he spent most weekends hunting; he was joint Master of the South Oxford hounds. He also bred hunters and racehorses on his 700-acre farm in Buckinghamshire . His greatest success was his horse Linwell winning the 1957 Cheltenham Gold Cup . Brown

1023-472: A massive increase in the production of gears and gearboxes by David Brown Ltd for use in military equipment. The rising income from the company's traditional products and the manufacture of tractors made Brown a wealthy man. In late 1946, Brown saw a classified advertisement in The Times offering for sale a "High Class Motor Business". The asking price was £30,000. On inquiring further Brown discovered that

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1116-564: A new HQ in London. In June 2019, the company opened its new 90-acre (36 ha) factory in St Athan for the production of its first-ever SUV the DBX . The factory was finally completed and officially opened on 6 December 2019. When full production begins in the second quarter of 2020, around 600 people will be employed at the factory, rising to 750 when peak production is reached. On 31 January 2020 it

1209-498: A partnership with Magna Steyr to outsource manufacture of over 2,000 cars annually to Graz, Austria, reassuringly stating: "The continuing growth and success of Aston Martin is based upon Gaydon as the focal point and heart of the business, with the design and engineering of all Aston Martin products continuing to be carried out there." More dealers in Europe and the new pair in China brought

1302-433: A petrol car. This statement was disputed by electric vehicle researcher Auke Hoekstra, who argued that the report underestimated the emissions from combustion engine vehicles and did not consider the emissions from creating petrol. According to him, a typical EV would need to drive 16,000–18,000 miles (25,700–30,000 km) to offset the emissions from manufacture. Bosch and a number of other companies were also involved with

1395-569: A powerful Reading Standard 1,000 cc V-twin. He subsequently improved its performance by modifying the engine and raced it in weekend hill climb competitions at Axe Edge Moor in Derbyshire and at Sutton Bank in Yorkshire. After achieving the fastest time of the day at Axe Edge Moor he was invited to be a reserve rider for the official Douglas motorcycle team to complete at the upcoming next International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) . While he attended

1488-461: A pre-tax profit of £87 million compared with a £163 million loss in 2016. 2017 also marked the return of production of the Newport Pagnell facility ten years after it originally ceased. In December 2013, Aston Martin signed a deal with Mercedes-Benz Group (at the time known as Daimler) to supply the next generation of Aston Martin cars with Mercedes-AMG engines. Mercedes-AMG also

1581-579: A recession, AML cut back their workforce of 450 by more than 20%, making those people redundant. In January 1981, there having been no satisfactory revival partners, Alan Curtis and Peter Sprague announced they had never intended to maintain a long-term financial stake in Aston Martin Lagonda and it was to be sold to Pace Petroleum 's Victor Gauntlett . Sprague and Curtis pointed out that under their ownership AML finances had improved to where an offer for MG might have been feasible. Gauntlett bought

1674-473: A result of the poor sales, an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. In March 2021, executive chairman Lawrence Stroll stated that the company plans on building electric vehicles by 2025. In May 2022, Aston Martin named 76-year-old Amedeo Felisa as the new chief executive officer, replacing Tobias Moers. Roberto Fedeli was also announced as the new chief technical officer. In late 2020, Aston Martin

1767-660: A stake in 1987. Ford placed Aston Martin in the Premier Automotive Group , invested in new manufacturing and ramped up production. In 1994, Ford opened a new factory at Banbury Road in Bloxham to manufacture the DB7. In 1995, Aston Martin produced a record 700 cars. Until the Ford era, cars had been produced by hand coachbuilding craft methods, such as the English wheel . During the mid-1990s,

1860-513: A wider and deeper radiator was fitted and the car was renamed more simply the Halford Special. The second engine had twin magnetos mounted behind the two overhead camshafts and developed 120 bhp and is now installed back in the Halford Special. Frank Halford raced his car twice in 1925 and 12 times during 1926. The car was fitted with a Berk supercharger, manufactured by PressureVac Ltd., 18a North Parade, Bradford, Yorkshire. Halford then sold

