A Century of Aston Martin

Did you know that the very first Aston Martin was built 100 years ago, in 1914, at the Bamford and Martin workshops off Fulham Road, Chelsea?

Exactly half a century later and another Aston Martin – which would become the company’s most famous model – had a starring role in the third James Bond film, Goldfinger (1964). In the book of Goldfinger, Ian Fleming had given 007 an Aston Martin DB Mark III. But as the DB5 had recently been introduced, the decision was made to use that instead.

The DB5, like its predecessor the DB4, was a 2 + 2 coupe with an aluminium body styled by Touring of Milan. It had a 3995cc engine delivering 242 bhp, a top speed of 143 mph and could go from 0-60 in 7.1 seconds.

The association with Bond and the success of Goldfinger ensured that the order books at Aston Martin were full for some time. The company produced 1,058 DB5s between 1963 and ‘65, each costing £4,175 (around £62,305 in today’s money). According to Bonhams, fully restored examples are currently selling for upwards of £320,000.

To commemorate the centenary of the Aston Martin marque, Autoweb has produced this compendious infographic.