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

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.

In 1982 Aston Martin was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment by the Prince of Wales.

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.

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 development of existing Aston Martin projects.

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.

The DB7 range was boosted by the addition of V12 Vantage models in 1999, and in 2001 the company introduced the V12-engined Aston Martin Vanquish.

By bringing engine production back to within the company, the promise was that Aston Martin would be able to produce small runs of higher performance variants engines.

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.

In September 2011 it was announced that production of the Rapide would be moved to the company's factory in Gaydon, production will begin in the second half of 2012 and will see all of the current Aston Martin range produced from the Gaydon facility.

In 1938 the highest attendance to date at the ground was recorded at over 75, 000 for a FA Cup match against Aston Villa.

It was designed by Thomas Manley Dean and Sir Aston Webb as the Royal College of Science.

; (" Sūjin ", used by Aston, is not the standard pronunciation ) also known as Mimakiiribikoinie no Sumeramikoto or Hatsukunishirasu Sumeramikoto ; was the tenth emperor of Japan.

The first, the ' little tin idol ', was used from the inception of the Cup in 1871 – 72 until it was stolen from a Birmingham shoe shop window belonging to William Shillcock while held by Aston Villa on 11 September 1895, and was never seen again.

In 2006, production of HP Sauce and Daddies was transferred from Birmingham, UK to Elst as a result of the acquisition of HP Foods and the subsequent closure of the Aston factory.

The following year, he was Autocar Formula Two champion in a Cooper, while continuing to score minor points-scoring positions with the small-engined Coopers in the World Drivers Championship and driving for Aston Martin in Sportscars.

* March — Aston Villa founded by the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel near Aston Park in Birmingham.

It was founded in 1863 as a small grammar school as part of a legal settlement following a court case involving funds from the medieval charity of Thomas de Aston, a 13th century monk.

Nimrod Racing Automobiles ( sometimes referred to as Aston Martin Nimrod ) was a partnership founded in 1981 between racing driver and car dealer Robin Hamilton and chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, Victor Gauntlett.

The sister of Walter Aston, 1st Lord Aston, was Anne, who married Ambrose Elton, Esq., of The Hazle, Ledbury, Herefordshire, High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1618, and graduate of Brasenose College, Oxford, which his ancestors had founded.

Matilda Ann Aston ( 11 December 1873 – 1 November 1947 ), better known as Tilly Aston, was a blind Australian writer and teacher, who founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers, and later went on to establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, with herself as secretary.

In 1895 a meeting called by Tilly Aston founded the Association for the Advancement of the Blind ( now Vision Australia ) to fight for greater independence, social change and new laws for blind people.

The school was founded in 1883 as King Edwards Aston.

In addition to these parish churches, there was St John's chapel of ease at Deritend founded in 1381 ( demolished by 1961 ), which, though only a short stroll from St Martin's, was in the parish of Aston.

Birmingham is home to three universities ; the University of Birmingham ( founded 1900 ), Aston University ( founded 1966 ), and Birmingham City University ( formerly Birmingham Polytechnic, awarded university status in 1992 ).

The world's first Football League was founded in Birmingham by William McGregor ( football ) | William McGregor in 1885, McGregor was a director of Aston Villa ( pictured in their 1883-4 strip ).

1885: The world's first professional football league is founded at a meeting in Aston under the auspices of William McGregor, a director of Aston Villa.

* An interactive sculpture consisting of three bronze bells commemorates the life of Tilly Aston, a blind disability activist who founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers, and later went on to establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind.

Gene Loves Jezebel are a gothic rock band formed in the early 1980s, now two separate bands of the same name, founded by identical twin brothers, Jay Aston ( born John Peter Aston ) and Michael.