Aston Martin is one of the biggest names in the automotive world. The British manufacturer is responsible for amazing cars such as the DB9 and the DB5 and unique one-offs such as the Victor.
Despite their long and storied history, one or two facts about Aston Martin might have passed by you. This list contains 13 fascinating facts about the British company you may not know about.
Where The Aston Martin Name Came From
Aston Martin’s journey began in 1912 as a car dealership, a venture initiated by Englishmen Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. However, their entrepreneurial spirit led them to venture into car manufacturing, marking the start of their iconic brand.
The first Aston Martin debuted in 1915. The name was in honor of Martin, a famous racing driver of the era, and his favorite race circuit, Aston Hills. The men created Aston Martin, where the legendary name came from.
Ford Had To Save Aston Martin
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Aston Martin was mainly in a good place, but it did bounce between owners and was close to insolvency on one or two occasions. In the late 1980s, it desperately needed a cash injection. At the 1987 Mille Miglia revival, the owner of Aston Martin and Walter Hayes, the then vice-president of Ford of Europe, were in attendance.
The pair met up after Hayes saw the value in Aston Martin, which led to Ford taking a stake in the company that year. By 1993, Ford had acquired the company, opening a new Aston Martin factory the following year. This led to the 2001 flagship V12 Vanquish and, in 2004, the 460 hp Vanquish S.
Lagonda Has Had An Interesting History
Aston Martin is synonymous with the Lagonda name, and the actual company name is Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC. Aston Martin acquired the name in 1947 from American-born opera singer-turned-engineer Wilbur Gunn. The name didnt make a total return, but in 1976, the company debuted the Aston Martin Lagonda based on the Aston Martin V8.
The company has regularly spoken about returning the Lagonda name as a luxury car company, with the Aston Martin name retained for its sports cars. However, it looks like the future of the Lagonda name lies in electric Aston Martins.
There Is One Polished-Aluminum Aston Martin DB2/4
If you turn up to anywhere in a 1954 Aston Maritn DB2/44, you will turn heads. But you can turn even more with a polished aluminum Aston Martin DB2/4, and one of these does exist. Its current location is an unknown but it did go under the hammer with RM Sotheby’s back in 2014.
The DB2/4 replaced the Aston Martin DB2 in 1953. Under the hood was a 2.6-liter Lagonda straight-six engine with 125 hp, and a new VB6J variant for the saloon in 1953 produced 140 hp. The VB6J made its way into the Drophead in 1954, which saw the speed increase to 140 mph, a very fast figure for the early 1950s.
The Origins Of The Aston Martin Logo
The Aston Martin logo started off simply in 1921, with an A and an M in a circle transposed over each other. The wings appeared in 1932, and it was initially thought this was borrowed from Bentley to signify speed.
Egyptology was a popular subject in the United Kingdom at the time. Aston Martin took inspiration from Egypt and the scarab beetle, a creature at the center of Ancient Egypt’s religion. The scarab itself is fascinating, as the god Khepri’s name was written with a scarab hieroglyph. Kherpri represented existence, manifestation, development, growth, and effectiveness.
Aston Martin Has Been In F1 Twice
Aston Martin competes in Formula 1, but it first entered the series in the late 1950s. The first Aston Martin F1 car was the DBR4, built and tested in 1957, but it didn’t make its official debut until 1959 after the company prioritized the development of the DBR1 sports car.
Sadly for Aston Martin, the DBR4 was outdated on its F1 debut, and it would develop the DBR5 for the 1960 season. But thanks to the heavy engine, it was regularly outclassed, and Aston Martin left F1 after that year’s British Grand Prix. The company returned to F1 in 2021, taking over the former Racing Point team. It most recently had a superb run of podiums at the start of the 2023 season, thanks to Fernando Alonso.
The Aston Martin Bulldog
Many overlook the radical 1979 Bulldog from Aston Martin. The Bulldog is a stunning concept built by the company to become the world’s fastest production car, hoping to reach over 200 mph. Aston Martin hoped to build 15-25 Bulldogs, but the project was deemed too costly, and in the end, Aston Martin produced just one Bulldog.
