Aston Martin celebrates the occasion that led to their first vehicle.
Almost exactly 110 years to the year, Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford formed a partnership that would lead to the creation of the first Aston Martin car. The Aston Martin brand has since weathered a century of ups and downs – from World Wars and multiple bankruptcies to being 007’s preferred ride and enjoying motorsport success.
To celebrate their 110th anniversary, Aston Martin has brought together 2 of their most iconic models – the 1923 Razor Blade and their Valkyrie.
The 1923 Aston Martin Razor Blade was a vehicle designed to break the one-hour light car record. It was powered by a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine with twin overhead camshafts and 16 valves producing 55 bhp. The body was just 47 cm at its widest point, making it one of the narrowest racing cars ever built. It was possibly one of the earliest vehicles to factor aerodynamics as a key design principle. The record attempt was abandoned but the car managed to consistently exceed 160 km/h during the attempt.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is the company’s current high-performance is one of the fastest street-legal vehicles in production. Only 150 units will be put into production with small numbers of AMR Pro and Spider variants available too.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
Sunday 15 January is exactly 110 years since founders Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford officially formed the partnership that went on to create the first Aston Martin car, igniting more than a century of automotive intensity, cutting-edge British innovation, and high-octane racing success.
Born on the track and inspired by its founders passion for racing, Aston Martin has risen from humble beginnings in a small workshop on Henniker Mews, London to become one of the world’s most renowned automotive marques, synonymous with inventive design, luxurious craftsmanship, thrilling performance and scarce exclusivity.
In photographs released to mark the anniversary, Aston Martin has brought together two of the most iconic and innovative models from its 110-year bloodline, highlighting the brand’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of performance and applying engineering from Grand Prix racing to the road.
One of the brand’s oldest surviving racing cars, the record-breaking 1923 racer Razor Blade is pictured alongside the uncompromising Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar.
One of the earliest cars to be specifically designed with aerodynamics in mind, and propelled by an Aston Martin Grand Prix specification engine, the trailblazing Razor Blade took numerous class records at Brooklands in 1923, a year on from Aston Martin’s Grand Prix debut with TT1 – the car nicknamed ‘Green Pea’. A century later, Aston Martin continues to innovate with its thrilling high-performance models, bringing modern Formula One™ engineering to the road through its era-defining Aston Martin Valkyrie.
The brand’s historic 110th anniversary is to be celebrated through the launch of a new, strictly limited, exclusive Aston Martin model, to be unveiled later this year. The milestone will also take centre stage of this year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and other major events across Aston Martin’s key regions, as part of a global marketing campaign entitled ‘Intensity: 110 Years in the Making’.
2023 promises to be a monumental year, as Aston Martin prepares to unleash the first of its highly anticipated next generation of sports cars, which will further enhance Aston Martin’s focus on ultra-luxury, high-performance and driving intensity.
The 110th anniversary is one of several notable landmarks for Aston Martin in 2023, with the year also marking 75 years of the DB bloodline, 60 years of the iconic DB5 model and 20 years of Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters, the purpose-built facility serving as a centre of excellence for world-class sports car design and engineering.
