Diecast Aston Martin

Founded in 1913, Aston Martin produced their first car in 1915, but were unable to proceed with the idea because of World War I. Aston Martin builds some of the worlds most beautiful and luxurious sports cars in the entire world.  Popularized by the James Bond movie series starting in 1964, these British exotics have become quite popular in recent years.

When WWI ended, plans went ahead to produce a car to compete in the French Grand Prix, but the company ultimately went bankrupt in 1924.  Even after being bought out, it ended up going bankrupt again just one year later.  When the company was rebuilt once again, Aston Martin did manage to build a few different models before financial trouble hit the company yet again and several acquisitions took place. Once WWII started production had to stop once again and the factory switched to building aircraft components.  Up to this point just 700 cars had been built since the company was founded.

Aston Martin DB Series

It wasn't until 1947 that the company was purchased yet again, but this time with a viable plan.  David Brown Limited, a tractor manufacturing company, purchased Aston Martin as well as another car company called Lagonda, as well as a coach building facility, Tickford.  With these acquisitions under it's belt, David Brown was able to turn Aston Martin around and produce the first of it's famous DB series of automobiles.  The DB was named after owner, David Brown and the first in the DB car series was the DB2, which debuted in 1950.  Just a few years later, in 1957, the DB3 was built, followed by the DB4 in 1958.  All of these cars were popular in the racing circuit, but it was the DB4 that received the most attention, followed by the DB5 in 1963. 

Although David Brown had taken Aston Martin to a whole new level, the company was still suffering from financial trouble.  The 1970's and 1980's were full of acquisitions as different companies and individuals tried to make Aston Martin into a viable company.

The 1990's saw perhaps the most positive change for Aston Martin when they were acquired by Ford and production was increased dramatically.  Within 2 years, Ford had produced more Aston Martins than in all previous years of the company combined.  The addition of the V8 Vantage, V12 Vantage, DB7, DB9 and DB9 Volante. Aston Martin joined the ranks of other more established brands like Jaguar and Mercedes.  In 2006, during major restructuring at Ford, Aston Martin was once again sold.

The current Aston Martin lineup consists of the DBS, DB9 and V8 Vantage, but plans may be in the works for a 4 door Aston Martin.

For diecast car collectors, a diecast Aston Martin DB5 like the one James Bond used in Goldfinger is a great place to start, as is a diecast Aston Martin DBS, which was made public in Casino Royale.