The Bulldog has a 5.3-liter Aston Martin twin-turbocharged V8 under the hood and a fascinating life. It passed through various owners, including a Middle Eastern and American collector, but it is now back in the United Kingdom and owned by American Phillip Sarofim. Sarofim commissioned a full, authentic restoration of the car by Classic Motor Cars, and in the summer of 2013, Aston Martin racing driver Darren Turner drove the Bulldog to an incredible top speed of 237 mph at a former NATO airbase in Campbeltown, Scotland.
The Bespoke Aston Martin DB10
Most of the Aston Martins used in the James Bond films have been models also available to the public. But for the film Spectre, director Sam Mendes, producer Barbara Broccoli, and Bond actor Daniel Craig wanted a special, bespoke machine. This came after they saw a concept sketch on the wall of Aston Martin’s design studios, and six months later, the 4.7-liter V8-powered DB10 arrived.
Aston Martin produced ten DB10s in total. Eight of them were featured in the film, while Aston Martin and the film producers used the other two as promotional vehicles for the film. Based on the V8 Vantage, the V8 engine under the hood produces 430 hp and 361 lb-ft of torque.
Aston Martin Has A Close Relationship With Mercedes-AMG
While all the bodywork and chassis work is done in-house, Aston Martin works closely with Mercedes-AMG for its engines. Daimler AMG has a five percent stake in Aston Martin, which enabled the company to benefit from Mercedes technology. The first Aston Martin to sport an AMG engine was the 2016 DB11 with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 before Aston Martin decided to add a V12.
The Mercedes engines offer exceptional power. The V12 version of the 2016 DB11 had a 5.2-liter engine with 600 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. The partnership has been hugely successful and continues to this day, and both companies seem extremely happy with the arrangement.
Where The DB Moniker Comes From
The DB moniker has been a part of the Aston Martin range for decades. While there is an Aston Martin DB1, the first car to carry the DB nameplate was the DB2 in 1950. The DB1 name would appear on the earlier Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports, of which the company sold just 15 units.
The DB name stands for David Brown, named after Sir David Brown, who bought the company in 1946 and led it through perhaps the most successful period in its history. Following the DB2, there was the DB Mark III, DB4, DB5, and DB6 before the first modern Aston Martin DB, the DB7.
Aston Martin’s Co-Founder Was Banned From Driving
We briefly spoke about co-founder Lionel Martin earlier and how he was a racing driver. However, Martin was actually a real speed demon and broke many bicycle racing records while he was a student. Martin famously rode across almost the whole width of England in a 22-hour stretch.
After competing in motorcycle and sidecar races, he began competing in hillclimb events. His quest for speed followed him onto public roads, as he was caught speeding in London in 1909, going at 26 mph. As he had not paid a previous speeding fine, Martin was banned from driving for two years.
Aston Martin Now Produces SUVs
Like them or hate them, SUVs are now a core part of the automotive landscape. Aston Martin is no stranger to this either, having introduced the Aston Martin DBX in 2020. This followed the 2009 Lagonda Concept LUV, a luxury SUV set to use the Lagonda name but never made it to production.
Demand needed to be higher for the Lagonda LUV to enter production in 2009, but the DBX has become a successful car for the British manufacturer. It’s certainly powerful, with the 4.0-liter Mercedes M177 twin-turbocharged V8 producing 542 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, which increases to 697 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque in the higher-performance DBX707.
Aston Martin Returned To Racing In 2004
Aston Martin took a long hiatus from racing soon after its Formula 1 disaster, but it returned to racing with the Aston Martin Racing team in 2004 in partnership with Prodrive. This time, it had entered the world of sports car racing and competed at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours.
The company primarily races in the GT categories of the sport, but it did have a complete works entry with a Le Mans prototype in 2009 with the Lola-Aston Martin B09/60. The car won nine races with four pole positions and almost took a podium at Le Mans before driver Anthony Davidson collided with a GT1 Aston Martin. As well as competing in F1 now, Aston Martin will return to the top category of sports car racing with its LMH Valkyrie in 2025.
