100 years of Aston Martin

The history of Aston Martin is peppered with brilliant cars: the 1.5-liter, the Ulster, the DB4, the Zagato. The list is endless. Beautiful, yet powerful, on the road; glamorous, yet quick, on the track, Aston Martin has come to personify that special variety of tasteful, very British gentleman's sports car.

Of course, the high-water mark of Aston's road cars is the DB5, the elegant grand tourer that in Goldfinger Bond trim has been proclaimed the “most famous car in the world.” By a strange coincidence, the launch in 1963 of the DB5 takes on extra significance this year—the exact midpoint of Aston Martin's centenary to be celebrated globally throughout 2013.

In more ways than one, it remains remarkable that Aston Martin has come this far. Even Lionel Martin couldn't keep the company afloat, despite sinking his own fortune into the business. It went bust in 1921 and 1925, the second time forcing him to leave the company. But it pulled through the Great Depression on the back of engineering excellence and went on to star at Le Mans in the 1930s.

When tractor magnate David Brown took over in 1947, Aston enjoyed a second golden period, characterized by the famous Carroll Shelby/Roy Salvadori Le Mans victory in 1959 and the DB family of Bond cars.

Despite such successes, profits have proved elusive at times.

But again the romance and magic of Aston attracted new money, and although a string of investors came and went, there was sufficient stability to attract the interest of Ford, which can be credited with saving Aston in 1987 by taking a 75 percent stake.

Aston hasn't really looked back since then, and the injection of investment by Ford a decade ago still provides the foundation for today's resurgence, even though the Blue Oval sold out six years ago. That is evident in one of the latest Astons, the carbon-skinned 565-hp Vanquish, a bellowing flagship true to the company's traditions and one that chairman Uli Bez proudly declares “the best car we've ever done.” Lionel Martin would approve.

By Julian Rendell