HISTORIC HILL FEATURE CLIMB
The Birth of Aston Martin
The venue is best known for its role in the origins of Aston Martin, whose co-founder – racing driver and early motorsport pioneer Lionel Martin – enjoyed great success on the hill. His love of speed and competition led him to participate in a number of motorsport events and in 1913 he formed a partnership with engineer and businessman Robert Bamford.
Initially known as Bamford & Martin Ltd, the firm operated out of a small workshop in London’ s Kensington district, selling and servicing Singer cars. They created modified versions built for racing and Martin drove one of these to a class victory in the May 1914 Aston Hill Climb, just a year after the company’ s formation.
The pair soon became inspired to create their own high-performance vehicles and their first ever car, known as Coal Scuttle, took a gold medal in the London to Edinburgh Trial in 1919, completing the journey in a time of just under 24 hours, despite the significant amount of distance driven on unsurfaced roads.
It was back in the Hill Climb and Speed Trials scene, however, where Bamford and Martin really started to make their mark and after a hiatus during World War I, which forced them to suspend operations and put a hold on racing, the pair decided to rebrand their company as Aston Martin – in recognition of Martin’ s success on Aston Hill.
The demanding nature of these events required a lightweight yet powerful vehicle and led the pair to develop strong, high-torque engines, sharing different bodies and registration numbers between cars to give the impression they had a larger fleet. Their success drew media attention and created the platform to build the company into what it is today.
>>>>>
HCAAC Archive
AJ Hancock sets the Fastest Time of the Day in a Vauxhall, 1909
Revolution- April 2025
45