1953-560: Is still used periodically in Vintage Sports Car Club and other events for historic racing cars. The car was involved in an accident at a VSCC race meeting at Silverstone in 2008 but is now restored back to original condition. Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC ( / ˈ æ s t ə n / ) is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers . Its predecessor

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2046-656: The 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans race. However, sales of production cars were now at an all-time low of 30 cars produced in 1982. As trading became tighter in the petroleum market, and Aston Martin was requiring more time and money, Gauntlett agreed to sell Hays/Pace to the Kuwait Investment Office in September 1983. As Aston Martin required greater investment, he also agreed to sell his share holding to American importer and Greek shipping tycoon Peter Livanos , who invested via his joint venture with Nick and John Papanicolaou, ALL Inc. Gauntlett remained chairman of AML, 55% of

2139-841: The Aston Martin DB2 . In late 1955, Brown acquired the coachbuilder Tickford . He subsequently concentrated all the Aston Martin and Lagonda manufacturing at the Tickford premises in Newport Pagnell . The legendary 'DB' series of Aston Martin cars, including the DB1 (2 Litre Sports) , the DB2 , the DB3 , the DB4 , the DB5 , the DB6 , and the DBS , were named after Brown using his initials. While at

2232-527: The DB6 (1965–70), and DBS (1967–1972). The six-cylinder engines of these cars from 1954 up to 1965 were designed by Tadek Marek . Aston Martin was often financially troubled. In 1972, David Brown paid off all its debts, said to be £5 million or more, and handed it for £101 to Company Developments, a Birmingham -based investment bank consortium chaired by accountant William Willson . More detail on this period may be read at Willson's biography . The worldwide recession , lack of working capital and

2325-781: The DB9 coupé, which replaced the ten-year-old DB7 . A convertible version of the DB9, the DB9 Volante , was introduced at the 2004 Detroit auto show . In October 2004, Aston Martin set up the dedicated 12,500 m (135,000 sq ft) Aston Martin Engine Plant (AMEP) within the Ford Germany Niehl, Cologne plant. With the capacity to produce up to 5,000 engines a year by 100 specially trained personnel, like traditional Aston Martin engine production from Newport Pagnell, assembly of each unit

2418-520: The Magna Steyr factory in Graz , Austria in 2010. The contract manufacturer provides dedicated facilities to ensure compliance with the exacting standards of Aston Martin and other marques, including Mercedes-Benz . Then CEO of the company, Ulrich Bez had publicly speculated about outsourcing all of Aston Martin's operations with the exception of marketing. In September 2011, it was announced that production of

2511-532: The Newport Pagnell plant rolled out the last of nearly 13,000 cars made there since 1955, a Vanquish S. The Tickford Street facility was converted and became the home of the Aston Martin Works classic car department which focuses on heritage sales, service, spares and restoration operations. UK production was subsequently concentrated on the 55-acre (22 ha) facility in Gaydon on the former RAF V Bomber airbase . In March 2008, Aston Martin announced

2604-521: The V8 Vantage in 1977, the convertible Volante in 1978, and the one-off Bulldog styled by William Towns in 1980. Towns also styled the futuristic new Lagonda saloon, based on the V8 model. Curtis, who had a 42% stake in Aston Martin, also brought about a change in direction from the usual customers who were Aston Martin fans, to successful young married businessmen. Prices had been increased by 25%. There

2697-500: The 100-year-old British brand consistently profitable. He stated, "In the first century we went bankrupt seven times. The second century is about making sure that is not the case." In preparation for its next-generation of sports cars, the company invested £20 million ($ 33.4 million) to expand its manufacturing plant in Gaydon. The expansion at the Gaydon plant includes a new chassis and pilot build facility, as well as an extension of

2790-533: The 1970s. A turbo diesel qualified on the pole at the Indy 500 in 1952, and the turbo Offy first appeared at Indy in 1966 in the Huffaker cars). When first raced at Brooklands, at the 1925 BARC meeting in August, the car appeared with a two-litre Roots-type supercharger mounted on the front of the crankshaft. At its first race in 1925, with the 95 bhp engine, the narrow Aston Martin radiator proved to be too small, and

