**The Aston Martin Brand: A Story of Transformation**

**A New Era in Sports and Style**

The Aston Martin brand has undergone a huge transformation over the last 30 years. From being synonymous with super spy icons to becoming an endurance racer, F1 team, and track weapon manufacturer, the company's journey is nothing short of remarkable.

**(tires whirring)**

From hypercar building to Le Mans winning track rats, Aston Martin has come a long way in terms of its reputation and capabilities. But how did the company that was once all about looks and style become an endurance racer, F1 team, and track weapon manufacturer? Well, actually, it's a story of a toxic relationship and a bad breakup.

**(gun cocks)**

Today, we're going to try our hand at OEM couples therapy as we look at the story between Aston Martin and Ford. This narrative is filled with twists and turns that have shaped the company into what it is today.

**The Sponsor**

A huge thanks to Omaze for sponsoring today's video. You guys know we've helped give away some pretty amazing cars, like the Dodge Demon and Ram TRX, but I got to admit, this one right here might be my favorite.

**(upbeat pop rock music)**

One of you has the chance to win this 1988 BMW E30 M3 with taxes and shipping included. This vintage BMW wasn't built to just look cool; it was also built to go racing. With only 27,000 miles on it, it's more than ready to hit the track or cruise the town.

**The Charity**

For your chance to win this 1988 BMW E30 M3, go to omaze.com/donutmedia and donate today. Best of all, every donation supports The Skatepark Project. Founded by video game and skate icon, Tony Hawk, their mission is to fund high-quality public skate parks in underserved communities to promote healthy and active lifestyles.

**(skateboard scrapes)**

So go donate for your chance to win at omaze.com/donutmedia. Good luck! I'm going to go drive this thing. (skateboard whirs) (fanfare bangs) (logo jingles)

**The Story Continues**

Aston Martin has a long and storied history, but we don't really need to care about that right now. We'll start with the moment that really put Aston Martin on the map for the general public. And that was 1964's [insert car name].

