Aston Martin has had a colourful history since the company began in 1914.
For many, the car will forever be associated with James Bond, with various models appearing in 007 movies down the years. But Aston Martin was firmly ensconced in the minds of car enthusiasts long before Sean Connery drove a DB5 in the 1964 film Goldfinger.
The name for the company came about as Lionel Martin, who founded the company with Robert Bamford, had raced cars at Aston Hill near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. The pair produced their first vehicle in 1915 and when the company was refounded after the first World War, the duo made cars to compete in the French Grand Prix.
Ups and downs followed, with the company going bankrupt, Martin leaving and the revived company moving to Feltham in Middlesex.
In 1928 Aston Martin entered the Le Mans 24-hour race for the first time, but further troubled times lay ahead in the 1930s and annual production numbers remained low.
In 1947, the company was bought by David Brown, who was to lend his initials to the DB series of cars. Brown bought the Tickford coachbuilding company and its site at Tickford Street in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, in 1955. It was there that classic models, such as the DB3 and DB4, were built in the 1950s.
The DB5 went into production in 1963 and was followed by the DB6, the DBS and the DBS V8.
Further changes of ownership followed in the 1970s and 1980s, with giant American company Ford taking a 75 per cent stake in 1987, which increased to 100 per cent in 1993.
In 1994, the company moved into a factory at Banbury Road in Bloxham, Oxfordshire, where production of the the DB7 began.
Aston Martin moved its headquarters from Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire to Gaydon in Warwickshire in 2003.
Production at Newport Pagnell, where the Vanquish S model is made, will cease in July although the service and restoration department will stay on there.
Aston Martin returned to motor racing in 2005 with the DBR9. From a low annual production figure of just 46 cars in 1992, the company is now selling 7,000 vehicles a year worldwide.