Otto Explains — Legendary Cars
The Legendary Cars That Defined Aston Martin
Short Answer
The cars that defined Aston Martin are the ones that changed what the company was. The Coal Scuttle of 1914 turned two car dealers into makers, the DB2 and DB4 built the DB tradition at Newport Pagnell, and the DBR1 won Le Mans in 1959. The DBS V8 began a V8 that lasted decades, the Lagonda of 1976 showed a rescued company still innovating, the DB7 and DB9 multiplied its sales, the DB11 brought turbocharged engines and a partnership with Mercedes-Benz, the DBX added an SUV and a second factory, and the Valhalla is its first plug-in hybrid hypercar.
How did Otto choose these cars?
By what each car changed, not by fame. Every car here altered how Aston Martin built cars, where it built them, what powered them or what kind of car it sold, and the list runs from the Coal Scuttle of 1914 to the Valhalla. Famous cars that did not change the company’s direction, such as the DB5 and the One-77, are covered in Otto’s separate article on iconic Aston Martins.
How did the Coal Scuttle turn dealers into car makers?
It was the moment Bamford and Martin stopped only selling cars. The partners had set up in London in 1913 to sell and service other makers’ cars, and in 1914 they completed their own: a prototype with a 1,389cc four-cylinder Coventry Simplex engine, redesigned for them, on a chassis of their own design. The First World War delayed it, and it did not race until 1919, but it is the car from which Aston Martin counts its history as a manufacturer.
How did the Two Litre Sports and the DB2 start the DB era?
They were the first cars of David Brown’s company, and they set its pattern. The Two Litre Sports of 1948, renamed DB1 from 1950, used the tubular construction of the wartime Atom prototype. The DB2, first raced at Le Mans in 1949, added the twin-cam six-cylinder engine of Lagonda, designed by a team led by W.O. Bentley, and established the post-war Aston Martin character. The DB letters, for David Brown, went on to appear on just under half of all Aston Martins built by 2018.
Why was the DB4 a turning point?
It created the Newport Pagnell Aston Martin. The DB4 (1958–1963) was the first new production Aston Martin built there, with a Superleggera body of alloy panels over a tubular frame, built under licence from Touring of Milan, on a platform chassis by Harold Beach. It also introduced a new 3,670cc six-cylinder engine designed by Tadek Marek. The DB5 of 1963 and then the DB6 developed directly from it.
What did the DBR1 give Aston Martin?
Its greatest racing victory. Designed by Ted Cutting as a pure sports-racing car, the DBR1 had an all-aluminium six-cylinder engine of 2.5 litres, then 3 litres from 1958, and began winning in 1957. In 1959 it took the top two places at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin’s overall victory, and DB-era Aston Martins also won the World Sports Car Championship. The win still shapes the brand: in 1999 the V8 Vantage Le Mans marked its 40th anniversary with 40 cars, one for each year.
How did the DBS V8 change Aston Martin’s engines?
It began the V8 era. The DBS of 1967, styled by William Towns with De Dion rear suspension, was designed for a new V8 that was not yet ready, so it started with the DB6’s 4-litre six. The DBS V8 of 1969 brought a four-cam V8, by 1970 a 5.3-litre engine designed in house, which stayed in production into the 21st century. It powered the V8 Vantage, which reached 170mph in 1977, and the twin-supercharged Vantage of 1992 with 550 bhp.
Why did the 1976 Lagonda matter?
It showed that a rescued company was still alive. After a group of businessmen bought Aston Martin in 1975, they decided to launch a startling new product to prove it was still innovating. The result was William Towns’ wedge-shaped four-door Lagonda, first shown at the 1976 Earls Court Motor Show, with electronic instruments and touch-sensitive switches. It stayed in production until 1990.
How did the DB7 change the size of Aston Martin?
It made Aston Martin a larger maker under Ford. Chairman Walter Hayes put the project to the Ford Board in March 1991; the DB7, designed by Ian Callum, was unveiled in 1993 and built at Bloxham from June 1994, with a 3.4-litre supercharged six built around a Jaguar six-cylinder block. It brought back the DB initials with Sir David Brown’s blessing, and over 4,000 DB7 Vantages were built, a record for Aston Martin at the time. Fewer than 200 cars a year had been sold in the years before 1987.
Why did the DB9 matter?
It opened the Gaydon era. The DB9 was the first car built at Gaydon, Aston Martin’s first purpose-built factory, and the first on the new ‘Vertical Horizontal’ (VH) architecture, which also carried the V8 Vantage from 2004; its bodyshell weighed 25 per cent less than the DB7’s with twice the torsional rigidity. The V8 Vantage of 2005 became the best-selling Aston Martin, and sales averaged about 6,800 a year from 2006 to 2008, peaking at over 7,000 in 2007.
What did the DB11 change?
It brought turbocharging and Mercedes-Benz technology. The DB11 of 2016, which replaced the DB9, was the first turbocharged series-production Aston Martin and the first with Mercedes-Benz electrical architecture, from the partnership agreed with Daimler in 2013. Its 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 was developed by Aston Martin, and from 2017 a DB11 V8 used a modified Mercedes-AMG 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, the engine family later used in the Vantage.
Why was the DBX a turning point?
It took Aston Martin into SUVs and into a second factory. The DBX, the brand’s first SUV, is built at St Athan in South Wales, a plant that opened in 2019, while the sports cars stay at Gaydon. On 24 October 2026 the DBX range had three models, DBX GT, DBX S and DBX707.
What does the Valhalla change?
It is Aston Martin’s first series-production mid-engined hypercar and a plug-in hybrid. Its flat-plane crank 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 works with three electric motors for 1,079PS, through an 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox with no reverse gear. Aston Martin expected about 500 Valhalla deliveries in 2026, and says it is moving to a blended mix of PHEV and fully electric drive between 2025 and 2030.
Common Questions
- Why is the DB5 not on this list? Because its fame comes from James Bond rather than from changing the company: it appeared in Goldfinger in 1963, its launch year, and was a development of the DB4, which is here. Otto covers it among the iconic Aston Martins.
- Did Ford design the DB7? Ford owned Aston Martin at the time and approved the project, but the DB7 was Aston Martin’s: chairman Walter Hayes proposed it, Ian Callum designed it, and its supercharged six was an Aston Martin unit built around a Jaguar engine block.
- Is the DBX built in the same factory as the sports cars? No. The sports cars are built at Gaydon in England and the DBX range at St Athan in Wales.
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