2883-607: The 1½-litre "T-type", "International", "Le Mans", "MKII" and its racing derivative, the "Ulster", and the 2-litre 15/98 and its racing derivative, the "Speed Model". Most were open two-seater sports cars bodied by Bert Bertelli's brother Enrico (Harry) , with a small number of long-chassis four-seater tourers, dropheads and saloons also produced. Bertelli was a competent driver keen to race his cars, one of few owner/manufacturer/drivers. The "LM" team cars were very successful in national and international motor racing including at Le Mans. Financial problems reappeared in 1932. Aston Martin

Halford Special - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-863: The DB model designation, which in 1993 was restored during Ford ownership with the introduction of the DB7 . Walter Hayes , chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, invited Brown to become the Honorary Life President of Aston Martin Lagonda, a position which Brown accepted. In 1963, the David Brown Corporation purchased a controlling interest in Vosper & Company , at which Sir David Brown became chairman. The company merged with John I. Thornycroft & Company to create Vosper Thornycroft in 1966. The warship building division of

3069-855: The DB9 and DB9 Volante. In December 2003, Aston Martin announced it would return to motor racing in 2005. A new division was created, called Aston Martin Racing , which became responsible, together with Prodrive , for the design, development, and management of the DBR9 program. The DBR9 competes in the GT class in sports car races , including the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans . In 2006, an internal audit led Ford to consider divesting itself of parts of its Premier Automotive Group . After suggestions of selling Jaguar Cars , Land Rover , or Volvo Cars were weighed, Ford announced in August 2006 it had engaged UBS AG to sell all or part of Aston Martin at auction. On 12 March 2007,

3162-566: The DBX SUV along with track focused cars like the Vulcan . According to Palmer, the troubles started when sales of the DB9 failed to generate sufficient fund to develop next-generation models which led to a downward spiral of declining sales and profitability. Palmer outlined that the company plans to develop two new platforms, add a crossover, refresh its supercar lineup and leverage its technology alliance with Daimler as part of its six-year plan to make

3255-547: The Grand Prix formula for 1926. The cylinder heads were cast iron with two camshafts, twelve inclined valves, and two 12 mm plugs per cylinder. Drawing on his aircraft design skills, Frank Halford's proposed using a turbocharger, but it proved unreliable in tests. (This was probably the first turbocharged road racing car until Renault developed the Alpine turbocharged car in 1968 that went on to become successful Grand Prix cars in

3348-548: The Green Pea; chassis number 1915, the Razor Blade record car; and chassis number 1916, later developed as the Halford Special . Approximately 55 cars were built for sale in two configurations; long chassis and short chassis. Bamford & Martin went bankrupt in 1924 and was bought by Dorothea, Lady Charnwood , who put her son John Benson on the board. Bamford & Martin got into financial difficulty again in 1925 and Martin

3441-621: The Papanicolaou's shares in ALL, while Gauntlett again became a shareholder with a 25% holding in AML. The deal valued Aston Martin/AML at £2 million, the year it built its 10,000th car. Although as a result Aston Martin had to make 60 members of the workforce redundant, Gauntlett bought a stake in Italian styling house Zagato , and resurrected its collaboration with Aston Martin. In 1986, Gauntlett negotiated

3534-528: The Rapide would be returned to Gaydon in the second half of 2012, restoring all of the company's automobile manufacture there. Italian private equity fund Investindustrial signed a deal on 6 December 2012 to buy a 37.5% stake in Aston Martin, investing £150 million as a capital increase. This was confirmed by Aston Martin in a press release on 7 December 2012. David Richards left Aston Martin in 2013, returning to concentrate on Prodrive. In April 2013, it

3627-527: The Special Projects Group, a secretive unit with Works Service at Newport Pagnell, created an array of special coach-built vehicles for the Brunei royal family. In 1998, the 2,000th DB7 was built, and in 2002, the 6,000th, exceeding production of all of the previous DB series models. The DB7 range was revamped by the addition of more powerful V12 Vantage models in 1999, and in 2001, Aston Martin introduced

