Prestige car maker, Aston Martin has been returned to British ownership after US giant, Ford agreed to sell in a £479 million deal.
ITVThe manufacturer, which famously produces the car-of-choice for super spy, James Bond has been sold to a consortium led by UK motor racing boss Dave Richards.
Mr Richards, 54, who is head of automotive engineering group Prodrive, described the deal as "an incredible opportunity", adding that Aston Martin was "one of the world's most iconic brands".
He will become non-executive chairman and a board member of a company that will later this year bring out the DBS model, the car driven by the latest James Bond - Daniel Craig - in the 007 movie Casino Royale.
Dating back to 1914, Aston Martin has been wholly owned by Ford since 1994. The company will stay at its 1,800-workforce headquarters at Gaydon where an extra 200 jobs are expected to be created within three years.
The new staff will work on the four-seater Rapide which was shown in concept form last year and which is due to be launched in 2010.
In the 1990s, Aston Martin was producing as few as 46 cars a year. But under the leadership of Ulrich Bez annual production has soared to 7,000.
Mr Bez is to remain as chief executive. He said today: "This new partnership is a tremendously exciting opportunity for Aston Martin.
"We have a deal and we have a good deal. We are all grateful to Ford Motor Company who have enabled us to grow and flourish to the level we are now."
Prestige car maker, Aston Martin has been returned to British ownership after US giant, Ford agreed to sell in a £479 million deal. ITV
This is one hell of a car.
ReplyDeleteCan't say the same about the one Studebaker I owned.
ReplyDeleteDon't Knock the
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Bobal,
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The Hawk had the V-8 from this Beauty
ReplyDelete(I think Aston Styling got it's inspiration here)
Ford Is Close to a Deal to Shed Aston Martin Sports Cars
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These fellows make an excellent case against collective health care.
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There you go, doug.
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The idea of a War so distressful, that even with the most technologicaly advanced forces in the world, Israel and US cannot win the War, militarily.
Beauty, what beauty?
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I had a red 1963 Triumph TR-4 back in the days of my yute.
Great car, except for the SU carbs and the Lucas gages and distributor and points.
And another minor annoyance, the exhaust manifold that had a habit of splitting. I once had to clamp and wire some vice grips in such a fashion to tighten up a leak sufficient to get me home.
And of course, the clunky and cumbersome throttle linkage had a habit of coming disjointed, susceptible to 4-wheel drift torque forces.
And I was lucky to get 12-15k miles on the front pads, but I guess the twisty roads west of Austin had something to do with that (as well as a dip in soph gpa).
And the muffler and resonator both rusted out faster than you could say true grit.
All in all, somewhat understated British craftsmanship.
But I could downshift three gears (4-3-2-1) through the short throw synchro box in less than a second. A minor miracle that the transmission held together until I sold to the next guy.
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Guess I was too busy tourin' to do rodeo. That and not knowing which is better, cow patties over easy or sunny side up. It's been so long since I went to a rodeo, I didn't know they had basketball rock music until the video.
'06 Rapide Interior
ReplyDeleted'Rat
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Sam, it does not get any better than that!
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