Aston Martin is one of the oldest sports car brands in the world, boasting extensive pre and post war racing pedigree and an enviable back catalogue of iconic road cars. It’s also one of those companies that has always teetered on the verge of bankruptcy (and gone through it no fewer than seven times in its history), low volumes and costly production processes forever out of step with common practice.
Nevertheless, Aston Martin continues to survive if not thrive, constantly reinventing itself with new families of desirable sports and GT cars that readily seduce a diverse international clientele of marque aficionados and the style conscious. Today it is a determinedly pursuing the role of a luxury global brand, aligning itself with Red Bull Racing, building an SUV and an all-conquering multimillion-pound hypercar.
The classic Aston Martin, meanwhile, has become a prominent and treasured part of the 20th Century motoring lexicon, with cars like the DB5 held up as exemplars of 1960s British design, their understated beauty often at odds with their more vulgar Italian or American contemporaries. Aston Martin has always done its own thing and will, financial ruination or not, continue to do so for a long time yet.
