Aston Martin - Inspiring Brand Story of a True Luxury Car

Fall seven times and stand up eight.

This is an old Japanese proverb and in the world of luxury automobiles if there is a brand that has understood the core of this proverb and applied it since day one then its Aston Martin.

The British luxury automobile company has seen ups and downs like no other. Then again, very few car companies have a simple, all-things-merry story. The whole process of car-making is so utterly complex, right from the designing to manufacturing- the risks and the technology involved in it, that it’s either make or break in this industry. Every automobile company will have success and failure stories.

Terming this history as under the phrase ‘it has been a rollercoaster ride for Aston Martin over the past 106 years’ is just scratching the surface of the wild and turbulent journey since two people passionate about racing and cars started the brand back in 1913. 

There are very few automobile brands that have been in the business since so long. Aston Martin has amazingly managed to stay there and hold on since so many years and yet not let go of its aura and sophistication. Categorized as an authentic luxury car brand and serving only to the most elite and best crowd; those who have driven an Aston Martin are passionately in love with it, fanatically loyal and continue to marvel at its beauty no matter what.

Birth of the Brand: 

Being a British brand, the Aston Martin luxury car brand was born when two persons came together for the love of cars and racing- Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in 1913. Before this, they used to sell cars made by Singer.

Their first car was created by Martin in 1915, by fitting a four-cylinder engine to the chassis of the 1908 Isotta-Fraschini.

Source : https://myautoworld.com/astonmartin/cars/history/historic-1915/historic-1915.html

They took a space at Henniker Mews in Kensington and created their first ever Aston Martin. But due to World War One, production stopped and Martin joined the Admiralty and Bamford the Royal Army Service Corps. The brand got its name by the name of Lionel Martin and Aston came from a stretch of road in Herfordshire, England, which was used for racing purposes called Aston Hillclimb.

Source : https://myautoworld.com/astonmartin/cars/history/historic-1915/historic-1915.html

After the war got over, they took new premises at Abingdon Road, Kensington and designed a new car. In 1920, Bamford left the company and Count Louis Zborowski came as a savior to revitalize the company.

Source : https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/classic-life/count-louis-zborowski-gentleman-driver

Journey of the Brand

Aston Martin brand has seen good days as well as bad days as it went from one hand to different. After the help from the Count, Aston Martin grew and strengthened. It went International when they appeared for the French Grand Prix in 1922, breaking multiple records at Brooklands. Three cars were created for this- Green Pea, the Razor Blade and the Halford Special.

With approximately 55 cars created, the company again was declared bankrupt. Zborowski unfortunately died in a race and Martin had to forsake the control of Dorothea, Lady Charnwood then put her son John Benson on the board in 1925. But that didn’t last for long and the company went bankrupt again within a year.

In 1926, a group of investors like Bill Renwick, Augustus Bertelli and Lady Charnwood, came together and took over the company. They renamed it to Aston Martin Motors. The production was also shifted to the Whitehead Aircraft Limited Hanworth in Feltham.

The cars of this time were called ‘Bertelli Cars’ since he was mainly the designer and the technical director. Between the period of 1926-1936 famous Aston Martin cars like the T-Type, Le Mans, MKII, the International, the Ulster and Speed Model were created.

Before World War Two, the ownership changed twice more. During World War Two, production at the Feltham shifted to creating components for aircraft carriers. This was where the company could have shut but for the intervention of one person- David Brown.

David Brown was an industrialist and bought Aston Martin and put it under his Tractor Group. He also bought Lagonda without its factories and shifted the production to Newport Pagnell where they shared resources, engines and other resources.

The cars manufactured under his control were called the ‘DB Series’, named after his initials. Famous cars like DB2, DB2/4, DB2/4 MKll, DB Mark III, DB4 and DB5 were created.

Brown treated this company like his hobby, albeit a serious one. 
During this time Aston Martin started doing great business at both fronts, at the racetrack and on the road. Aston Martin finished first and second at Le Mans in ’59 and became the year’s World Sportscar Champion.

Even for the people who were not very much interested in cars, no one can forget the one car which Aston Martin is almost synonymous with- DB 5and James Bond. DB 5 was featured in the 1964 film of James Bond- Goldfinger. A secret spy serving the majesty and the country- what’s there to not love?

Source : https://www.forbes.com/sites/msolomon/2018/08/21/aston-martin-is-remaking-the-classic-james-bond-goldfinger-db5/#746469ce7437

But the merry time didn’t last for long and the company started facing financial issues yet again in 1972. Despite all the positivity and happy times the company hadn't made real profit since years. David Brown paid his debts of millions and sold the company for mere £101 to William Wilson. Due to worldwide recession and less funds and capital William sold it to a group of investors which included Peter Sprague and Alan Curtis. The investors started to now move their focus on a larger market to high earning professionals and pushed the brand into modernization. The prices were also raised by 25% at this time but again, the recession hit bad and the company got sold to Victor Gauntlett.

Aston Martin was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment by the Prince of Wales in 1982. They yet hold this warrant in 2020.

Victor understood that it would take time to increase the pace of production and hence developed a subsidiary which produced automotive parts for other companies. After a meeting with Ford’s Walter Hayes, a shareholding was sold to it in 1987 that eventually took over and became the full-fledged owner in 1991. With Ford now managing, the company started production much faster and in 1995, Aston Martin created 700 vehicles. Another great series of cars were produced with Ford as the mother company like DB7, V12 Vanquish and DB 9. But soon in 2006, Ford decided to sell a part of Aston Martin due to an internal audit.

David Richards purchased Aston Martin for £475 million. Since then, Aston Martin has finally tasted success and the Rapide was launched in 2010, initially manufactured in Graz, Austria, but later moved to Gaydon in the second half of 2012. In 2013, a deal was signed with Daimler AG that meant that the next Aston Martin vehicles would have the engines and the electrical systems of Mercedes-AMG. The first model to sport the Mercedes Benz engine was DB 11-— exceptional design, excellent performance, and timeless luxury. In 2014, Andy Palmers was appointed the new Chief Operating Officer.

Source : https://www.driving.co.uk/news/interview/motor-david-richards-prodrive-boss-former-world-rally-champion/

Finally after years of losses, the company announced in 2018, that it would now be listed at the London Stock Exchange as Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc.

The words of Winston Churchill ring in my head when I think of Aston Martin’s story.

Brand Values

The classic luxury brand has been synonymous with class, power, beauty and speed. If you are a fan of Aston Martin just because you saw it in the James Bond movies then you are only halfway there. The brand has loyal customers all over the world who talk about its dedication towards quality and performance.

Source : pinterest.com

The brand's vision is simple- An Aston Martin must be beautiful to look at, beautiful to drive and beautiful to own. Their benchmark is to create ‘beautiful’. They want to build cars that are exhilarating to drive and jaw-dropping gorgeous to look at!

Conclusion

There is an Indian proverb which reads:

Tell me a fact and I will learn, tell me a truth and I will believe, tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. Aston Martin brand which has lived over 100 years now has more than a million stories to share. Right from how it was made in the small garage of Kensington to the thriving luxury car brand that it is today and how it has managed to survive over the years. 

As a writer, I firmly believe that stories do live forever - in one form or other but definitely are remembered over the years.

The Aston Martin luxury car brand is one such story of excellence and perseverance which will always stay in the hearts of the millions of Aston Martin car lovers.