Celebrating 100 years is a big deal of your a human being. It might be an even bigger deal of your a car company.

Aston Martin can thank David Brown for having the foresight to saving the company in the mid 1940s.

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When he introduced the DB4 in the late 1950s he knew he was onto something big, but he never could have imagined that this model would launch Aston Martin on to the world stage of  hand made – GT sport cars for the worlds aristocracy and wealthy.

Then, when the James Bond Franchise agreed to use the prototype DB4 in Goldfinger (even though Fleming favored a Bentley) Aston Martin could not keep up with production.

This was Aston Martins finest period, indeed the DB4, DB5 and DB6 are regarded today as the Golden Age of the exclusive British car-maker. While the brand needed to be rescued again the mid 1970s by another visionary – Mr. Victor Gauntlett (and Mr. Livanos- the Greek shipping heir), the brand today is relatively healthy.

To celebrate 100 years Aston launched the greatest gathering of Aston Martins the world has ever seen at Kensington Palace. I was there to witness this unique and impressive event:

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Naturally the early cars came first. Here a pre-war Aston Martin.

Then came the DB2.

Then the DB4, which for LME, is the most interesting and elegant line of all Aston Martins ever produced. Below is early series DB4 – notice the open headlights. The color is exceptional and is called ‘Carribean Pearl‘. 

Another DB4 early series- open headlight. One of the most elegant Aston Martins without a doubt.

DB4 came in 5 series with Series 5 looking identical to the DB5. Below a later series DB4 (series 4) but still open headlight. Notice the grill is now comprised of seven horizontal bars as opposed to the car above which does not have that. Another key difference is the smaller air intake on the bonnet. The color of this DB4 is exceptional and called ‘Elusive Blue’.

Below a rare DB4 Convertible (only 70 were made making them very valuable – GBP 5-600’000)

Sometimes DB4s look better when there are several of them together.

We noticed several things about the British. Not only their cars are elegant.

Below the most Iconic DB4 of them all, the elusive and rare DB4  GT (Zagato). Only 19 were made, making them more rare than the Ferrari 250 GTO.

A rare sight indeed. Two DB4 GTs together. The left one bodied by Touring and the right one bodies by none other than Zagato.

Moving on to the DB5, made famous by British Secret Servant. Notice the covered headlights which DB5s had.

Below, another rare Aston Martin: DB5 Convertible or Volante, (with a hard top). Only 123 DB5 convertibles were made.

Moving on to the DB6 which included a more powerful engine, a longer wheelbase and an improved gearbox.

Below a DB6 Volante (convertible). This car belongs to Prince Charles and was driven by William & Kate during their wedding. Only 140 DB6 Volantes were built.

Moving on to another period within Aston Martin- the introduction of a completely new chassis that would later carry a V8 engine. The car below is a DBS which was featured in The Persuaders and driven by Roger Moore.

Below – perhaps the most famous and valuable Aston Martin that exists: 2VEV which was raced by Jim Clark, a DB4 GT Zagato.

The sister car 1 VEV was not far behind. Another DB4 GT Zagato with racing history.

Another well known and valuable car: The DBR1 raced at Le Mans in 1959 where a sister car took the chequered flag and the car below came in 2nd.

The golden plate illustrating the cars rich past.

The last picture of this Post: A very rare (only 1 was made) DB4 GT made by Bertone. Was auctioned at Bonhams earlier this year for GBP 3.5m.

For a post on Maserati ‘s 100 year anniversary see our story here.