Let's dive into my top five favorite facts about the Aston Martin DB7.. You know me, I am going to do into the history of Aston Martin too because I can't help myself. Thanks for watching The Bad Blonde Car History channel and subscribe if cars are your jam too. #TheBadBlonde #AstonMartin #DB7 Let’s go all the way back to the turn of the century, in 1913 when Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford endeavored to sell Singer cars under the moniker Bamford & Martin. Yes, Singer of the motorcycle and sewing machine fame. The pair would quickly realize they wanted to sell automobiles of their own design and they would name their first car Aston Martin. A combination of Lionel Martin’s last name and the famed Aston Hill, a speed climb hill that Lionel did quite well at. There is actually an Aston Martin Monument at the hill. So the pair took a 1908 Isotta Frashini chassis and plunked a four cylinder Coventry simplex in it and called an Aston Martin. They had their first car rumbling off production in 1915.. but unfortunately so were the rumblings of the first world war and their production would cease. Martin would enroll in the admiralty and Bamford in the Army. Post WWI, Bamford would leave, but an extremely wealthy count with a love of racing would jump in. Count Louis Zborowski. Though his count status legitimacy is not 100% certain. Doesn’t matter to me, the guy loved racing and was the actual owner of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.. Yes, it was a real car. For the next 40 years, Aston Martin would hit financial despair, trade hands a few times, Lionel Martin would leave, and finally in 1947 we would see David Brown step on to the scene. The successful gear and machine tools manufacturer saw an add in the paper for a luxury car brand and went for it and thus started the famed and timeless David Brown cars Aston Martin. Side note, he had also acquired Lagonda at this time too. Quick to work, in 1950 Aston Martin announces the production of their Le Mans prototype, the DB2. Followed by the DB2/4, the DB2/4 MKII. The BK MK III, and then the Italian styled DB4. All of the cars shot Aston Martin forward in the racing scene, but it was the DB4 debuted in 1958 that with it’s styling that caught consumers eyes and would yield the famous DB5 in 1963. The luxury grand tourer, DB5 would rise in fame with it’s appearance in the James Bond Goldfinger. Fun fact, it was the DB MKII that was featured in the novel, but special effect expert, John Stears, talked Aston Martin into using one of their DB5 prototypes for the film. The engines in everything but the first DB2, were inline six cylinder engines designed by Tadek Marek. We would see the DB6 and DBS continue under David Brown before yet another moment of Aston Martin hitting financial troubles. Brown would sell and we would see Aston Martin trade hands four times before Ford Motor Company bought 75% of the company in 1987. In 1994 we would see the DB7 hit the market, available in coupe or convertible, powered by either the 3.2Liter AJ6 Supercharged inline 6 or the 5.9 L Aston Martin V12. #1 – DB – Standing for David Brown – The legend behind the David Brown series of cars from Aston Martin #2 – It started its life as a Jaguar Based on a Jaguar XJs platform. And carried over heavy influences from Jaguar. The inline 6 was based on a Jaguar engine, with the DB7 much of the car was configured with Jaguar resources. #3 – Had some very talented folks on their design team The DB7’s design was done by Ian Callum and Keith Helfet… Callum was also behind the Aston Martin Vanquish, and the Jaguar F type… And Helfet designed the XJ-220. #4 – It was the highest production The DB7 was the highest produced model in DB history with 7,000 rolling off production line until the DB9 would steal the title in 2004. #5 – The early DB7 side mirrors are shared with quite a few super cars Yes, the side mirrors from Citroen but this isn’t the only car that used them.. the XJ220 and Lotus Esprit