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The Ultimate History of Aston Martin

Part of the '8 DVD Box Set – Classic Cars' reviewed by John Cooper Running Time - 92 minutes www.greenumbrella.co.uk

I must confess to being a bit biased towards this DVD before even watching it and had high expectations. I must say here and now that I was not disappointed and found it to be highly entertaining and informative.

The scenes and hence flow of the DVD are as follows:

1. Introduction
2. The last coach built cars
3. Aston Martin’s racing heritage
4. The unique Atom
5. The glory years with David Brown
6. The classic grand touring cars
7. Virage and Vantage
8. The renaissance begins
9. Project Vantage, Vanquish and DB9

It opens with what I can only assume is promotional footage of the DB7 featuring Sir Stirling Moss and this really sets the tone for the whole DVD. The flow is largely though not entirely chronological and flows in a natural and smooth fashion.

The history of the company goes back to 1913 when it was formed by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford though probably the most well known era to most of us will be when David Brown (who cheerfully admitted that he lost money on every car that he built) took over in 1947. He was responsible for buying Lagonda to form Aston Martin Lagonda Limited as we know it today. It is rumoured that he did this purely to get the W.O. Bentley designed engine which was used in the DB2. He also bought up Tickford Motor Bodies.

Apparently, David Brown had planned to produce a DB7 but it was so similar to the DB6 that it became the DB6 MkII. Plans for the DB7 badge existed in the archives and were eventually used when the DB7 was finally produced.

One very interesting part of the DVD is extensive interviews with the designer of the DB7 where he explains the thought and technical processes involved in designing the car. The problem with nostalgic videos and DVDs is that the interest in everything old is quite a recent phenomenon. 50 years ago, nobody could have anticipated anybody wanting to hear how and why the designer developed something the way they did so little documentary evidence exists. It’s reassuring to know that in another 50 years time when our grandchildren want to know what inspired the shape of the DB7 or why the grill is the shape it is will be able to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

An aspect of the DVD that was a bit of a surprise to me was around the racing heritage of Aston Martin from the 1920’s until they pulled out or racing in 1964. Like the Bentley DVD this includes some fantastic footage, which I couldn’t do justice to here and really has to be seen to be appreciated.

The DVD concludes by coming right back up to date with 2 key features. Firstly is a brief film of a roadtest that Road & Track magazine conducted at Santa Pod, naturally featuring a couple of Aston’s and legendary driver Phil Hill. I won’t say what the outcome was but you can probably guess by the fact that it’s included. The other contemporary and concluding section is a short promotional film about the DB9 from the drawing board to the road.

In case you’re wondering, this DVD does not answer the question – what ever happened to the DB8?