ASTON MARTIN DBR4

No. 109

Unsuccessful if not unloved – within its small niche – the Aston Martin car company had already been passed around like a tray of muffins when it found its way into the ownership of agricultural vehicle entrepreneur David Brown in 1947. Co-founders Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford went into business together in 1913 as Bamford & Martin, building Singer-based specials, but astutely recognised a more evocative name was required: Aston Martin came about through a combination of Martin’s name (his family business was where the money came from, after all) and that of the Aston Hill racing venue where Martin was an energetic competitor. The first Aston Martin rolled out of the company’s small Kensington workshop in 1915, but within a decade the partners had split and the company went into receivership.

Owners came and went until, in October 1946, Brown was perusing his copy of newspaper and came across a classified advert for a “High Class Motor Business”. As is the way of those successful in enterprise Brown was