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The Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC, pronounced am-oc) is a club for owners of Aston Martin automobiles, established in England in 1935. It is one of the oldest one-make car enthusiast clubs, and also one of the largest by worldwide membership.[ citation needed ]
The club was found by Mortimer Morris-Goodall.[ citation needed ] Morris-Goodall had won an automobile race aged 20, and met Bert Bertelli shortly after, eventually purchasing the team car LM7 and receiving an invitation to drive "under works control" at Le Mans in 1933. Sammy Davis agreed that a club for Aston Martin owners would be a good idea and inserted a note in The Autocar magazine, of which he was sports editor, on 3 and 17 May 1935, calling a meeting. The meeting at the Grafton Hotel on 25 May was attended by 20-30 people, who elected a committee including Lance Prideaux-Brune, Dick Anthony, Maurice Falkner, Harold Bevan, Dorothy Bean and Peter Cadbury.
Charles Jarrott became the president and Sammy Davis the vice-president, with Leslie Keevil as honorary treasurer and Mort Goodall as honorary secretary. The club's activities, mostly social, including an annual dinner-dance at the Park Lane Hotel, were interrupted by the Second World War.[ citation needed ]
The club convened again at a meeting led by Dick Stallebrass at the Royal Automobile Club on 5 March 1948. However, following Stallebrass's death at Spa four months later, Dudley Coram took over a leading role in the reformed club, with Eric Cutler as chairman. Coram served in every different position in the club before his death in 1976.[ citation needed ]
Although the pre-war archives have been lost, the present rules are believed to enshrine the same principles as those drafted in 1935. AMOC's Memorandum of Association states, among other things, that the club is established to "promote the sport and pastime of motoring", "develop interest in the Aston Martin car" and "encourage social intercourse between Members". In the UK, the club organises five race meetings a year, at least one hill climb and three sprints. The club has members worldwide, with thriving sections in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. These groups also organise various events for their members.[ citation needed ]
AMOC celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 1995. The traditional annual events all took on a Jubilee focus and were supplemented by around 30 other special attractions, local, national and international. The year began with a Grand Jubilee Ball at the Dorchester Hotel in London, featuring a display of Aston Martin cars, with an Aston Martin DB7 exhibited outside the ballroom. Inside, cars with chassis numbers 1914; 1925; D5/569/S; C7/719/U; LML/50/396 and DB5/2261/R were arranged on specially constructed stands.[ citation needed ]
A silver Diamond Jubilee Virage Volante was used as a display case for a million dollars worth of Cartier jewellery.[ citation needed ] The AMOC President, John Dawnay, received the club's premier award, the Bertelli Trophy, at the AGM. A Founders Day Dinner was also held at the Grafton Hotel where the club had formed on 25 May 1935. Other events included special displays at the St. John Horsfall and a historic weekend at the Silverstone Circuit.[ citation needed ]
The club, known to members as "The Family", meets at social and competitive events and issues publications, AM Quarterly and the News Sheet, which include reports of club events around the world.
On 23 May 1997, Paula Brown and John Martin unveiled the Cairn, erected in memory of Lionel Martin, at the top of Aston Hill in Buckinghamshire.[ citation needed ] Originally conceived by the club's chairman, Ian Macgregor, this memorial was designed by club member John Evans and constructed on Forestry Commission land with funding from AMOC and AML Ltd.
In January 1998, AMOC purchased a 600-year-old grange barn in Drayton St. Leonard, Oxfordshire, to act as its new headquarters. The first stage of the work to refurbish the barn started during 1999 and was completed in 2001, with the club relocating that year from its previous base in Sutton-in-the-Isle.[ citation needed ] In March 2002, John Dawnay, president since 1980, died, and his wife Diana became the new president.[ citation needed ]
The new headquarters at Drayton St. Leonard in Oxfordshire was officially opened in April 2002.[ citation needed ] Prince Michael of Kent was scheduled to perform the opening, but was unable to attend due to the death of his aunt, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Instead, the building was opened by the president, Diana Dawnay, on Prince Michael's behalf.
AMOC maintains strong links to Aston Martin Lagonda, each supporting the other in various enterprises.
AM Quarterly is the official magazine of the Aston Martin Owners Club and contains technical articles, historical items, factory news and reports of AMOC activities from around the world. [1] It is published four times a year.
Every four years, a Register of Members' Cars is published and has become the 'standard work' on the Marque. The Aston Martin Heritage Trust now has the responsibility for publishing this work.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with expensive grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional character James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger. Their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to the Prince of Wales since 1982, and has over 160 car dealerships in 53 countries, making it a global automobile brand. The company is traded at the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. In 2003 it received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. The company has survived seven bankruptcies throughout its history.
Sir David Brown was an English industrialist, managing director of his grandfather's gear and machine tool business David Brown Limited and more recently David Brown Tractors, and one time owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thorneycroft and car manufacturers Aston Martin and Lagonda.
Nimrod Racing Automobiles was a partnership founded in 1981 between racing driver and car dealer Robin Hamilton and chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, Victor Gauntlett. The project was intended to build sports prototypes for the World Endurance Championship and IMSA GT Championship using Aston Martin V8 engines. Although Aston Martin did not own the project, they offered their support for the chance to see success for their name in motorsports without the heavy cost of running their own team.
