Robert Bamford

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Robert Bamford (* 1883 ; † 1942 in Brighton ) was a British businessman and engineer from Essex . Alongside Lionel Martin, he is the founder of the Aston Martin car brand .

Life

Robert Bamford was the son of Reverend Robert Bamford (1854–1898) and came from a family of clerical dignitaries. His parents married in 1882 and, in addition to Robert Bamford , had another son, Edward Bamford (1887–1928). After attending university and graduating as an engineer, he took part in the First World War as a lieutenant in the 33rd Royal Army Service Corps . Shortly before, on January 15, 1913, he founded Bamford & Martin Ltd. together with racing driver Lionel Martin. In May 1918 he became engaged to Muriel Mathilda Etches and married her in 1919 in Newton Abbot in Devon . They had a daughter (Patricia Bamford) in 1921. Bamford finally died in Brighton in 1942 at the age of 59.

Aston Martin

Bamford & Martin headquarters in London SW3

By Bamford founded and Martin company Bamford & Martin Ltd. dealt with the repair and sale of automobiles of the Singer brand in southern England. According to the motto "Win on sunday, sell on monday", the newly founded company regularly took part in car races with Singer automobiles. However, the vehicles showed a number of defects in racing, so Bamford and Martin planned their own development early on. As early as 1914 - one year after it was founded - they renamed the company Aston Martin after successfully participating in the Aston Clinton hill climb . In March 1915, the prototype, mockingly called “Coal Scuttle”, with an optimized Coventry Simplex engine was on the wheels. The model was already called Aston-Martin. However, due to the First World War, production and development were suspended for the time being. Bamford and Martin sold all of the machines to the Sopwith Aviation Company. A second Aston Martin model could not be developed until 1920 after the end of the war. For this purpose, the company headquarters was relocated to London. A first small series was created from the new model in 1923 . However, Bamford left the company in 1920 because he was not interested in series production. After some financial setbacks, Martin left the company in 1926, which after several changes of ownership still produces cars to this day.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 29337, HMSO, London, 22 October 1915, p. 10477 ( PDF , English).
  2. ↑ Aston Martin , Rainer W. Schlegelmilch, Hartmut Lehbrink, pages 9 to 10, Könemann (2006), ISBN 3-8290-4832-7
  3. ^ Automotive Hall of Fame

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bamford, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British engineer and co-founder of Aston Martin
DATE OF BIRTH 1883
DATE OF DEATH 1942
Place of death Brighton