Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England.

The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Clinton Hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire.

From 1994 until 2007, Aston Martin was part of the Ford Motor Company, becoming part of the company's Premier Automotive Group in 2000.

Ford retained a US $ 77 million ( or 12. 1 %) stake in Aston Martin, valuing the company at $ 925 million.

Aston Martin 2-Litre 2 / 4-Seater Sports 1937

Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford.

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.

Later that year, Bill Renwick, Augustus ( Bert ) Bertelli and a number of rich investors, including Lady Charnwood, took control of the company and renamed it Aston Martin Motors, and moved it to the former Whitehead Aircraft Limited works in Feltham.

They had planned to sell this engine to motor manufacturers, but having heard that the Aston Martin car was no longer in production they realised that they could capitalise on the reputation of the Aston Martin name ( what we would now call the brand ) to give themselves a head start in the production of a completely new car.

Between the years 1926 and 1937 Bertelli was the technical director of Aston Martin, and the designer of all subsequent Aston Martin cars during this period, these being known as the " Bertelli cars ".

1958 Aston Martin DB Mark III

The company was badly hit by the economic contraction of the early 1980s as worldwide sales of Aston Martin shrank to three per week and chairman Alan Curtis together with fellow shareholders American Peter Sprague and Canadian George Minden came close to shutting down the production side of the business, to concentrate on service and restoration.

Gauntlett bought 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.

Gauntlett also led the sales team, and after some development and a lot of publicity when it became the world ’ s fastest 4-seater production car, was able to sell the Aston Martin Lagonda in Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar.

* Aston Martin DBR1 ( 1956 – 1959 )

In the 1950s, sports car racing was regarded as almost as important as Grand Prix competition, with major marques like Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar and Aston Martin investing much effort in their works programmes and supplying cars to customers ; sports racers lost their close relationship to road-going sports cars in the 1950s and the major races were contested by dedicated competition cars such as the Jaguar C and D types, the Mercedes 300SLR, Maserati 300S, Aston Martin DBR1 and assorted Ferraris including the first Testa Rossas.

He competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1959, 1960 and 1961, finishing second in class in 1959 driving a Lotus Elite, and finishing third overall in 1960, driving an Aston Martin DBR1.

* 24 hours of Le Mans – Carroll Shelby / Roy Salvadori win, sharing an Aston Martin DBR1

His first victory came in the 1959 edition, in his tenth anniversary as Aston Martin team manager, helping Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori win with the DBR1.

He has also run the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1 in the Le Mans Legend race.

File: Aston Martin DB2-4 Mark I. jpg | 1950 – 1957 DB2 and later DB2 / 4

File: Aston Martin DB Mark III. jpg | 1957 – 1959 Aston Martin DB Mark III

File: Aston-Martin DB4. JPG | 1958 – 1963 Aston Martin DB4 / GT

File: DB4GT Zagato at Goodwood. jpg | 1961 – 1963 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

File: AMDB5No1. jpg | 1963 – 1965 Aston Martin DB5

File: Aston Martin DB6 r. jpg | 1965 – 1971 Aston Martin DB6

File: Zagato. jpg | 1986 – 1990 Aston Martin V8 Zagato

File: 2001DB7. jpg | 1993 – 2003 Aston Martin DB7 / Vantage

File: Aston Martin DB AR1. jpg | 2002 – 2004 Aston Martin DB AR1 roadster

File: Amvanquish. jpg | 2001 – 2007 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish / S

File: aston. db9. coupe. 300pix. jpg | 2003 – Aston Martin DB9 coupé / Volante

File: Aston Martin V8 Vantage front 20081129. jpg | 2005 – Aston Martin V8 / V12 Vantage

File: AM DBS V12. jpg | 2007 – Aston Martin DBS V12

File: Aston Martin One-77 side. jpg | 2009 – Aston Martin One-77

File: Aston Martin Rapide NYIAS. jpg | 2010 – Aston Martin Rapide

File: Londres 465 .. jpg | Main Entrance, by Aston Webb 1899-1909

| Aston Villa in 2009

| 1961 – 62 || rowspan =" 3 "| Aston Villa || rowspan =" 3 "| First Division || 0 || 0 ||||||||||||||||

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 company with Nick and John Papanicalou, ALL Inc. Gauntlett remained chairman of the AML company 55 % owned by ALL, with Tickford a 50 / 50 venture between ALL and CHI.

The deal valued Aston Martin / AML at £ 2 million, the year it built its 10, 000th car.

* 1933 – 1934 Aston Martin 12 / 50 Standard

* 1937 – 1939 Aston Martin 15 / 98

* 1953 – 1957 Aston Martin DB2 / 4

* 1989 – 1996 Aston Martin Virage / Virage Volante

* 1996 – 2000 Aston Martin V8 Coupe / V8 Volante

* 1993 – 2003 Aston Martin DB7 / DB7 Vantage

* 2001 – 2007 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish / Vanquish S

A Group C Nimrod NRA / C2 which used Aston Martin's V8 engines in the 1980s.

* Aston Martin RHAM / 1 ( 1976 – 1979 )

* Aston Martin EMKA C83 / 1 and C84 / 1 ( 1983 – 1985 )

On July 15, 2012, supporters of Aston Villa uploaded a picture on Twitter which showed Ron Vlaar, Feyenoord captain since season 2010 / 2011, visiting the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham.

* England / QPR / Aston Villa footballer and Aston Villa manager John Gregory attended St Neots ' Longsands School.