3720-756: The V12-engined flagship model called the Vanquish which succeeded the aging Virage (now called the V8 Coupé). At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan in 2003, Aston Martin introduced the V8 Vantage concept car. Expected to have few changes before its introduction in 2005, the Vantage brought back the classic V8 engine to allow Aston Martin to compete in a larger market. 2003 also saw

3813-692: The V8 Vantage's durability across hazardous terrain and promote the car in China, the first east–west crossing of the Asian Highway was undertaken between June and August 2007. A pair of Britons drove 12,089 km (7,512 miles) from Tokyo to Istanbul before joining the European motorway network for another 3,259 km (2,025 miles) to London. The promotion was so successful Aston Martin opened dealerships in Shanghai and Beijing within three months. On 19 July 2007,

Halford Special - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-512: The ancient V8 and introduced the Virage range. Although Gauntlett was contractually to stay as chairman for two years, his racing interests took the company 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 Volante model, Ford provided the limited supply of Cosworth engines to the Jaguar cars racing team. As

3999-686: The car in Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar. In 1982, Aston Martin was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment by the Prince of Wales . Understanding that it would take some time to develop new Aston Martin products, they created an engineering service subsidiary to develop automotive products for other companies. It was decided to use a trade name of Salmons & Son, their in-house coachbuilder, Tickford , which Aston Martin had bought in 1955. Tickford's name had been long associated with expensive high-quality carriages and cars along with their folding roofs. New products included

4092-581: The car to Captain G. E. T. Eyston , who would later hold the Land Speed Record , to race during the 1927 season. Captain Eyston raced the Halford Special car three times at Brooklands and achieved fourth place in the Montlhéry French Grand Prix in 1927. In the 1930s the Halford Special was dismantled by its new owner, Viscount Ridley . The first engine was fitted into a Bugatti Type 35 and

4185-456: The classic "DB" series of cars. In April 1950, they announced planned production of their Le Mans prototype to be called the DB2 , followed by the DB2/4 in 1953, the DB2/4 MkII in 1955, the DB Mark III in 1957 and the Italian-styled 3.7 L DB4 in 1958. While these models helped Aston Martin establish a good racing pedigree, the DB4 stood out and yielded the famous DB5 in 1963. Aston stayed true to its grand touring style with

4278-418: The company was Aston Martin . A few days later Brown visited the company's headquarters at Feltham and test drove their new prototype design, the Atom . While he felt it had good road handling he considered that its 2.0 litre four cylinder pushrod engine lacked power. However, seeing its potential, he entered into negotiations which ended in February 1947 with his acquiring the company for £20,500. Following

4371-412: The company was nationalised by the Labour Government in 1977, becoming a division of British Shipbuilders . The rest of the company remained publicly quoted as a subsidiary of the David Brown Corporation. Bitter about the nationalisation, Brown left Britain to live in retirement in Monte Carlo . In January 1990, Brown sold his shares in the David Brown Corporation for £46 million, but retained

4464-440: The consent of Villiers, Brown modified a Vauxhall which then won its class at Shelsley Walsh for three consecutive years. It was said to be capable of more than 140 mph on the sand. As his grounding continued in various parts of their works he progressed to foreman and then assistant works manager. Sent to the United States, Africa and Europe in 1928 to study business methods and factory conditions he returned and started

4557-403: The consortium, acquiring 3.4% and 4.8% stakes, respectively. In March 2020, Stroll increased his stake in the company to 25%. On 26 May 2020, Aston Martin announced that Andy Palmer had stepped down as CEO. Tobias Moers of Mercedes-AMG will succeed him starting 1 August, with Keith Stanton as interim chief operating officer. In June 2020, the company announced that it cut out 500 jobs as

4650-465: The difficulties of developing an engine to meet California's exhaust emission requirements – it stopped the company's US sales – again pulled Aston Martin into receivership at the end of 1974. The company had employed 460 workers when the manufacturing plant closed. The receiver sold the business in April 1975 for £1.05 million to North American businessman Peter Sprague of National Semiconductor , Toronto hotelier George Minden, and Jeremy Turner,

