Aston Martin

GB, 1922 to date

(1) Bamford and Martin Ltd, London, W.8, 1922 – 1925

(2) Aston Martin Motors Ltd, Feltham, Middlesex, 1926 – 1929

(3) Aston Martin Ltd, Feltham, Middlesex, 1929 – 1957

(4) Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd, Newport Pagnell, Bucks, 1958 to date

The Aston Martin’s reputation has always far transcended its small-scale production. The first prototype was evolved by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in 1914, the Aston part of the name deriving from the Aston Clinton hill-climb. It used a 1.4-litre side-valve Coventry-Simplex engine in an Isotta-Fraschini voiturette chassis, and was followed by a second Aston Martin prototype in 1919. Aston Martin production started in 1922 with a larger 1½-litre side-valve engine in a chassis with 4-speed gearbox and semi-elliptic springs all round. A complete Aston Martin car for sale cost £850, and about 60 were made up to 1925. Successes included 2nd place in the 1922 200-Mile Race at Brooklands, and the collection of a number of world records in the same year. Front-wheel brakes were standard from 1923, and several overhead-camshaft engines were evolved for racing, initially of single-cam type, but later in 16-valve (1922) and 8-valve (1924) twin-cam forms, the former developing 54bhp. These Aston Martin cars were generally less successful than the production side-valves. The Aston Martin company exhibited at Olympia in 1925, but was wound up a few weeks later.

A comeback was staged in 1926, the new Aston Martin machine being an ohc 1½-litre designed by A.C. Bertelli. This was tested in an Enfield-Allday racing chassis and went into production at Feltham in 1927 in 50bhp form, with 4-speed separate  gearbox, dash-mounted steering box, and David Brown worm final drive. Bodies were the work of Bertelli’s brother Enrico, and early Aston Martin sports models weighed only 2.128lb complete. A 63bhp dry-sump competition engine was made in 1928, and two dozen Aston Martin cars had been delivered by 1929. The dry-sump engine was standardized in 1930 and the Aston Martin 1½-litre model had a long and distinguished competition history: 6th in the ‘Double-12’ at Brooklands in 1931, the award of the Biennial Cup at Le Mans in 1932, 5th at Le Mans in 1933 and 3rd in 1935, in which year a class win was recorded in the Mille Miglia. In 1938, two years later the Aston Martin 1½-litre had gone out of production, Polledry took 2nd place in the Bol d’Or 24-Hour Race, and a similar car was actually 5th as late as 1951.

Finance was always a problem; there was a brief marketing link with Frazer Nash in 1931 and in 1933 the Aston Martin firm came under the direction of R.G. Sutherland, who retained control until after World War 2. In 1932 the Aston Martin 1½-litre acquired bevel drive and a unit gearbox of Moss make, being sold in 55bhp touring and 70 bhp sports versions, while the handsome Aston Martin MkII of 1934-1936, though it now weighed 2.576lb, was capable of 85mph and sold for £610. Aston Martin’s best sales year was 1933 with 105 cars delivered. The 80bhp Aston Martin Ulster model of 1935 could exceed 100mph. An Aston Martin 2-litre model, still with ohc was prepared for the cancelled 1936 Le Mans race and replaced the 1½-litre the following season, with wet-sump lubrication, synchromesh gearbox and Girling brakes at £575; a dry-sump Aston Martin Speed Model version was still available for £200 more. Prices were slashed to £495 in 1939, in which year the Aston Martin Speed Model was sold with aerodynamic bodywork and the Cross rotary-valve engine was tried, but not adopted. There were also wartime experiments with the Atom saloon with tubular chassis-body structure and Cotal gearbox, but the first post-war Aston Martin for sale, a Claude Hill design, featured a short-stroke pushrod 2-litre engine, independent front suspension, a hypoid back axle, hydraulic brakes and, for the first time, coil ignition. One of these Aston Martin cars won at Spa in 1948, but very few were made, even after the acquisition of the company by David Brown group in 1947.

In 1949 the 2.6-litre twin ohc 6-cylinder engine designed by W.O. Bentley for Lagonda (also part of the David Brown empire) was installed in an aerodynamic Aston Martin coupé using a space-frame with square-section tubes. It ran at Le Mans, reaching production status in 1950 as the Aston Martin DB2 available in 107bhp and 123bhp Aston Martin Vantage forms at a price of £1.915. These cars did well at Le Mans in 1950 and 1951, as well as winning their class in the 1951 Mille Miglia; they led to some out-and-out sports-racing machines, the Aston Martin DB3 (for sale in 1952), with Eberhorst-designed structure and 5-speed gearbox, and the 2.9-litre Aston Martin DB3S (for sale in 1953), which developed  210bhp and reverted to four forward speeds. Three wins in the Goodwood 9-Hour Sports-Car Race, and place at Sebring and 5th in the Mille Miglia in 1953, and twosuccessive 2nd places at Le Mans (1955 and 1956) made the David Brown Astons a powerful force in international racing. The touring Aston Martin DB2 acquired rather occasional rear seats in 1954 and a 140bhp 2.9-litre engine in 1955.

