The Power Behind Aston Martin

Aston Martin — the very name is enough to start young hearts racing, cause bar room arguments and evoke support from young and old alike. International, Le Mans, Ulster, the DB series, and latterly, the V8 and Vantage are as much household names within the motoring fraternity as any other. Theirs is an image of sophistication, excitement, thoroughbred handling and road holding, quality and performance. But the company has also had a continual image of teetering on the edge of extinction, of never being able to pay its own way, and of having as many different owners as the cars themselves. The Power Behind Aston Martin looks into this story behind the scenes as well as that which the public saw. It is the story of Aston Martin, from its early days to the late 1970s, told by those who actually made the decisions and who were responsible for the cars loved so much by so many: Augustus Bertelli, Claude Hill, Sir David Brown, Harold Beach, Alan Curtis, Rex Woodgate. It is not a story for those who want to read of bore and stroke dimensions, or carburettor sizes, or of axle ratios, although the mechanical side of the marque is not ignored. It is, rather, a history of Aston Martin related by the people who made it, a story which reveals the tears and heartache as much as the joy and glamour. In interviews never before published, and with a lavish helping of pictures - some, too, which have never before been released .The Power Behind Aston Martin encompasses more than half a century of car building in the grand manner and even quotes production figures. For those who love cars, and Aston Martin, and people, it makes compelling reading.