Aston Martin Lagonda Limited dates to 1914, when Lionel Martin
and
Henry Bamford, who were Singer dealers in London, decided to
build their
own car. They mounted a 1.4-liter four-cylinder Coventry Simplex
engine in
an Isotto Fraschini chassis and called it Aston Martin. The intervention
of
World War I ensured that the first Aston Martin was not completed
until
1915. The first cars offered to customers did not appear until
1923 when
Count Louis Zborowski of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
fame agreed to
finance the company. Aston Martin changed hands several times
between
the wars passing from one enthusiastic but financially struggling
owner to
another. In 1947, Aston Martin was offered to David Brown (later
Sir
David) who shortly after acquiring the company also purchased
Lagonda. In
1950, the Aston Martin DB2 powered by a Lagonda designed engine
was
equal first in the index of performance and the winner of the
3.0-liter class in
Le Mans 24-hour race for sports cars. In 1959, both competition
and sales
success followed when the Aston Martin DBRI won the Le Mans 24-hour
race as well as the Sports Car Constructors Championship -- The
World
Championship. During this time, a series of DB models were introduced
culminating in the DB6. However in 1972, David Brown put the
company
up for sale. Although the company passed through several different
hands in
the following 15 years, a series of new, successful products
were developed
including the radical wedge-shape William Towns-designed Lagonda
with
its advanced electronic systems. In 1987, Ford bought 75 percent
of Aston
Martin Lagonda and the remaining shares in July 1994. In addition
to
providing financial security, Ford enables Aston Martin to gain
access to its
worldwide technical, manufacturing and supply systems for the
design and
development of new products. The company remains small with about
500
employees, and manufacturing centers at Newport Pagnell in
Buckinghamshire and Bloxham in Oxfordshire. The 550-horsepower,
twin-supercharged Vantage and the 350-horsepower V-8 Coupe and
Volante models are built at Newport Pagnell, while the Bloxham
facility is
dedicated solely to the Aston Martin DB7. Introduced at the Geneva
International Auto Show in March 1993, when it was named Car
of the
Show, the Aston Martin DB7 is powered by a 335-horsepower
supercharged 3.2-liter in-line six-cylinder engine. While taking
full
advantage of modern materials and technology, it reflects the
classic lines of
previous DBX models. Now entering its third full year of production,
the
Aston Martin DB7 has become the most successful car ever to be
produced by Aston Martin. The 1,000th Millennium model -- a silver
DB7
Volante -- was completed in October 1996 for delivery to a customer
in
the U.S. where almost 30 percent of all Aston Martins are now
sold.