4743-424: The director's drinking affected his ability to do the work, Brown took over responsibility for the project. Upon his return from South Africa , Brown decided to design and build his own car. Working in his bedroom each night until 2:00 am, he designed a 1.5-litre twin-cam, straight-eight engine. Then using the firm's foundry, he made patterns and cast the cylinder block, while using the machine shop to produce

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4836-404: The engine as ideal for his new generation of Aston Martin models. Aware that Armstrong Siddeley, Jaguar and Rootes were also interested in the company and the liquidator was seeking offers of £250,000, Brown still decided to submit an offer, though he knew it would be the lowest. Because of the tight economic conditions and the rationing of steel, the other bidders dropped out. While the liquidator

4929-508: The entertainment, navigation and other systems. It was also the first model to use Mercedes-AMG V8 engines. In October 2020, Mercedes confirmed it will increase its holding "in stages" from 5% to 20%. In return, Aston Martin will have access to Mercedes-Benz hybrid and electric drivetrain technologies for its future models. After "completing a turnaround for the once perennially loss-making company that could now be valued at up to 5 billion pounds ($ 6.4 billion)," and now reporting

5022-420: The entry-level DB7 would require a large engineering input, Ford agreed to take full control of Aston Martin, and Gauntlett handed over Aston Martin's chairmanship to Hayes in 1991. In 1992, the high-performance variant of the Virage called the Vantage was announced, and the following year Aston Martin renewed the DB range by announcing the DB7. By 1993, Ford had fully acquired the company after having built

5115-582: The factory – shut down the previous December – re-opened under its new owner as Aston Martin Lagonda Limited with 100 employees, and planned to lift staff to 250 by the end of 1975. In January 1976, AML revealed that it now held orders for 150 cars for the US, 100 for other markets and another 80 from a Japanese importing agency. At the Geneva Motor Show , Fred Hartley, managing director and sales director for 13 years before that, announced he had resigned over "differences in marketing policy". The new owners pushed Aston Martin into modernising its line, introducing

5208-443: The former site of RAF Gaydon , adjacent to the Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon Centre . The old 3.6-acre (1.5 ha) 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 90-acre (36 ha) factory in St Athan , Wales features three converted 'super-hangars' from MOD St Athan , and serves as

5301-412: The helm of the Aston Martin company, he used a rival product, a Jaguar XJ Series I, as personal transport as it was cheaper to run. In February 1972, with the David Brown Corporation in financial difficulties, the other members of the board forced Brown to sell the tractor division to Tenneco International . and Aston Martin Lagonda to a separate buyer. The new owner of Aston Martin Lagonda dropped

5394-402: The opening of the Gaydon factory, the first purpose-built factory in Aston Martin's history. The facility is situated on a 55-acre (22 ha) site of a former RAF V Bomber airbase , with an 8,000 m (86,000 sq ft) front building for offices, meeting rooms and customer reception, and a 35,000 m (380,000 sq ft) production building. Also introduced in 2003 was

5487-517: The original Mille Miglia , while watching the revival event. Another house guest was Walter Hayes , vice-president of Ford of Europe . Despite problems over the previous acquisition of AC Cars , Hayes saw the potential of the brand and the discussion resulted in Ford taking a share holding in September 1987. In 1988, having produced some 5,000 cars in 20 years, a revived economy and successful sales of limited edition Vantage , and 52 Volante Zagato coupés at £86,000 each; Aston Martin finally retired

5580-431: The other components. His father put a stop to the work when he caught his son working on the project in company time. Undaunted, Brown constructed a chassis, fitting it with a Sage 2-litre engine, coupled to a Meadows gear box. He called the result the “Daybro”. David Brown & Sons' gear-grinding skills brought him early contacts with Bertelli of Aston Martin for gears and Amherst Villiers for his superchargers. With

5673-602: The outbreak of the First World War , when Martin joined the Admiralty and Bamford joined the Army Service Corps . After the war they found new premises at Abingdon Road, Kensington and designed a new car. Bamford left in 1920 and Bamford & Martin was revitalised with funding from Louis Zborowski . In 1922, Bamford & Martin produced cars to compete in the French Grand Prix , which went on to set world speed and endurance records at Brooklands . Three works Team Cars with 16-valve twin cam engines were built for racing and record-breaking: chassis number 1914, later developed as

