AS Motorsport was founded in 2007, by Andrew Soar (hence AS), who grew up on the family farm in Norfolk, but who would go on to become a successful engineering lecturer and later on an engineering consultant in the US and elsewhere.
After a spell building and servicing Cobra 427 replicas, AS Motorsport was created to develop and build the ASM R1 Le Mans, a model strongly influenced by Aston Martin's iconic DBR racing cars of the 1950s. An earlier version of this car had been around since the mid 90s and in fact one was bought by Andrew Soar, before his eventual involvement with the current car.
Andrew has designed improvements which cover such areas as brake packages, suspension design, geometry revision and structural improvements. He has also established working relationships with two top rate English companies who hand craft the alloy bodywork. With the support of Computer Aided Design a wooden buck has been produced using Computer Numerical Control techniques to produce a truly authentic aluminium body shape.
Future developments include the design of a chassis inspired by the DBR2 to qualify for chassic motorsport as well as continued development of the existing chassis. ASM are currently taking commissions for the ASM R1 Le Mans and the cars will continue to be built at the family farm near Bressingham in Norfolk.
Founded in 1913 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, Aston Martin has developed into an iconic brand synonymous with luxury and elegance. 1914 saw the birth of the name 'Aston Martin' following one of Lionel Martin's successful runs at the Aston hill climb in Buckinghamshire.
Throughout the following decades the company enjoyed continued success off and on the track, continuously developing and improving their cars, culminating in winning the World Sports Car Championship in 1959. 1947 saw the start of the industrialist David Brown's involvement with Aston Martin and indeed his initials became the prefix of the cars' model names right up to the present day with the DBS and DB12.
In 1954 the company moved to the famous site at Newport Pagnell, where they remained, through several changes of ownership, until 2003 when their new global headquarters opened in Gaydon, Warwickshire. This was the first purpose built facility in the company's history and they were led by Dr Ulrich Bez from 2000 until 2014 when Andy Palmer took over.
In 2013 they signed a deal with Daimler AG, who took a stake in Aston Martin, to supply them with Mercedes-AMG engines for their range of cars. The company was successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange in the Autumn of 2018 and in January 2020 Canadian billionaire and investor Lawrence Stroll led a consortium who paid £182 million in return for 25% stake in the company. In the same year, Andy Palmer was replaced by Tobias Moers of Mercedes-AMG as CEO.
Today, Aston Martin Works continues to operate out of the legendary Newport Pagnell facility as a new car dealership and service centre and a global Heritage sales, service and restoration facility, as well as at their production facilities in Gaydon and new factory in St Athan in Wales.
Atalanta Motors first started making their renowned sports tourer in 1936, creating arguably the most technically advanced British sports car of the era.. Few of the original 1930's cars survive today and with each one being unique they rarely appear on the market and naturally command a significant premium when they do.
75 years on, Atalanta is once again taking commissions to produce modern, but faithfully re-created, examples of its only model, the Sports Tourer. Atalanta was the name of a much revered athlete of Greek Mythology.
Aurrigo are, as their website states: " Leaders in first and last mile automomous technology". It is a division of RDM Group, which is a privately-owned company based in Coventry.
With nearly 25 years’ experience in Tier 1 automotive technology and parts manufacturing for the vehicle industry, RDM employs 65 people, with almost half of the workforce in technical roles. RDM Group has established itself as a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of autonomous vehicles, including the LUTZ Pathfinder and PodZero range. The company boasts specialist skills in electronics, software, vehicle and safety engineering, and has an in-house Autonomous Control System development team.
Aurrigo currently offer two pincipal products, the PodZero, a small four seat autonomous pod, and the larger Pod12, a twelve seat autonomous shuttle. In addition, they also make an the world's first autonomous baggage dolly, for use by airports. They are involved in several major autonomous vehicle trials around the UK and overseas.
Austin Pedal Cars, formerly the J40 Motor Company, is the only dedicated Austin J40 pedal car sales, service, restoration, and community specialist in the world. As owners of the Austin trademark, they produce the only official range of Austin pedal cars, spares and accessories. Burlen Ltd, best known as manufacturers of the world’s finest carburetters from Amal, SU, and Zenith, purchased an Austin J40 pedal car spares business from Roy Halford in 2020. Prior to Burlen acquiring the business, Halford had supplied Austin J40 parts and spares for almost 40 years.
Specialists in precision engineering to specific tolerances, Burlen engineers used a combination of traditional methods and modern machinery to manufacture a wider range of Austin J40 parts, with increased quality of fitment and everything in stock for immediate delivery. As a result, in April 2020, the J40 Motor Company was born. The Austin J40 pedal car was originally made in by the Austin Motor Company Limited, based on the 1948 A40 Devon and Dorset.
Each car was manufactured in South Wales at a specially constructed factory, opened in 1949 under the name of the Austin Junior Car Factory. A total of 32,098 Austin J40 pedal cars were made before production ceased in September 1971.
In September 2022 Burlen acquired the Austin trademark which allowed them to manufacture new pedal cars, parts, and accessories under the Austin name. A new company, called Austin Pedal Cars was launched and the renowned J40 Motor Company became a sub-division of Austin Pedal Cars operating as an Austin J40-specific parts and accessories manufacturer.
In autumn 2023 the company launched what it calls the Austin J40 Continuation, the first new Austin pedal car in over 50 years.