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- The Aston Martin brandhas undergone a huge transformationover the last 30 years.(tires whirring)From super spy icons to Le Mans winninghypercar building(tires screech)track rats.So how did the companythat was once all about looks and stylebecome an endurance racer,an F1 team and a trackweapon manufacturer?(gun cocks)(gun blasts)Well, actuallyit's a story of a toxic relationshipand a bad breakup.Today, I'm going to try my handat OEM couples therapy,(jazzy hip-hop music)as we look at the storybetween Aston Martin and Ford.A huge thanks to Omaze forsponsoring today's video.You guys know we've helped give awaysome pretty amazing cars,like the Dodge Demon and Ram TRX,but I got to admit,this one right here might be my favorite.(upbeat pop rock music)That's right, one of youhas the chance to winthis 1988 BMW E30 M3 withtaxes and shipping included.This vintage BMW wasn'tbuilt to just look cool.It was also built to go racing.And with only 27,000 miles on it,it's more than ready to hit the trackor cruise the town.So for your chance towin this 1988 BMW E30 M3,go to omaze.com/donutmediaand donate today.Best of all,every donation supportsthe Skatepark Project.Founded by video game and skate icon,Tony Hawk.(skateboard scrapes)Video game icon?More like American hero.I want to meet Tony Hawk.All right, anyway.Their mission is to fund high-qualitypublic skate parks inunderserved communitiesto promote healthy and active lifestyles.So go donate for your chance to winat omaze.com/donutmedia.Good luck.I'm going to go drive this thing.(skateboard whirs)(fanfare bangs)(logo jingles)Aston Martin has a longand storied history,but we don't really need tocare about that right now.We'll start with the momentthat really put Aston Martin on the mapfor the general public.And that was 1964's "Goldfinger".James Bond and the Aston Martin DB5machine-gunned their way(gunshots bang)onto the silver screenwith a silver paintjob and style for days.And since then, Bondhas driven Alfa Romeos,Lotuses, BMWs, and moreFords than anything else.In spite of all that, whenyou think of James Bond's car,you think of a birch silver Aston Martin.You picture a grand touring coupewith that single-fin fender ventand that Tom Selleck mustache of a grill.Even though some of Bond'scars have become more gadgety,more featured and evendownright better cars,you can't separate Bond from Aston Martin.I remember when Bond drove a Buick Centuryin "Tomorrow Never Dies".That was kind of weird, huh?But being an icon of a movie franchisedid not necessarilytranslate into making money.In the '60s, Aston Martins were hand-builtusing archaic coach building methodsthat may be unique and artisan,but they were very slow.The DB5 was produced for three yearsand Aston Martin was barelyable to make 1,000 of them.The demand was there,but they couldn't make enough to meet it.This made it hard to beit's a profitable businessand Aston Martin was soldto investment bank Consortium in 1972.Then again to an American businessmanin 1975,(cash register pings)and again, to an oil tycoonin 1981.(cash register pings)And finally it was bought by Fordin 1987.(cash register pings)Now this is when Aston Martin's fortunestarted to change for thebetter in the short-term,but less so in the long-term.Ford placed Aston Martinin their new premier automotive group,which includes Jaguar,Lincoln, Land Rover and Volvo.Think of it as theirbusiness class lineup.Ford invested into newmanufacturing for Aston Martinand built a new factory inBloxham, England for the DB7.Aston Martin broke production records.And by the end of itsrun, nearly 10,000 DB7shad been built and soldacross all its variations.Ford gave Aston Martin theresources to be successfuland the freedom to still makecars the way they wanted to.Ford really liked Aston Martin.And it feels good when someonetells you they like you.And you can tell us you likeus by liking this video.But unfortunately, theAston Ford relationshipstarted to turnand like a Los Angeles influencer couple,it started to become apparentthat Ford was only intoAston Martin for their looks.Trouble began with the 2006 launchof a car seeminglyunrelated to Aston Martin,the Jaguar XK.The XK was a V8-poweredrear-wheel drive coupethat had the class and sophisticationto fit the venerable Jaguar name.- But it was a problem.It was hard to deny that itlooked like an Aston Martin.If I were a designer at Aston Martin,I'd be pretty off by this.The lead designer for Aston at the timewas a man called Ian Callum.He designed the beautiful DB7, DB9,V8 vantage, and the B12 Vanquish.He also designed the Jaguar XK.Since both brands were underFord's premier automotive group,Ford shared designers andengineers between the brands.Callum wasn't an Aston Martin employee.He had been a Ford guy for 10 yearsand while designing theDB9 and the Vantage,Callum was officially employed by Jaguar.For Ford it made senseto take the best elementsof the premier automotive group carsand share them among all the other brands.Volvo wants to do an SUV?Send them one of the Land Rover engineers.Lincoln wants to increasetheir safety rating?Have them work with the Volvo team.But for Aston Martin,the main asset they brought to the tablewas their iconic styling.And when you let people copy that,it's no longer your styling, is it?The V8 Vantage and XKwere compared side-by-sideby every car magazineand outlet at the time.And a lot of peopleagreed that the Vantagestill looked better,but for $40,000 less,the XK was literally apoor man's Aston Martin.Okay, maybe not a poor man,but a less wealthy man.A hedge fund manager gets an Aston Martinand an In-N-Out manager gets an XK.So look, one brand copyinganother style isn't new.It happens all the time,in and out of the car world.And even though there is protectionaround copying a car directly,two cars looking kind of similarshouldn't really affect thesales of either should it?But here's where the problem was.Aston Martin had a pretty unique look.And if you take that look away,what do they have left?Aston Martins of the 