Aston Martin: Seven Bankruptcies, James Bond's DB5 and a £101 Sale

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Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford founded Aston Martin in 1913, naming it after Martin's races at the Aston Clinton Hill Climb. Their first car put a Coventry Simplex engine in a 1908 Isotta Fraschini chassis. Bamford left in 1920, the company went bankrupt in 1924, and Martin was forced out in 1925. Augustus Bertelli's cars raced at Le Mans, yet only about 700 road cars were built before World War II. In 1947 tractor and gear maker David Brown bought the firm, then bought Lagonda mainly for its 2.6 liter engine designed by W.O. Bentley, launching the DB series that led to the DB5 in Goldfinger in 1964.

Hand building meant the cars cost more to make than they sold for, and California emission rules cut off U.S. sales. In 1972 Brown paid off £5 million of debt and sold the company for £101; it was in receivership by 1974, down to 100 staff by 1975. Victor Gauntlett lent his own Vantage to The Living Daylights, and the Tickford engineering arm took outside work. Ford took a 75 percent stake in 1987, opened Bloxham and Gaydon, and the DB7 sold over 6,000 units. Ford sold the company in 2007 to a consortium led by David Richards for £475 million, followed by a 2018 London listing, the DBX SUV and a 2020 rescue led by Lawrence Stroll.

• William Towns designed the wedge shaped Lagonda saloon, and the Bulldog was a gull winged one off concept.
• Tickford engineers designed train interiors and tuned Ford Capris to raise working capital.
• CEO Andy Palmer publicly vowed the company would avoid an eighth bankruptcy.
• Mercedes-AMG now supplies engines and electronics, and a $232 million deal brings Lucid electric motors and batteries.
• In February 2026 the company sold the naming rights to its Formula One team back to Stroll for £50 million.