• History

    1913Capturing the
    Imagination

    Aston Martin has produced bespoke sports cars for almost 100 years. The company began in 1913, when founders Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford realised their desire to build distinctive, high quality sports cars that were both exhilarating to drive and a beauty to behold. Martin regularly competed in hill climb races at Aston Clinton, and a simple combination of the name of the event and the driver gave birth to one of the most famous automotive marques.

  • History

    1922International
    Racing Pedigree

    Aston Martin’s international racing debut was in 1922, when two cars competed in the French Grand Prix, rapidly establishing the marque’s racing credentials. Later that year, the team went on to break ten world records at the Brooklands motor racing circuit.

    By 1929, the Aston Martin International model had evolved, setting new standards for road holding and handling. In racing colours, it helped Bertelli and Driscoll triumph in the ultimate test of endurance, winning the Biennial Cup at Le Mans in 1932.

  • History

    1947Iconic
    Era

    Industrialist David Brown acquired Aston Martin in 1947 and an iconic era of new DB badged coupes dawned. Brown had a passion for high performance sports cars and wanted Aston Martin to win the worldwide recognition he believed it deserved.

    He also recognised the enormous potential that existed for Aston Martin if he could take the company racing. Where better to prove his products than on the international motor racing circuits?

  • History

    1952The First Steps
    Towards Success

    David Brown started his race efforts with DB1 and DB2, which competed well in their own class, but never contended for outright victory. It was decided that a purpose-built sports car was required; the Aston Martin DB3S made its Le Mans debut in 1952 and quickly showed potential as a competitive racer.

  • History

    1954The success
    of the db3s

    Production versions of DB3S were offered for sale in 1954 and, although not as powerful as the Works cars, many customers experienced considerable success racing them. In the hands of the factory team, the Aston Martin DB3S went on to win its class at Le Mans for three consecutive years from 1955.

    1954 also saw the introduction of a more powerful, supercharged variant of DB3S. Aston Martin produced a total of 11 Works cars and 20 customer cars.

  • History

    1959Sweeping to
    Victory

    The culmination of this customer/Works racing programme was in 1959, when DBR1 swept to victory in the World Sports Car Championship. The highlight of the programme was Aston Martin’s outright win in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

    During the late 1950s, a series of four Works DBR1s won a total of six World Championship races, setting five new lap records in the process.

  • History

    1959Stirling
    moss

    Stirling Moss became arguably Britain’s greatest Grand Prix and sports car driver in 1959, when he raced a DBR1 as part of a three-car Works team entry at Le Mans.

    Moss acted as hare to the Ferraris, which duly expired - as did Moss’ engine. But his efforts left the field wide open for his teammates Salvadori and Shelby to claim a momentous first, and Trintignant and Frere to take second place in Aston Martin’s finest hour.

    Undeterred by a pit-stop fire taking the lead car out, Moss transferred to the Shelby/Fairman car and won the race and the World Championship.

  • History

    2005Racing
    re-birth

    Aston Martin Racing was founded to return the marque to international competition. The team's first race was the opening round of the American Le Mans Series at Sebring in 2005, where it scored a spectacular GT1 class victory with DBR9.

    In 2006, after more than 40 years away, Aston Martin returned to compete on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, where much of the early development of the V8 Vantage road car took place. The all-new Vantage N24 finished 24th overall and fourth in class.

    Buoyed by this success, it made its Middle East debut later the same year, finishing eighth in the inaugural Bahrain 24 Hours.

  • History

    2007Glory days
    return

    After a 48-year wait, Aston Martin triumphed again at Le Mans in 2007. The winning Aston Martin Racing DBR9 was driven to GT1 class victory and a remarkable fifth overall by David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner.

    In total, there were six DBR9s entered for the 75th Le Mans 24 Hours - two each for Aston Martin Racing and AMR Larbre Competition, plus single-car entries from AMR BMS and Team Modena. All six cars made the finish proving Aston Martin was back to its racing best.

  • History

    2008Le
    mans

    One year on from Aston Martin’s first victory in the GT1 class, the 009 DBR9 of David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner claimed another GT1 win at Le Mans 2008. The 009 car, this time resplendent in the iconic Gulf livery, took the class victory at the La Sarthe circuit.

    The second factory Aston Martin DBR9, 007, finished fourth in class thanks to an excellent drive from Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Andrea Piccini and Karl Wendlinger. The privateer DBR9 of Team Modena finished eighth in the GT1 class.