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 V8 Vantage from The Living Daylights

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 coupes at £ 86, 000 each ; the company finally retired the ancient V8 and introduced the Virage range — the first new Aston launched in 20 years.

With 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 is entrusted to a single technician from a pool of 30, with V8 and V12 variants assembled in under 20 hours.

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

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

* 1969 – 1989 Aston Martin V8

* 1977 – 1989 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

* 1986 – 1990 Aston Martin V8 Zagato

* 1996 – 2000 Aston Martin V8 Coupe / V8 Volante

* 2005 – Aston Martin V8 and V12 Vantage

* 2007 – 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage N400

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

* Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24 ( 2006 –)

* Aston Martin V8 Vantage Rally GT ( 2006 –)

* Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 ( 2008 –)

* Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 ( 2008 –)

Famous and iconic British cars include the Aston Martin DB5, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Bentley 4½ Litre, Jaguar E-Type, Land Rover Defender, Lotus Esprit, McLaren F1, MGB, original two-door Mini, Range Rover and Rolls-Royce Phantom III.

Aston Martin's famous DOHC ( 4 cams ) V8 used a hemispherical chamber during the late 1960s through the late 1980s.

Ultimatum ) was used in Series 5, Episode 4, in the first episode of Series 7, when Clarkson reviews the Aston Martin V8 Vantage on the Isle of Man, and in Series 6 Episode 10, Know Your Enemy was played in the BMW 5 Series Diesel vs.

His first ambition was to be a goalkeeper for English Premier League club Aston Villa, and as a child he was taken to every home match by his father Hugh, but at 5 ' 9 never grew tall enough to realise his dream.

Aston has an area of 6. 4 km² / 451. 5 hectares.

There was a total of 9, 939 occupied households in Aston at the time of the census resulting in an average of 2. 8 people per household, above the city average of 2. 5 and the national average of 2. 4.

At 20. 6 %, Aston had an above average unemployment rate with the city average being 9. 5 % and the national average 5 %.

Heskey signed for Aston Villa for a fee of £ 3. 5 million on a three-and-a-half year contract on 23 January 2009.

The Town Hall is now also used as the venue for Graduation Ceremonies of Aston University, over 5 days in July and March each year.

Henry Hervey ( 5 January 1701 – 16 November 1748 ); married Catherine Aston, assumed her surname, and had issue

The group's highest result was the 2. 5 % share which Jordan captured in Birmingham Aston in 1970.

Finished Symphony was used when Jeremy Clarkson, in a Bugatti Veyron, raced James May and Richard Hammond, in a light aircraft, across Europe ( Series 7, Episode 5 ), whilst " Formula Of Fear " was featured in Series 14, in the Maserati / Porsche / Aston Martin segment.

The Vanquish uses an upgraded version of Aston Martin ’ s flagship V12 engine with a power output of at 6, 750 rpm and torque of at 5, 500 rpm.

However despite the Cup setback, Arsenal bounced back in the League, and with the same scoring form as in 1930 – 31, finished the season having scored 118 League goals in total, which included a 5 – 0 win over title rivals Aston Villa, in that season's title-deciding match.

The club finished 15th in 1998 – 99 and 14th in 1999 – 2000, as Strachan spent £ 6 million on Irish striker Robbie Keane and £ 5 million on Moroccans Mustapha Hadji and Youssef Chippo, whilst selling Dion Dublin to Midlands rivals Aston Villa.

However, his exploits at club level were still attracting significant attention and in the autumn of 1998, he chose to move to Coventry's arch-rivals Aston Villa for £ 5. 75 million.

Baroš moved to Premiership side Aston Villa for a fee of £ 6. 5 million in August 2005, signing a four year contract.

The club powered their way to the title the following year, beating Aston Villa 5 – 1 on the last day of the season, and are thus one of only five English teams to have won back to back titles since World War II.

On 18 July 2011, Given joined Aston Villa for a fee believed to be around £ 3. 5 million.

He made his 400th League appearance on 5 October 2009 against Aston Villa.

On 18 July 2011, Given joined Aston Villa for a fee believed to be around £ 3. 5 million.