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Aston Martin – History of the Brand

With a rich heritage dating back to before World War I, your Aston Martin vehicle requires someone with particular experience to meet its very unique service and repair needs. On this side 0f the pond, the best care available for your British beauty comes from a man with an earned PhD in the high-performance modification and tuning of exotic vehicles. This man is called the Exotic Car Doc. He is the founder and CEO of Forza Tuning and Performance – a viable upgrade over the Aston Martin dealership service and repair experience.

Nestled amid the historic Mossy Oaks, palm trees and sandy-white beaches of Florida’s Gulf Coast, Forza has the specialty tools and factory-trained technicians to care for your Aston Martin even better than the dealership. If you need a maintenance tune up, wheel alignment, brake service, engine repair, transmission replacement/repair, rear end repair/replacement, steering and suspension repair, driveshaft service/replacement, engine cooling system repair, heating and air conditioning repair and maintenance, factory scheduled maintenance, an oil change, transmission service, wheel and tire rotation/replacement, or any other type of service, Forza is equipped to exceed your expectations.

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To say that the history of Aston Martin is rich is not to say that it is without difficulties. It all begins in 1913 with Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, and the Bamford and Martin Limited Company. Earliest beginnings include an Isotta-Fraschini chassis with a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine. After careful deliberation, the guys decided to call the car an Aston Martin. The Aston bit comes from a popular British racing thoroughfare called Aston Hills. Of course, Martin is after one of the company’s founders. With the brand decided, the owners were set to begin production when World War I broke out. After the war ended, Martin and Bamford went back to work until 1920 when Bamford left the company for unknown reasons.

With Bamford’s money gone, Martin was forced to seek outside funding, which he used wisely. By 1922 Aston Martin was rolling right along. They were doing well enough to make an impressive showing at the French Grand Prix; breaking records in both endurance and speed. These were hard times and success could be fleeting in those days. By 1924 the company was bankrupt.

Renamed Aston Martin Motors, after being purchased by Lady Charnwood, Bill Renwick and Augustus Bertelli, the company went under a second time in 1925. This failure forced Martin to leave the business. Not discouraged, Renwick and Bertilli instead began the difficult climb to bring the brand back to brilliance.

The 1930s did not bring success to Aston Martin. Bill and Gus faced grim financial straits and L. Pideaux Brune took the reigns of the company. He soon passed it to Arthur Sutherland who is credited with the first mass produced Aston Martin street cars.
Again, war interrupts and Aston Martin faces financial struggles as everyone is drawn into World War II. Post-war hero David Brown (do you think?) took the wheel in 1947 and steered the firm back in the direction of success with the development of several interesting new models. By 1950 the legendary DB Series was introduced but the famed DB Mark II was not introduced until 1958.

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Inspired by the success of the previous decade, Aston Martin introduced the celebrated DB5 in the early 1960s. In keeping with the grand touring format, the DBS and DB6 were unveiled later in the decade.
Despite the company changing hands several times in the 1970s, Aston Martin effected a successful turn-around strategy with the recruitment of more than 360 new employees. In 1977 the influx of new blood had pushed leadership to let go of the grand touring platform and adopt a more modern lineup. The V8 Vantage was introduced in 1977 and the Volante in 1978.

In the early 1980s Aston Martin purchased the MG sports car company with plans to produce an innovative version of the popular MGB. Again, economic downturn left Aston Martin in deep financial water. By 1989 Ford had managed to acquire 75-percent of the company’s shares.

In the 1990s the Aston Martin Virage was put into production. In 1993 the Ford Motor Company took complete control of Aston Martin when they purchased 100-percent of its shares. Aston Martin had embarked on what would be its most successful decade to date. Under the leadership of Ford, such memorable models as the DB7 Volante, DB7 Vantage, DB7 Zagato, DB9 Volante, V8 Vantage Le Mans, V12 Vantage and V12 Vanquish S were produced. By 2005, the British automaker had even returned to racing.

These days, Aston Martin is doing business as a successful conglomerate worth nearly a billion U.S. dollars. The company has more than 1,250 employees worldwide and has created two subsidiaries – Aston Martin Racing and Lagonda.