Aston Martin Lagonda is a British independent manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with expensive grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional character James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger. Their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon.[3] Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to the Prince of Wales since 1982,[4] and has over 160 car dealerships in 53 countries, making it a global automobile brand.[5] The company is traded at the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[6] In 2003 it received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade.[7] The company has gone bankrupt seven times in its history.[8]
The Aston Martin DB5 is a British luxury grand tourer (GT) that was made by Aston Martin and designed by the Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera.[3] Released in 1963, it was an evolution of the final series of DB4. Although not the first in the DB series, the DB5 is the best-known cinematic James Bond car, first appearing in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964).[4]
The Aston Martin DB9 is a British grand tourer first shown by Aston Martin at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show. Available both in coupé and a convertible bodystyles, the latter being known as the Volante, the DB9 was the successor of the DB7. It was the first model built at Aston Martin's Gaydon facility. The DB9, originally designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker,[8] has an aluminium construction. The chassis is the Ford developed VH platform whilst the engine is the 5.9-litre V12 from the Vanquish. The 2013 model year facelift saw many improvements to the design, the engine and the overall driving experience. Aston Martin Racing adapted the DB9 for sports car racing, producing the DBR9 for FIA GT1 and the DBRS9 for FIA GT3. These two cars are modified DB9 models adapted for motorsport; the interior features are removed and the aluminium body panels are replaced by carbon fibre panels. Additionally, the engine has been tweaked in both the cars to produce more horsepower and torque. Production of the DB9 ended after 12 years in 2016, having been replaced by the DB11 which uses an all-new platform and engine.[9][10]