Aston Martin: Power, Beauty and Soul

Awesome book that details more than the well known production models to describe the concepts, one offs and limited production runs that make Aston Martin what it is. Doesn’t cover the latest “Mercedes” era vehicles but is good through the DB9 and Casino Royale DBS.

This book chronicles all models produced from about 1986 to 2006, with the greatest focus on the hand crafted V-series cars of 1990-2000 (Virage and all its decedents). In many ways the book shows how the company has made the transition from a ultra-low volume maker of coach built cars into a maker of expensive semi-mass produced sports cars (like an English Ferrari). Personally I have mixed feelings about this transformation, but the book does a magnificent job paying homage to both eras.Each chapter details one model, or one special run of cars. In some cases the "run" describes production quantities in single digits...in a few cases it even represents a single unique car. The book itself contains amazing photographers, and was obviously produced with great attention to detail and love of the cars/company.One funny aspect of the book... Many places in the text "well known far east customer" is mentioned, but his name is never actually given. This is obviously the Sultan of Brunei. It is well known he was a major Aston Martin customer during this period, and commissioned many of the highly custom cars in the book. Since these cars are locked far away, this book is the only way to experience these works of art.I only have one minor complaint. I really wish they included more photos inside of the Newport-Pagnell factory itself. Since this book chronicles the last chapter of hand-made cars, it would have been nice to see more details of this lost art.Worth every penny.

This is a gorgeous, massive tome. Very good addition to one's Aston library, as it gives some personal anecdotes about various, often very rare, cars-- their inception and production. If you're a real expert, there may not be enough depth for you, but I learned quite a bit, for example, about the famous Pricnce of Wales V8's--I knew of their existence, and desirability, but this book gave me a bit of "color" regarding their 'back story." If you want to know a bit about more models and versions than you knew existed, like cars of which one were produced, this is a luxe way to learn about them.

One of the best books in print on this fabled marque. Good writing, great photos. Book is highly rated for good reason.

Beautifully designed book with a great history lesson

Fairly well written, but repeated the same pattern for each design.

A fabulous Aston Martin book.

Excelent, like to much

Very good history as I collect AM's 1:18 apart from other models - DB2, DB4 (Zagarto), DB5, DB6, DB7 (Vantage) and Vanquish.

I don’t normally leave product reviews, but thought it would be helpful to pull out a couple of points in relation to this book or – more specifically – the description, to manage potential buyers’ expectations in relation to the period covered.By way of context, I have a number of Aston Martin books, several of them from the 1990s when the company was starting to benefit from Ford’s ownership and investment, and some of the DNA of the David Brown era had re-emerged with the commencement of the production at Bloxham of Ian Callum’s stunning (if not technically flawless) DB7.I therefore have the history from 1913 to the mid-nineties pretty well covered. Among my other Aston Martin books, I have a 2016 edition of a guide to the Gaydon era models, which understandably kicks off in 2003 with the DB9 and then the first generation V8 Vantage and so on. As the owner of a second generation V8 Vantage (the 4.7 produced from the 2009 model year to 2017), this holds particular interest for me as my own car is covered in some detail.Much of the appeal for me of the book being reviewed, therefore, was that it appeared from the description to cover in detail the period starting with Ford ownership in 1987 right up to the present day, including the development and production of my own car. Anyone could be forgiven for assuming this, given that it is described (correctly) as the second edition, published on 27 June 2017, and one of the leading bullet points in the description declares (also correctly), “The year 2013 marked a significant milestone for Aston Martin – it celebrated their 100th Anniversary and the start of their second century in automotive design”. That implies, to me, that the period of the 2013 centenary and beyond is covered in the book.In fact the book ends with the 2008 model line-up (just five years into the Gaydon era and a year after the end of Ford’s majority ownership), the last car in its chronology being the first generation V8 Vantage Roadster. So much has happened in the period of intense activity and model development in the subsequent nine years, that it really feels like the description should be much more explicit as to the end of the period covered.It’s a great book – absolutely no criticism is implied of what it contains – but if your expectations, like mine, were of something bang up to date, just be aware of what it DOESN'T contain.

Well having been a fan of the great Aston Martin marquee since the introduction of the original DBS in the 60's ( i actually sat in one in the 80's. Thoroughly awesome.). Also having bought a Aston Martin book in the late 70's early 80's which covered their years up to then ( obviously) , saw this book and thought that i'd buy it to get some decent pics of the awesome DB9. Firstly the reason that i had waited so long between my 1st book and this one is that when Ford initially bought the company in the late 80's all i kept thinking was OMG we are going to get a Aston Martin Fiesta or something and i lost interest in the make. Then back in 2003 they launched the DB9 , which was shown quite a few times on the BBC programme Top Gear , so my interest in the marquee was aroused like a sleeping lion. Anyway i looked for a book that was worthwhile of buying over , and eventually i came across this one. This book far excels my expectations , it is truly magnificent , and well worth the price , it has specifications of all the mainstream models and a lot of the prototypes that never made the showroom. It is now one of my most prized books , i absolutely love it , it even let me know that the Volante that HRH Prince Charles had in the 80's was especially built for him ( something i never knew). If like me you have a real passion for a real car , then you will love this book it is truly better than the rest for value and size.

If you are in to Aston Martin then this is a great book. And even if you are not but like cars it's still a great book with super pictures and stories about each model.

I bought this book as a gift for a friend who was at the time an Aston Martin lover, and owner.When I gave him the book, he loved it so much that he sold his Aston about a fortnight later, and he now just flicks through the pages and 'pretends that he still owns one' (to use his words).He was so worried about leaving the Aston unattended that he often didn't drive it anywhere, so now he just owns the book, and a normal car.He has never been happier (or more mobile).I hope you enjoyed this review - and it is a true story.