2000swere not known for their reliability.Jeremy Clarkson would often saythat an Aston Martin's natural habitatwas in a cloud of smokeat the side of the road.Also, they weren't necessarilyfast for the price either.If you are in the market for aV12-powered supercar in 2005,you could get a V12 Vanquish S,or you could get a Lamborghini Murcielagowhich had a lot more power, more torque,higher top speed, faster zero to 60,a gated manual gearbox,it was mid engine and it was cheaper.That's crazy.If you're buying an Aston Martin,you are actively saying noto a better performancein exchange for thatBritish class and stylethat they were so well-known for.Ford knew that the lookswere what sold Astons.And I'll admit that the Ford erahad some of the best lookingAston's we've ever seen,but the unique stylingthat you used to only getby buying an Aston Martinwas now getting kind of diluted.And if you only want it for the looksand don't really careabout the performance,then the Jag started to becomea much more tempting offer.Do you see the problem here?Ian Callum went on to designthe XJ and the F-type,which both pulled stylingcues from Aston Martin,but the most egregiousFord move of them allwas in 2013 with the Ford Fusion.Even though Ford had sold off Aston Martinto the British motorsportgroup Prodrive in 2007,they were still usingwhat they had learnedfrom having the Brits around.Have you ever looked atthe redesigned Ford Fusionand thought that looks likeit's trying to be a bootleg Aston Martin.Well, you wouldn't be the only one.2013 Ford Fusion or Ford Mondeo,if you're not in the States,was given a full redesignthat included the Aston Martin grill.Ford tried to put the supercarstyling on an econoboxand I will say it does look pretty good.That's because it's afour-door Aston Martin.Pretty hard to screw that up.At first Ford buying Aston Martinmust've seemed like exactlywhat Aston Martin neededto finally show the worldwhat made them so special.And in a way it did.Just not always on their cars.Now, I can understand if it soundslike I'm being hypercriticalor trying to stir up drama,but I'm not just making this up now.In 2013, people noticed.There was even a dealershipad here in LA at the timewhere a Fusion ownersaid that the last timethey went to dinner,the valet said their car lookedlike a European sports car.Come on, man.Because Ford stole it.(vocalizing)After being, let go from Ford,Aston Martin was freefrom the mass marketingand shared workspace as a Ford.They were with new British ownersthat wanted to make Astons special.But this time aroundmaking a good looking car,wasn't going to be enough.(upbeat music)So they did somethingthey'd never done before,they started makingtheir cars really good.- It started with the 2013partnership with Daimler AG,otherwise known as Mercedes-Benz.The Germans would supplytheir engines to Aston Martinand the first car torun a Benz power plantwas the Aston Martin DB11.Aston Martin's lineup now had the powerto back up the looks.(car whirring)But their drive to betterthemselves didn't stop there.Aston Martin startedbringing out the big guns.After their split with Ford in 2007,Aston Martin stepped beyondbeing a grand touring brandand started going after thetrack car and hypercar world.The 177 was their first carwith a sticker priceover a million dollars.And it was powered by a Cosworth V12and was limited to 77 units.In 2015, they released thetrack-only Aston Martin Vulcan,a $2.3 million(tires screech)limited run coupe with a seven liter V12and the coolest taillightsever fitted to a car.Since then,(car engine roaring)they've announced another halo car,the Aston Martin Valkyrie.The Valkyrie is being made in partnershipwith F1 team Red Bull Racingand is being designed by the legendaryaerodynamicist Adrian Newey.Newey not only designed the carsthat won Red Bull the F1championship four years in a row,but he also designed six otherchampionship winning F1 carsfor McLaren and Williams.So, I think the guy knows what he's doing.And Aston Martin's trackdedication is paying off.Since the breakup with Ford,they've been on the podium eight timesat the 24 hours of Le Mansand they'd become a title team in F1where they've already managed to scorea second place finish in their first year.One of the major stockholdersin this new version of Aston Martinis Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.Stroll spent nearly $200 millionto outbid Geely, Lotus,and Volvo for his new spotas Aston Martin chairman in 2020.Stroll also owned a controllingstake in Racing Point F1,which this year is calledAston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team.The new owners like racing.So, Aston is going to go racing.Stroll's involvement in the companyis one of the biggest ties tomotor sport for Aston Martin.And sounds like it's going to be dictatinga lot of their future.The Valkyrie project(car engine roaring)that was being worked onin conjunction with rival F1team Red Bull will continue.A relatively moreaffordable mid-engine caris also coming and it'scalled the Valhallaand it looks like mid-engine carsare going to be a big partof Aston Martin's game planfrom now on.Back in the '90s,Aston Martin was literallygetting by on their good looks,but now they're having to put in the workand I think they're better for it.These things look awesome.Look, I love my Fords,I really do, love my Mustang,but looking back at the ups and downsof Aston Martin's time with Ford,I think it's for thebetter that they broke up.Thank you very much watchingWheelHouse this week.I love doing videos for you guys.So it means a lot thatyou guys watch them.What do you think of Aston Martin?Let me know down in the comments.I love that they've gone fromreally stodgy British Bloxham, all that,to like painting their carslike crazy neon colors and all thatand going after theMcLaren's and the Porsche's.It's pretty awesome to see.Ironically, I am a Red Bull fan,but I'm always pullingfor Lance and Sebastianevery weekend in F1.Follow Donut on allsocial media, @donutmedia.Follow me @nolanjsykes.Be kind, I'll see you next time.