Aston Martin Gold Portfolio 1972-1985

Our fifth book on Aston Martin starts with the introduction in 1994 of the DB7. Many people saw it as a sexed up Jaguar, not a true Aston - also it had a pressed steel body instead of a hand-built aluminium one, and "they plan to make lots of them, cannot be an Aston", and so on. However, it was successful and 7,049 were made which was a fantastic achievement considering that since 1920 only some 12,000 cars of all types had been made. The new V12 DB9, made in the company's first purpose-built, up-to-date factory at Gaydon, restored the hand-built image but with added up-to-date engineering features.

The car that would become the DB7 began its gestation in 1991. Developed entirely under the ownership of Ford, this new smaller Aston Martin was intended to add a new higher-volume strand to Aston Martin's range, and when the good-looking car was launched in 1993 it soon became obvious that this was sound policy. The straight-six-powered coupe was an instant hit and sold well. A cabriolet version followed soon afterwards, and in 1998 Project Vantage - a V12 version of the car was unveiled. In 2002 the range was joined by two special editions - the Vantage Zagato and the GT. When production of the DB7 family ended in 2003, giving way to the DB9, just over 7000 cars had been produced, making the DB7 the most numerous of all Astons. Written with the full cooperation of the factory, this is a book for every lover of this superb car.