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Bamford & Martin (1914-1925) |
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Pre War Era (1914-1940)
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 In 1914, Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin announced their intention to produce a car of their own design, intended for fast touring and to be called an Aston-Martin. Whilst the very first car, 'Coal Scuttle', appeared shortly afterwards, it remained the only Aston-Martin in existence until 1920 when a second prototype was finally finished. And so it was in the very early days between 1920 and 1925, that possibly as few as 61 cars slowly trickled out of the Kensington factory.
These small cars with their 1.5 litre, 4 cylinder side valve engines were given various body styles from 2 seater sports, 3 seater cloverleafs, 4 seater tourers and saloons. In 1922, a pair of Voiturette 2 seaters were built to compete in the 1922 Strasbourg Grand Prix, complete with advanced four cylinder engines featuring twin overhead camshafts and 16 valves. One of these cars survives to this day and can still be seen at AMOC race meetings. Sadly, with production of cars being so very slow, it's not surprising that the company foundered in 1925.
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Apr 09, 2012