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5766-494: The parts and logistics storage area, and new offices. In total, Aston Martin will add approximately 10,000 m (110,000 sq ft) to the plant. In 2014, Aston Martin suffered a pre-tax loss of £72 million, almost triple of the amount of 2013 selling 3,500 cars during the year, well below the 7,300 cars sold in 2007 and 4,200 sold in 2013 respectively. In March 2014, Aston Martin issued "payment in kind" notes of US$ 165 million, at 10.25% interest, in addition to

5859-412: The practice session, his father forbade him from competing in the competition. By this time Brown was romantically involved with Daisy Muriel Firth, three years his senior. In an attempt to break up the relationship, his father sent Brown to the Union of South Africa in 1922 to assist a director of the company in overseeing the installation of the company's gears in gold mines near Johannesburg . When

5952-557: The previous year to sell cars made by Singer from premises in Callow Street, London where they also serviced GWK and Calthorpe vehicles. Martin raced specials at Aston Hill near Aston Clinton , and the pair decided to make their own vehicles. The first car to be named Aston Martin was created by Martin by fitting a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of a 1908 Isotta Fraschini . They acquired premises at Henniker Mews in Kensington and produced their first car in March 1915. Production could not start because of

6045-485: The production site of Aston Martin's SUV , the DBX . 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. Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford . The two had joined forces as Bamford & Martin

6138-402: The purchase, work began on converting the Atom into a production car. While the prototype was a saloon, Brown preferred convertibles so the chassis was redesigned to accommodate an open top. Eventually it entered production as the Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports , now commonly called the DB1. In 1947, Brown heard through Tony Scratchard, the distributor of Lagonda cars in Bradford , that Lagonda

6231-477: The report received coverage from The Sunday Times and other publications, it emerged that the company had been set up in February that year and was registered under the name of Rebecca Stephens – the wife of James Stephens, who is the government affairs director of Aston Martin Lagonda. Citing a study by Polestar , the report stated that electric vehicles would need to be driven 48,000 miles (77,000 km) before they would have lower overall CO 2 emissions than

6324-494: The report. David Brown (entrepreneur) Sir David Brown (10 May 1904 – 3 September 1993) was an English industrialist, managing director of his grandfather's gear and machine tool business David Brown Limited and more recently David Brown Tractors , and once the owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thorneycroft and car manufacturers Aston Martin and Lagonda . Brown was born in Park Cottage in Huddersfield , Yorkshire , to Caroline and Frank Brown in 1904. Park Cottage

6417-433: The return of the fictional British secret agent James Bond to Aston Martin. Cubby Broccoli had chosen to recast the character using actor Timothy Dalton , in an attempt to re-root the Bond-brand back to a more Sean Connery -like feel. Gauntlett supplied his personal pre-production Vantage for use in the filming of The Living Daylights , and sold a Volante to Broccoli for use at his home in America. Gauntlett turned down

6510-402: The role of a KGB colonel in the film, however: "I would have loved to have done it but really could not afford the time." As Aston Martin needed funds to survive in the long term, Ford bought a 75% stake in the company in 1987, and bought the rest later. In May of that year, Victor Gauntlett and Prince Michael of Kent were staying at the home of Contessa Maggi, the wife of the founder of

6603-412: The second engine was modified to keep the twin magnetos dry and put into a speedboat that sank soon after and the engine spent two years at the bottom of a lake. The present owner of the Halford Special traced the original parts in the 1970s and re-assembled the Halford Special back to its original condition. The Halford Special is currently kept at the Grand Prix exhibit at the Brooklands Motor Museum and

6696-415: The stake was owned by ALL, with Tickford a 50/50 venture between ALL and CHI. The uneasy relationship was ended when ALL exercised options to buy a larger share in AML; CHI's residual shares were exchanged for CHI's complete ownership of Tickford, which retained the development of existing Aston Martin projects. In 1984, Papanicolaou's Titan shipping business was in trouble so Livanos's father George bought out

