Aston Martin the Legend

Aston Martin — suppliers of handbuilt fast cars to H.R.H. Prince Charles and James Bond - has had a chequered career over its 80-year life. The company has had many enthusiastic owners, all of whom have left Feltham or Newport Pagnell poorer than when they arrived. But,-despite all the financial ups-and-downs, the cars have retained their essential charisma. With superb colour photographs, this book follows the Aston Martin story - from the pre-war days of the stark, open 2-seaters with their 1.5-litre 'fours', through the 'fifties and 'sixties reign of the evocative DB series with their raucous twin-cam 'sixes' and on into the 'seventies and 'eighties, where the big V8-powered luxury GT cars ruled the roost. The production story continues with the cars for the 'nineties and beyond — the latest V8 and the stunning DB7. Racing has always improved the Aston Martin breed - the marque won the World Sports Car Championship in 1959 - so factory competition cars are also featured. This is a fascinating story of high performance in every decade, but particularly of one small British company's ongoing determination to challenge the best of the world's supercars.