Aston Martin, the union between the name of a hill climb race, Aston Clinton, and the surname of the company’s founder, Lionel Martin.
It was 1908 when Lionel Martin and his friend Robert Bamford opened a repair workshop in Kensington. Initially, they obtained the representation of Singer cars, then they became experienced preppers for the Singer Ten, which they offered with the B&M brand. Lionel drove his cars, constructed with components of different origin. In 1913 he won his first hill climb race in the Aston Clinton!

After Bamford retired from the company, in 1920 Lionel received the financial support from Count Zborowski, well-known sportsman and car racing patron. John Benson, the designer, was also involved in the company. The sports results were good, but not the sales. After several events, including the death of Zborowski in Monza, in 1925 the company was put into liquidation. The following year it was taken over by Augusto Cesare Bertelli who decided not to change its name and, in 1927, they presented a racing car. There were further financial problems and Arthur Sutherland took over the company. The initials DB, which have distinguished Aston Martin since 1948, refer to the initials of David Brown, who acquired the company in 1947, together with Lagonda… there were several other owners taking over the company, but we’ll stop here.

On the racing field, Aston Martin collected major successes, especially with the DBR 1/300, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959, with the Salvadori-Shelby duo. Aston Martin brought a touch of class to the racing industry!