6789-450: The total to 120 in 28 countries. On 1 September 2008, Aston Martin announced the revival of the Lagonda marque, proposing a concept car to be shown in 2009 to coincide with the brand's 100th anniversary. The first production cars were slated for production in 2012. In December 2008, Aston Martin announced it would cut its workforce from 1,850 to 1,250 due to the economic recession. The first four-door Rapide grand tourers rolled out of

6882-629: The wishes of Brown's parents, who refused to attend the wedding, Brown married Daisy Muriel Firth, who he had known since he was 14. They had two children, David and Angela, both of whom entered the family business. Angela married George Abecassis , the racing driver. Following his divorce from Daisy, Brown married his secretary, Marjorie Deans, in 1955. This marriage also ended in divorce and he subsequently married his personal assistant, Paula Benton Stone, in 1980. Sir David Brown died in September 1993 in Monte Carlo . Eight years later, David Brown Limited

6975-485: The £304 million of senior secured notes at 9.25% issued in 2011. Aston Martin also had to secure an additional investment of £200 million from its shareholders to fund development of new models. It was reported that Aston Martin's pre-tax losses for 2016 increased by 27% to £162.8 million, the sixth year it continued to suffer a loss. In 2016, the company selected a 90-acre (36 ha) site in St Athan , South Wales for its new factory. The Welsh facility

7068-415: Was a keen driver and as a small child he had ridden beside Frederick Tasker Burgess on test runs of David Brown & Sons new Valveless car but he did not learn to drive until aged 11. Brown's father offered to buy him a motorcycle to help him get to work on time, so relying on his father's ignorance of motor vehicles, instead of a small docile motorcycle, Brown after considering a Harley Davidson obtained

7161-501: Was a qualified pilot, had his personal De Havilland Dove, which was normally flown by his personal pilot, and he also established his own airfield at Crosland Moor, to the south-west of Huddersfield. During his life he was a member of the board of governors of the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, the council of Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce and Lloyd's. He was knighted in 1968 for services to industry. In 1926, against

7254-507: Was able to sell the factory buildings to another company, to Brown's surprise he was able to obtain for £52,500 the rest of the company as well as the rights to the new engine. As Lagonda had to vacate its premises, Brown stored his new assets in some rented hangars at the London Air Park in Hanworth , which was close to the Aston Martin factory. The newly acquired engine soon saw service in

7347-548: Was announced that Canadian billionaire and investor Lawrence Stroll was leading a consortium, Yew Tree Overseas Limited, who will pay £182 million in return for 16.7% stake in the company. The re-structuring includes a £318 million cash infusion through a new rights issue, generating a total of £500 million for the company. Stroll will also be named as chairman, replacing Penny Hughes . Swiss pharmaceutical magnate Ernesto Bertarelli and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team principal and CEO Toto Wolff have also joined

7440-482: Was appointed joint managing director in 1932. In 1933 he became managing director. Under Brown's leadership, the company significantly expanded its operations. In 1939, David Brown & Sons acquired the old United thread mills factory on a site at Meltham , on the south side of Huddersfield. Brown, who also owned a farm, started the Ferguson-Brown Company in 1936, building tractors with Harry Ferguson in

7533-734: Was demolished in the Second World War to make way for a new factory, on their 17-acre Park Works site. Brown attended King James's School in Almondbury and Rossall School in Lancashire . After leaving school, Brown started work aged 17 in 1921 as if just another apprentice in his family's business, David Brown & Sons (Huddersfield) , cycling 6 miles to work by 7.30 a.m.. This company, which had been founded by his grandfather David, specialised in transmission components. While his father had no interest in cars and did not drive, his mother

7626-418: Was entrusted to a single technician from a pool of 30, with V8 and V12 variants assembled in under 20 hours. By bringing engine production back to within Aston Martin, the promise was that Aston Martin would be able to produce small runs of higher performance variants' engines. This expanded engine capacity allowed the entry-level V8 Vantage sports car to enter production at the Gaydon factory in 2006, joining

