Aston Martin Legends

Personality goes a long way, and never was that more evident than in the case of Aston Martin. This British institution seems to have spent its entire history lurching from financial crisis to financial crisis and yet, thanks to the drive, passion and dedication of a series of individuals, it has not only survived to reach its 110th anniversary in 2023, but thrived. People such as founding fathers Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, or genius engineers AC ʻBertʼ Bertelli, Claude Hill, Harold Beach and the inimitable Tadek Marek, who has been responsible for not one but two of the worldʼs great engines. Then there are the stylists – including Frank Feeley, William Towns and Ian Callum – but perhaps most important have been the saviours; enthusiasts willing to stump up…

‘Its significance was revealed when the inspector spotted “3” cast into the chassis’ There is a rich history of naming cars after great competition victories – the Porsche Carrera, the Ferrari Mondial and, to a lesser extent, the Daytona are cases in point. But very few actual marques owe their monikers to a win, and only one to a short, moribund hillclimb in a sleepy Buckinghamshire village. Yet thanks to Lionel Martinʼs prowess in his Singer specials, and his wife Kateʼs suggestion that his new car company should be named after his favourite stomping ground in the Chiltern Hills, that is precisely what happened in order to create one of the most enigmatic and revered brands in motoring. Today, the Aston Martin name is so much a part of the…

1912 Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin go into partnership as Singer agents on Callow Road, London. Martin competes on Aston Hill in a Singer special 1913 The two partners form Bamford & Martin Ltd based in Henniker Place, London, on 15 January 1914 The first Aston-Martin is built (left), with a 1389cc Coventry-Simplex engine. Christened ‘Coal Scuttle’, it is registered in March 1915 1918 The company moves to Abingdon Road, Kensington 1920 A second prototype is developed, with a 1487cc engine and front-wheel brakes. Count Louis Zborowski begins to invest in the company and Robert Bamford steps away 1921 A3, the third prototype, completed 1922 Prototype ‘Bunny’ breaks 10 world records at Brooklands. AM fields two cars at the French GP on 16 July 1925 The firm goes into receivership…

This was claimed to be the biggest-ever gathering of Aston Martins, attracting almost 700 cars to the grounds of Dallas Burston Polo Club on 26 June 2021 to celebrate the 100th birthday of A3, the oldest surviving example of the marque. As well as featuring models from every era of Aston Martinʼs rich history, from Feltham via Newport Pagnell and Bloxham to Gaydon, the Heritage Festival was also a gathering of the companyʼs great and good, bringing together the early racers LM1, 2 and 3 along with both the Aston Martin Ownersʼ Club and the Aston Martin Heritage Trust, plus dealers, specialists and even a handful of Tick ford Capris. C&SC caught up with the owners of machines produced over more than a century of bespoke car manufacturing to share…

There’s one experience that beats driving a great car, and that’s running with a group of similar machines. On a dull, misty December day, on a deserted Gloucestershire high road, the spectacular sight of four Aston Martin Ulsters running in convoy vividly recreates the way sports-racers travelled in the 1930s. This glorious set – rasping along with yellow headlights glowing through the cold winter’s morning – could have been the team’s convoy to Le Mans in early June 1935. Our historic group features two Astons from that seven-car sortie, including the most famous Ulster of all, LM20, which the two Charles – Martin and Brackenbury – guided home in grim conditions to third overall and the 1500cc class victory. Such was the reliability of the Feltham-built roadsters that six of…

‘It was undeniably handsome, even if pre-war Aston buyers probably didn’t think much of its rather louche, bench-like seat’ Life for a nation at war, as well as being exhausting, terrifying and expensive (both fiscally and in human terms), has an immediacy and an urgency about it that tends to sharpen minds and appetites so that creativity flourishes in the ensuing peace. Even so, and considering the limited resources, the ingenuity, energy and sheer variety of Britainʼs immediate postwar motoring landscape are increasingly impressive the further this often-ignored period recedes into history. It was the 1948 British International Motor Show at Earls Court, and the Jaguar XK120, that seemed to give people official sanction to dream. But somewhat lost in the well-deserved furore surrounding the XK was another new fantasy…