Aston Martin

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. It was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford.

The firm became associated with luxury 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.

The company has had a chequered financial history, including bankruptcy in the 1970s, but has also enjoyed long periods of success and stability, including under the ownership of David Brown, from 1947 to 1972 and of the Ford Motor Company from 1994 to 2007.

In March 2007, a consortium of investors, led by David Richards, purchased 92% of Aston Martin for £479 million, with Ford retaining a £40 million stake. David Richards became chairman of Aston Martin. In December 2012, the Italian private equity fund Investindustrial signed a deal to buy 37.5% of Aston Martin, investing £150 million as a capital increase.

History

Founding

Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. The two had joined forces as Bamford & Martin 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.

Aston Martin One-77

The Aston Martin One-77 is a two-door coupé built by the British car manufacturer Aston Martin.

It first appeared at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, although the car remained mostly covered by a "Savile Row tailored skirt" throughout the show, before being fully revealed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, and deliveries from the beginning of 2011.

There was a limited run of 77 cars, giving part of the name of the One-77, and sold for £1,150,000.

Car details

Prior to the One-77's Paris Motor Show debut, various details about the car had been leaked, but official specifications were not fully revealed until the 2009 Geneva Motor Show.

The One-77 features a full carbon fibre monocoque chassis, a handcrafted aluminium body, and a naturally aspirated 7.3 litre (7312 cc) V12 engine with 750 hp (560 kW). Aston Martin claimed it would be the most powerful naturally aspirated production engine in the world when the first car was delivered.

The car uses a strengthened version of the DB9's 6-speed automated manual transmission and height-adjustable pushrod suspension coupled with dynamic stability control. It will feature Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres (255/35 ZR20 front, 335/30 ZR20 rear) and Carbon Ceramic Matrix brakes.