The Aston Martin DB7 is a grand tourer which was produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. The car was available either as a coupé or a convertible. The prototype was complete by November 1992 and debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March, 1993; the car was designed by Ian Callum and Keith Helfet. The six-cylinder DB7 was positioned as an "entry-level" model below the hand-built V8 Virage introduced a few years earlier. This model was the most-produced Aston Martin automobile up to that point in time, with more than 7,000 built before it was replaced by the DB9 in 2004.
David Pender Richards is the chairman of Prodrive, chairman of Motorsport UK, former chairman of Aston Martin, a former team principal of the BAR and Benetton Formula One motor racing teams and as a co-driver, World Rally Champion in 1981. He lives with his wife, Karen, in Warwickshire and has three children. In the 2005 New Year Honours List Richards was appointed a CBE for his services to motorsport and in 2017 was inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame and received the Spirit of Le Mans award from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO). In 2019 he received the Autocar Outstanding Leader Award.
Sydney Charles Houghton "Sammy" Davis was a British racing motorist, journalist, graphic artist and clubman.
Steeple Aston is a village and civil parish on the edge of the Cherwell Valley, in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire, England, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Oxford, 7 miles (11 km) west of Bicester, and 10 miles (16 km) south of Banbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 947. The village is 108 metres (354 ft) above sea level. The River Cherwell and Oxford Canal pass 1 mile (2 km) east of the village. The river forms part of the eastern boundary of the parish. The parish's southern boundary, 1⁄2 mile (800 m) south of the village, also forms part of Cherwell District's boundary with West Oxfordshire.
Goodwood Circuit is a historic venue for both two- and four-wheeled motorsport in the United Kingdom. The 2.367-mile (3.809 km) circuit is situated near Chichester, West Sussex, close to the south coast of England, on the estate of Goodwood House, and completely encircles Chichester/Goodwood Airport. This is the racing circuit dating from 1948, not to be confused with the separate hillclimb course located at Goodwood House and first used in 1936.
Snetterton Circuit is a motor racing course in Norfolk, England, originally opened in 1953. Owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, it is situated on the A11 road 12-mile (19 km) north-east of the town of Thetford and 19-mile (31 km) south-west of the city of Norwich. The circuit is named after the nearby village of Snetterton to the north-west of the circuit, although much of the circuit lies in the adjoining civil parish of Quidenham.
The 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 12th Grand Prix of Endurance. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 16 and 17 June 1934. Four privateer Alfa Romeo entries were expected to fight for outright honours, with an outside chance for the four Bugattis ranged against them. British cars dominated the smaller classes. Two-time winner Raymond Sommer soon took the lead until, after only 90 minutes, he stopped out on the circuit with smoke pouring from his engine. For the next five hours the Alfas of Luigi Chinetti and Earl Howe duelled for the lead. However, soon after night fell, the lights failed on Howe's Alfa costing him two hours to get the electrics repaired. Chinetti took the lead, but their car had developed a leak in the fuel tank. The solution was the same as Sommer had used the previous year: to plug the gap with chewing-gum.
The Aston Martin DP214 was a prototype sports car developed by Aston Martin for use in grand touring-style racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two DP214s were built in 1963, with one surviving today.
Malcolm Victor Gauntlett was an English petrochemical entrepreneur and car enthusiast, best known for forming the largest independent petrol retail business in the United Kingdom, and for reviving Aston Martin.
The Nimrod NRA/C2 was the only Group C racing car ever built by Nimrod Racing Automobiles in partnership with Aston Martin. It ran initially in 1982 in the World Endurance Championship before also joining the IMSA GT Championship. The final NRA/C2 would be retired in 1984 after the planned NRA/C3 replacement had been cancelled and the company went bankrupt.
The Aston Martin Razor Blade team car was built in 1923 to break the one-hour light car record of 101.39 mph (163.17 km/h) held by AC Cars. Although it failed to break the record, it did have success in race and record attempts in the 1920s.
The Aston MartinAtom is a prototype automobile built by Aston Martin (AM). Construction of the car began in 1939 and was completed in 1940. The Atom is one of the first fully functional concept cars ever built. Aston Martin explored several new technologies with the Atom, and its chassis design was the basis for the platform used by AM's post-war models well into the late 1950s.
The Aston Martin RHAM/1 was a highly modified Aston Martin DBS V8 racing car, developed by Robin Hamilton, built with the intention of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After development by Hamilton, RHAM/1 competed in the 1977 and 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 17th overall and 3rd in the GTP class in the 1977 race. The car has also held the World Land Speed Record, for towing a caravan, at the speed of 124.91 mph.
The Aston Martin DPLM is a sports prototype racing car that was built by David Preece and Ken Heywood. Utilizing an Aston Martin V8 engine tuned by AVJ Developments, the car was designed to participate in the World Sportscar Championship as well as the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans. The original Gipfast Special was damaged in its debut race in 1980, while a second chassis was constructed for use in 1982. Despite the team's intentions, the DPLM only participated in two major races.
St John Ratcliffe Stewart "Jock" Horsfall was a British motor racing driver.
The Hotel de France is a historic hotel in the centre of the town of La Chartre Sur Le Loir. The 22 room hotel, with its Art Deco facade, is located at 20, Place de la République, 27 miles due south of Le Mans. It is famous for its long association with the drivers, teams and cars of the Le Mans 24 Hours race.
The Aston Martin Heritage Trust (AMHT) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation that manages the Aston Martin Museum an automobile museum presenting the history of Aston Martin cars. It is located off Dorchester Road in the village of Drayton St Leonard, South Oxfordshire, England.