The history of the famous brand from Great Britain is a rough one. Originally it was founded by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford as Bamford & Martin. Later the company was renamed to Aston Martin but it changed hands many times before eventually it was bought in 1947 by David Brown. The famous DB series were develloped during the David Brown period, but Aston Martin was often financially troubled. It went bust in 1974 and was sold again by the receiver. Somehow Aston Martin managed to push out the mighty V8 Vantage and the incredible Lagonda saloon car. However in 1980 Aston Martin was in financial trouble again. Bring in Mr Gauntlett. He managed to bring Aston Martin in a less troublesome state. During his chairmanship he brought the new Virage line but also, more importantly, the start of the development of a new smaller Aston Martin. To fund this Gauntlett brought in the Ford Motor Company. They took control over the company and by 1993 the new DB7 was announced. The DB7 saved the company and started the development of the new Aston Martin. In 2003 the DB9 was presented and