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| About astonmartins.com | |
| Site History | ||
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I started working on this website in the middle
of 1998 just for a bit of fun really. But I didn’t expect that it would
be anything like as popular as it has become. I really wanted to create
something to celebrate my favourite marque - just for myself - the fact
that other people enjoy it too is just a bonus. It’s really helped me to
understand this famous company so much better; it’s history, ethos, and
standards of quality. I have tried very hard to demystify the many models and
variants of the cars to make the history of the marque as straightforward
as possible.
I first heard of Aston Martin the week that they went into administration in November 1974 - I was only young at the time and I was encouraged to learn more about this exclusive maker of the finest cars. In 1976, the revitalised company unveiled the fabulous Aston Martin Lagonda - I was captivated then I’m it’s still one of my all time favourite cars. The introduction of the awesome supercar, the V8 Vantage just confirmed to me that Aston Martin was and would be forever the best car company in the world...........ever. Despite my general interest in cars, computers and photography, they has nothing to do with my work. Neither have I ever received any formal training in the automotive industry, computing or photography. But whatever my personal shortcomings, I hope that my enthusiasm for Aston Martins shines through. By writing this site, I continue to enlarge my personal knowledge of the marque; I hope that it may have informed and inspired you too. |
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| The photographs |
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| This site is a little different from most other
car websites. Instead of ‘borrowing’ photographs from books, magazines
and other websites, I have taken almost every picture myself.
And I’m very proud of that achievement. In a few instances, I have been forced to use AML press pictures to show
cars that I have not had the opportunity to photograph for myself. I thus hold the copyright for
almost every picture. I would therefore appreciate it if you only copied the
photographs to your computer for your own personal use. Please, please do
not take these photographs for use on any other website or similar
publication without my express permission. If you have a legitimate
commercial use for any of my photographs, I will sell you a license for
the specific use you require. High resolution images are available. I’m
afraid that at the moment, I’m not able to sell prints for private use. The Aston Martin Owners Club and any UK area or overseas section has my full consent to use any image on this website without prior notice. |
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| Photographic Equipment | ||
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Initially, most of the photographs on this site were taken
on a pair on Nikon 35 mm cameras (F3 and FA) that I have owned for some
considerable time. I had a reasonable collection of lenses from 20 mm
through to 105 mm. I also used a couple of zoom lenses (35 mm to 70 mm and
100 mm to 300 mm) but I still preferd to use fixed focal length if
possible. Prints were then scanned using a Canon 8000F
scanner. Negatives were scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V.
During 2002 I purchased a Nikon CoolPix 2500 digital camera which has been immense fun - I can highly recommend it to you. In May 2003, I converted fully to digital and all subsequent photographs have been taken on a Nikon CoolPix 5700 - my 35mm film cameras are now in extended storage. From May 2005, I moved onto a Nikon D70S digital SLR with 12-24mm, 17-55mm and 80-400 Nikkor zoom lenses. |
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| Funding the site |
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| This site was initially funded
from my own pocket. Thankfully I have now been fortunate to sell some of my
work to companies needing Aston Martin pictures for uses ranging from a Playstation
game, car sales websites, magazine articles, advertising and car insurance leaflets.
Please contact me if you need to purchase photographs for commercial use.
I’m also able to offer banner advertising to companies offering services to Aston Martin owners and enthusiasts. If you are a dealer in Astons, service Astons or have a product that would be of special interest to enthusiasts, please consider an inexpensive banner or consider sponsoring a page. |
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| Reference sources | ||
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I really do have a large collection of Aston
Martin books - almost every title. And I consult them regularly when
writing the pages for this site.
My most consulted resource is the AMOC register - without this one book (in fact it now covers 5 volumes) this website wouldn’t be really possible. I must really commend all enthusiasts of the marque to join the AMOC especially as this is the only way to receive a register. It is without doubt a priceless document, evolved over many years by dedicated members of the oldest and finest one marque owners club in the world. Other books that I use most regularly are........
Sadly many are now out of print but they can occasionally turn up on eBay. Aston Martin books which are still in print are available from Amazon There are also some excellent Aston Martin websites that are more specialised than mine. V8vantage.com covers the high performance Aston Martin variants. It especially is good for news items and developments of the marque. Kean Rogers has assisted with the V8 Vantage and Zagato pages. Astonmartinlagonda.net covers the Towns Lagonda and is written by Lagonda enthusiast, Roger Ivett. Roger has thankfully proof read the Lagonda pages. Aston Martin Lagonda also allow me access to current press release information and I also have an extensive back catalogue of press material and brochures. Some of this material is difficult to obtain and has been collected over a long period of time. I have also used many original magazine articles and road tests as sources of reference. Those magazines are AM Quarterly (AMOC), Works Torque (published by Aston Martin Works Service), Aston (Annual Journal of the AMHT), Car, Autocar, Motor, Classic and Sportscar, Classic Cars, Supercar Classics, Superclassics, Top Gear, Auto Express, Evo, and Road & Track. I have also occasionally referred to auction catalogues produced by the classic car auction houses - Coys of Kensington, Bonhams (Brooks), Christies. |
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| Acknowledgements | ||
| The many friends that I have made through this
site have also assisted greatly with it’s construction. I won’t name
them, but they know who they are. I really must thank you all for your
encouragement and friendship. I have been very fortunate to meet such
wonderful people through the site and through the AMOC. But I will
formally thank Robert Westall, Kean Rogers, Roger Ivett, Fred Everitt,
Gordon Proctor, Graham Michelli, Nicholas Mee and the late Roger Stowers. Also to my friends and
Aston Martin Works Service
I must acknowledge the owners of all the fine Aston Martins that are featured on the site. Many have not given permission for me to photograph the cars. However if your car is illustrated on these pages and you wish it to be removed, then I will happily comply. I have only received complimentary messages when owners find their cars on-line. I also must acknowledge the Aston Martin Owners Club for organising many wonderful race meetings and concours events which help to bring to many cars together. And lastly and I suppose most importantly, the past and current management and workforce at Aston Martin Lagonda. Without superhuman effort, the company would not exist today. I hope that this website does sufficient justice to these fantastic automobiles and the many people behind that success. |
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| Page Updated Sunday September 10, 2006 |
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