7719-688: Was forced to sell the company (Bamford had already left it in 1920). Later that year, Bill Renwick, Augustus (Bert) Bertelli and investors including Lady Charnwood took control of the business. They renamed it Aston Martin Motors and moved it to the former Whitehead Aircraft Limited Hanworth works in Feltham . Renwick and Bertelli had been in partnership some years and had developed an overhead-cam four-cylinder engine using Renwick's patented combustion chamber design, which they had tested in an Enfield-Allday chassis. The only "Renwick and Bertelli" motor car made, it

7812-569: 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 grand tourers and sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a royal warrant as purveyor of motorcars to Charles III (as Prince of Wales and later as King) since 1982, and has over 160 car dealerships in 53 countries, making it

7905-478: Was in financial trouble and was for sale. While he initially took no interest in the company, when a liquidator was later appointed to sell off the company's assets, Brown, sensing an opportunity, visited the company. There he met with the famed engine designer W. O. Bentley , who showed him an engine called the LB6 which he had been working on for the company. It was a modern twin-cam 6-cylinder engine of 2,580 cc. Brown saw

7998-506: Was involved in a controversy in which it was accused of using a report to spread disputed information about electric vehicles in the wake of the UK's declaration to end the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2030, with some in the media dubbing the controversy as " Astongate ". In November 2020, a communications agency called Clarendon Communications published a report comparing the environmental impact of various powertrain options for cars. After

8091-424: Was known as "Buzzbox" and still survives. The pair had planned to sell their engine to motor manufacturers, but having heard that Aston Martin was no longer in production realised they could capitalise on its reputation to jump-start the production of a completely new car. Between 1926 and 1937 Bertelli was both technical director and designer of all new Aston Martins, since known as "Bertelli cars". They included

8184-633: Was later re-built as the AM Halford and then again as the Halford Special. The early racing history of chassis number 1916 is not fully documented but what is certain is that it was crashed in 1924 and Major Halford bought the chassis and installed an engine of his own design and built a new two-seater body for the car. Major Halford built two 6- cylinder in-line engines for the car. Each had an aluminium cylinder-block and crankcase with steel liners , with rubber seals at their base. Bore and stroke were 63 mm and 80 mm giving 1.5 litres,

8277-486: Was reported that Bez would be leaving his role as the chief executive officer to take up a more ambassadorial position. On 2 September 2014, Aston Martin announced it had appointed the Nissan executive Andy Palmer as the new CEO with Bez retaining a position as non-executive chairman. As sales had been declining from 2015, Aston Martin sought new customers (particularly wealthy female buyers) with introducing concept cars like

8370-733: Was rescued for a year by Lance Prideaux Brune before passing it on to Sir Arthur Sutherland . In 1936, Aston Martin decided to concentrate on road cars, producing just 700 until World War II halted work. Production shifted to aircraft components during the war. In 1947, old-established (1860) privately owned Huddersfield gear and machine tools manufacturer David Brown Limited bought Aston Martin, putting it under control of its Tractor Group. David Brown became Aston Martin's latest saviour. He also acquired Lagonda , without its factory, for its 2.6-litre W. O. Bentley -designed engine. Lagonda moved operations to Newport Pagnell and shared engines, resources and workshops. Aston Martin began to build

8463-453: Was speculation that AML was about to buy Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini . At the end of the 1970s, there was widespread debate about running MG into the Aston Martin consortium. 85 Conservative MPs formed themselves into a pressure group to get British Leyland to release their grip and hand it over. CH Industrials plc (car components) bought a 10% share in AML. But in July 1980, blaming

8556-632: Was to supply Aston Martin with electrical systems. This technical partnership was intended to support Aston Martin's launch of a new generation of models that would incorporate new technology and engines. In exchange, Mercedes will get as much as 5% equity in Aston Martin and a non-voting seat on its board. The first model to sport the Mercedes-Benz technology was the DB11 , announced at the 86th Geneva Motor Show in March 2016. It featured Mercedes-Benz electronics for

8649-625: Was unanimously chosen by Aston's board despite fierce competition from other locations as far afield as the Americas, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Europe, as well as two other sites in the UK, believed to be Bridgend and Birmingham . The facility featured three existing 'super-hangars' of MOD St Athan . Construction work of converting the hangars commenced in April 2017. Aston Martin returned to profit in 2017 after selling over 5,000 cars. The company made

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