Aston Martin – Gaydon – Warwickshire

 

I was recently invited to visit the Aston Martin Headquarters and assembly plant at Gaydon, Warwickshire. Aston Martin will be forever associated with the fictional character James Bond starting with the classic DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger right up to the DB10 in the most recent OO7 film Spectre, it was an opportunity I jumped at.

I once owned a Silver Aston Martin DB5  complete with ejector seat, front-mounted machine guns and bullet proof screen. Unfortunately mine was about 9cm long and made by Corgi!

 

Founded in 1913 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin the original company was called Bamford and Martin Ltd but in 1914 the iconic name of Aston Martin was adopted, inspired by Martin’s success at the Aston Hill Climb in Buckinghamshire.

Close to the small village of Gaydon situated on a former RAF air base the Aston Martin headquarters is adjacent to the Heritage Motor Centre home to the largest collection of historic British cars in the world charting the history of the British car industry from the turn of the 20th century to the present day. The collection is simply stunning and well worth a visit.

The Aston Martin assembly line at Gaydon demonstrates the best in cutting-edge technology combined with traditional techniques and hand-craftsmanship. Employing over 1200 craftsmen and women the detail and passion that goes into the production of each model is remarkable.

Visitors are not allowed to take pictures out on the assembly floor but i did manage to take some in the showroom, museum floor and outside. Two of those photographs you can see above with classic cars perched on an outcrop of rock and the other floating above the water!

There were so many beautiful cars in one place I was struggling to take it all in. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Our guide knew everything about the history of Aston Martin and demonstrated a real passion for the construction and evolution of the motor cars she was describing.