Used Aston Martin Cars | Used Cars, Motorbikes, Vans & Other Vehicles

Aston Martin is a distinctly English brand that sits at the very top of the luxury car market, designing cars that you are more likely to see in the movies or on the racing track than in the car park of the local supermarket. The company prides itself on creating fast sporty vehicles, which are tailored to their customers needs via their bespoke design service.

The History of Aston Martin
The history of Aston Martin began with the founding of Bamford and Martin Limited in London in 1913. The following year the company had success at the Aston hill climb and the name Aston Martin came into existence. The first Aston Martin car was registered in 1915. The early years of Aston Martin focused on building cars for sport and in 1926 Aston Martin Ltd was formed to produce vehicles. The first highlight in design for Aston Martin was the Atom, which had a space frame chassis and independent suspension, a prototype of which was produced in 1939.

The Second World War put a halt to vehicle production and in 1947 the company was bought by David Brown. Aston Martin continued to produce cars for racing, in 1948 the spa special won the Spa 24 hours race. The same year a 2.0 l Aston Martin began to be produced. The commercial arm of the company stepped up production during the 1950's, with the DB4/4 entering production in 1953, with a mark II being produced in 1955 and a mark III in 1957. The sporting branch of the company also continued to have success, notably placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 3 litre class at LeMans in 1951.

A notable point in the history of Aston Martin was in 1964 when the DB5 was used as the car for James Bond, in the film "Goldfinger". This showed off the car as sophisticated, sporty, and a quintessentially British vehicle. During the 70's and 80's more cars went into production, and in 1987 Ford motor company acquired a 75% share of Aston Martin which was increased to 100% in 1994.

Under Ford more models went into production, including the V8 Vantage LeMans and a DB7 Vantage. In 2003, for the first time in Aston Martin history, a factory was purpose built for the production of the cars. Returning to its partnership with James Bond in 2006, Aston Martin showcased the Aston Martin DBS for the first time in the film "Casino Royale". Aston Martin continues to produce high quality, uniquely designed cars.

Current Aston Martin models
The Aston Martin Range is made up of cars that are overtly sporty. Aston Martin also offer a bespoke service which allows the customer to chose many of the fine details in the design of their car. Aston Martin is a high end brand and as such the vehicle and service on offer do not come cheap. However, if a high price tag is not a problem, and a fast, statement car is desired, an Aston Martin should be seriously considered.

DBS: Launched in 2008, the DBS can achieve 0-60 in 4.1seconds. Needless to say a powerful 6.0 l V12 engine creates this acceleration. The DBS featured in the recent film "Casino Royale" and is arguably the most excessive of the Aston Martin road cars. It was designed to surpass the drive quality of the DB9.
DB9: 0-60 in 4.7 s, this car is fast and easy to drive. The V12 engine is 5935 cc in capacity, with the manual version offering 6 speeds. Some problems have been encountered with the rear lamp lenses which have been known to simply fall off. This is a stylish, noisy car. Perfect for those who love the speed and the roar of the engine but not ideal for the school run unless you have very small children! It is arguably too big for whizzing along country roads, but is well suited to motorway and A road driving.
V8 Vantage: A more compact Aston Martin with a 4.3 litre, V8 engine. Like other Aston Martins it is designed to be a sleek, sophisticated high speed vehicle and it has the sound effects to go with it. It is a surprisingly comfortable car to drive.

Things to consider
Aston Martin is at the very highest end of the car market. These vehicles are not purchased lightly, they are tailored to those who have expensive taste and enjoy the feeling of driving a sports car. An Aston Martin is a speciality car and so there are not as many cars in circulation as with many other makes. For this reason it may be relatively difficult to find used Aston Martin cars.

Whilst it is possible to track down second hand Aston Martins, due to the desirability of these cars, even the used cars are relatively expensive. If you're after an Aston you will need to do your homework on both value and any likely issues with the model under consideration.

Service history is vital with all Astons, as is a full mechanical check. Build quality on later models is generally good but if something goes wrong, the bills will be substantial. For this reason, it is also worth checking the tyres thoroughly. Not only will this give you some insight as to the condition of the suspension but large, low profile, high performance tyres in themselves are very expensive.

Always remember to HPI check the car to ensure it isn't stolen, hasn't been written off and isn't on finance. Astons are targets for car thieves because of their high value.

Finally, do check colours: the highly bespoke nature of Aston Martins means that some people exercise truly dreadful taste in their selection of interior colours and finish combinations. Quirky though a given colour may seem, it could seriously limit the speed with which you may be able to re-sell the car in the future.