1956 saw the first of two unsuccessful forays into Formula I (the second was in 1959), and the début of the Aston Martin DBR series of sports-racers with space frames and De Dion rear axles, the first Aston Martins to have disc brakes. These were raced in 2.5-, 2.9-, and 3.7-litre forms and scored three successive wins in the Nürburgring 1000-Kilometre race, a win at Spa in 1957, a 1-2-3 victory in the 1958 T.T., and finished 1st and 2nd at Le Mans in 1959. Also in 1959 Aston Martin became the first and only British makers to win the Sports Car Constructors’ Championship. The MkIII version of the Aston Martin DB2/4 (for sale in 1957) had front disc brakes, and could be had with overdrive or automatic gearbox – factory options which are found on all later Aston Martins. Manufacture was transferred to the former Tickford body works (which had made the N.P. car in the 1920s) at Newport Pagnell in 1958. 1959 saw a detuned 240bhp version of the 3.7-litre DBR engine installed in the Aston Martin DB4, an Italian-styled sports saloon with platform frame, trailing-link and coil rear suspension and all-round disc brakes. A 302bhp short-chassis GT version capable of 170mph followed in 1960. A 255bhp Vantage engine was an option on the standard chassis in 1962, and the 4-litre Aston Martin DB5 for sale in 1964  had alternator ignition, a diaphragm clutch and the new transmission option of five forward speeds. The 5-speed box was standard in the 282bhp Aston Martin DB6 which sold in 1966 for £5.084. A 325bhp Vantage version was also available. An additional 1967 Aston Martin model had coupé bodywork by Superleggera Touring of Italy – a return to two-seaters after a lapse of several years. In December 1966 it was announced that the Aston Martin company was developing a 5-litre V8 racing engine to be installed in a Lola chassis. New for 1968 was the Aston Martin DBS coupé with four headlamps and De Dion rear axle, and in 1970 Mk2 versions of the Aston Martin DB6 had power steering as standard and fuel injection as a regular option. A new Aston Martin DBS was powered by Aston Martin’s V8, a 4ohc 5.4-litre unit developing 375bhp; transmission options were a 5-speed ZF gearbox or Chrysler Torqueflite automatic. In 1972 Ogle produced their Karen-styled version of this car with 22 rear lamps, Sundym glass and headlamp washers. Aston Martin changed hands in April of that year, and the 6-cylinder cars were discontinued.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Franklin

US, 1901 – 1934

(1) H.H. Franklin Mfg Co, Syracuse, N.Y., 1901 – 1917

(2) Franklin Automobile Co, Syracuse, N.Y., 1917 – 1934

Probably the world’s most successful air-cooled car before the advent of the Volkswagen, the Franklin inspired an intense make-loyalty. H.H. Franklin had founded a factory for the manufacture of die castings in 1895, and in 1901 he was introduced to John Wilkinson’s air-cooled designs by Messsrs Brown and lipe, later well known as manufacturers of proprietary transmissions. The New York Motor Co had already made three prototypes before the first Franklin car went on sale in 1902. These Franklin featured transversely-mounted 1.7-litre 4-cylinder air-cooled engines – the valves were overhead, with mechanically operated inlet valves from 1905 – float-feed carburetors, 2-speed planetary gearboxes, central change, full-elliptic suspension and the wooden frames which were to be standard on all Franklin cars up to the end of 1927. A push-on handbrake was used until 1906. Although a Franklin version with water-jacketed engine was projected, the Franklin company remained faithful to air-cooling until they closed down. Sales rose from 13 in 1902 to 184 in 1903, when wire wheels gave way to the wood artillery type, and in 1904 a Franklin broke the San Francisco-New York record. The transverse-engined Franklin cars were catalogued until the end of 1906, but from 1905 onwards new Franklin models with conventionally-located engines made their appearance. These had auxiliary exhaust valves, shaft drive, 3-speed sliding-type gearboxes and round bonnets modelled on the Delaunay-Belleville. A 4-cylinder Franklin sold for $1800, but there was also a 6-cylinder Franklin Model H with a 7-bearing crankshaft and a 9ft 6in wheelbase for $4.000: all subsequent 6-cylinder Franklin cars had seven main bearings. A straight-8 appeared without success in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Eliminating Trials. Franklin’s full-elliptic suspension was continued. This gave an excellent ride and resulted in tyre mileages in the region of 20.000: this is why the Franklin company was refusing to fit detachable rims as standard equipment as late as 1922. In 1907 an automatic advance-and-retard was fitted on the Franklin and in 1908 a gear-driven fan. The 1910 Franklin cars used a suction-driven sirocco fan incorporated in the flywheel. Smallest of the 1909 range was the 18hp Franklin Model G, a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder car with quadrant change sold at $1850. Selective change was used on the bigger Franklin fours and sixes which had oversquare cylinder dimensions and cost $2800 and $3750 respectively. With the 1912 Franklin models came a Renault-type bonnet and full pressure lubrication, and a 4-cylinder was still available at $2.000, or $1.500 less than the big 38.4hp 6-cylinder.

