The registry
Aston Martin Registry: Models, Builds & Photos
Aston Martin was founded in London in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, taking its name from the Aston Hill climb where Martin raced. The company built low-volume British sports and grand touring cars through repeated bankruptcies and ownership changes, including the David Brown years (1947-1972) that produced the DB series and the Ford era (1987-2007), during which the Virage and DB7 were built. It remains in production today, publicly listed since 2018, with headquarters at Gaydon, Warwickshire.
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Founding and the David Brown years
Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford started the firm in 1913, and the first car ran in 1915. The company went broke several times between the wars, a pattern that never really stopped. The turning point came in 1947 when tractor magnate David Brown bought Aston Martin and then Lagonda, pairing the chassis business with W.O. Bentley's Lagonda 2.6 liter twin-cam straight six. That combination produced the DB2 (1950-1953) and led to the DB4 (1958-1963), which introduced Tadek Marek's all-alloy 3.7 liter six and Touring of Milan's Superleggera tube-frame body construction. The DB5 (1963-1965) grew the six to 4.0 liters and became the most famous car the company ever built after a gadget-equipped example appeared in the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger. A works DBR1 won Le Mans outright in 1959 with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori driving.
The V8 era
Marek's 5.3 liter quad-cam V8 arrived in the DBS V8 in 1969 and carried the company, in one form or another, for over 30 years. The AM V8 (1972-1989) and its Vantage and Volante variants were hand-built at Newport Pagnell in tiny numbers while ownership churned; David Brown sold out in 1972, and the firm nearly closed in 1974-1975. Ford took a stake in 1987 and full control in 1994.
Virage
The Virage, launched at Birmingham in 1988 and built from 1989, was the first clean-sheet Aston Martin in two decades. It kept the 5.3 liter V8 but with new 32-valve heads developed by Callaway Engineering in Connecticut, making around 330 hp. Bodies were still aluminum panels formed by hand over a steel structure at Newport Pagnell. The Virage Volante convertible followed in 1992, and the supercharged Vantage of 1993 took the platform to 550 hp with twin Eaton blowers under mostly new panels; a later V600 upgrade pushed it to 600 hp. In 1996 the base car was renamed simply V8 Coupe, and the line ran until 2000. Total Virage-family production came to about 1,050 cars over eleven years, low hundreds per variant, so parts support runs through specialists and the factory heritage operation rather than any volume network. Note the name was reused for a separate DB9-based Virage sold 2011-2012.
Gaydon era to now
Under Ford, the DB7 (1994-2004) brought volume production to Bloxham, and the 2003 move to Gaydon brought the VH-platform DB9 and V8 Vantage. Ford sold the company in 2007. Aston Martin Lagonda listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, and Lawrence Stroll's consortium took control in 2020. The company is still building cars, so this is a living marque, not a defunct one.
Asked all the time
What years was the Aston Martin Virage made?
The original Aston Martin Virage was built from 1989 to 1996, when it was renamed the V8 Coupe; the family, including the Volante and supercharged Vantage, continued at Newport Pagnell until 2000. Aston Martin reused the Virage name on a separate DB9-based model sold in 2011-2012.
What engine does the Aston Martin Virage use?
The Virage carries Aston Martin's 5.3 liter all-alloy V8, updated for 1989 with 32-valve heads developed with Callaway Engineering, producing roughly 330 hp. The 1993 Vantage version added twin Eaton superchargers for about 550 hp, with a later V600 upgrade rated at 600 hp.
What do the DB model names mean on an Aston Martin?
DB stands for David Brown, the industrialist who owned Aston Martin from 1947 to 1972. The DB2, DB4, DB5, and DB6 date from his ownership, and Aston Martin revived the prefix with the DB7 in 1994.
Is Aston Martin still in business?
Yes. Aston Martin has gone through multiple bankruptcies and owners since 1913, including David Brown (1947-1972) and Ford (1987-2007), but it builds cars today at Gaydon and has been publicly listed as Aston Martin Lagonda since 2018.
How hard is it to keep an older Aston Martin on the road?
Hand-built Aston Martins like the V8 and Virage were made in very small numbers, so body panels and trim are specialist items, often sourced through Aston Martin's own heritage parts operation or marque specialists. The mechanical side is more manageable; the Marek V8 is well understood, and many chassis and electrical components were shared with other British makes of the period.
The wall
The most-documented Aston Martin vehicles in the registry, every photo by the owner.