In 1914 only a 6-cylinder car, the ‘Franklin 6/30’, was offered, and Franklin fell into line with the rest of the American industry by going over to left-hand drive, central change and full electrical equipment. A year later aluminium pistons were adopted. A stunt drive by Franklin from Walla Walla, Washington, to San Francisco in bottom gear demonstrated the car’s ability to keep cool. The 1917 models had electric chokes, while imitators arose in the industry to try and cash in on Franklin’s success with air-cooling. One of these firms, Holmes, was headed by former vice-president of the Franklin Automobile Co. By the end of World War 1 a 6-cylinder Franklin could be bought for $2.050, reduced two years later to $2.000. 8.648 Franklin cars were sold in 1920. Late in 1922, came a redesigned Franklin car with a ‘horse-collar’ bonnet allegedly modelled on the Fiat, pressure air-cooling with frontal blower, unit gearbox, single dry-plate clutch, 6-volt instead of 12-volt electrics and detachable rims. Sales rose to 11.000 and the Franklin company which had pioneered series-production closed cars as early as 1913 was offering a Franklin sedan at $2.850. During 1925 the design was face-lifted once again and the De Causse-styled Franklin Series 11 introduced. Cylinder capacity remained a modest 3.3-litres, but appearance was entirely changed with a 9ft 11in wheelbase and a vertical-barred ‘radiator’. This revolutionary step so appalled John Wilkinson that he resigned from the Franklin company forthwith. Some of the semi-custom body styles – especially the boat-taled sports coupé at $3.150 – were remarkably attractive. Subsequently some excellent and expensive custom bodywork was designed for Franklin by such firms as Derham, Willoughby, Holbrook, and (especially) Dietrich. Over 13.000 Franklin Series 11s were sold between mid-1925 and the end of 1926, among those who favoured Franklins being Colonel Charles Lindbergh. Yet even the ‘Franklin 11B’ of 1927 retained the wooden frame, full-elliptic suspension and foot transmission brake. Front-wheel brakes did not arrive until the introduction of the 1928 3.9-litre Franklin Airman, which boasted internal-expanding Lockheed hydraulics at a time when the contracting type was generally favoured in America. In 1928 long-chassis models were given steel frames, standardized in 1929, and a standard sedan sold for £885 in England. All but the cheapest Franklin cars now had silent 2nd gearboxes. This was the period in which Dietrich introduced their delightful speedster (actually a 4-door convertible sedan) and a 4½-litre 6-cylinder Franklin engine actually took to the air in a Waco biplane. Prices were generally in the $2.200 - $3.500 range, with custom Franklin models running up to $7.200.

The 1930 Franklin Series 14 introduced a new radiator and side-blast cooling, an the elegant Pirate models had concealed running-boards as well. The unconventional, however, could no longer sell in America, and only 2.851 Franklin cars were delivered in 1931. In 1932 came synchromesh, free wheels and ‘Startix’ devices, as well as a magnificent Dietrich-styled 6.8-litre supercharged V12 (Franklin Series 17) on a 12ft wheelbase. Unfortunately this was re-engineered to incorporate proprietary axles and semi-elliptic suspension, and in production form it weighed nearer three tons than the two tons of the prototype. It combined elegance, 95mph, and 150bhp for $4.400, but few were sold, though a dratic price cut to $2.885 was made for 1933. The last new Franklin was the Franklin Olympic, an inexpensive 6-cylinder using a Franklin engine wedded to a REO chassis and body. The Franklin factory closed down in 1934. The patents were, however, taken over by the Air-Cooled Motors Corporation (now Franklin Engine Co.), whose Syracuse factory has specialized in light horizontally-opposed aircraft engines: a 6-cylinder Franklin helicopter engine, converted to water-cooling, powered the Tucker of 1947. 2-, 4-, and 6-cylinder untis up to 5.7 litres’ capacity were being produced in 1972.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com