Aston Martin: Power, Beauty and Soul

This book chronicles all models produced from about 1986 to 2006, with the greatest focus on the hand crafted V-series cars of 1990-2000 (Virage and all its decedents). In many ways the book shows how the company has made the transition from a ultra-low volume maker of coach built cars into a maker of expensive semi-mass produced sports cars (like an English Ferrari). Personally I have mixed feelings about this transformation, but the book does a magnificent job paying homage to both eras. Each chapter details one model, or one special run of cars. In some cases the "run" describes production quantities in single digits...in a few cases it even represents a single unique car. The book itself contains amazing photographers, and was obviously produced with great attention to detail and love of the cars/company. One funny aspect of the book... Many places in the text "well known far east customer" is mentioned, but his name is never actually given. This is obviously the Sultan of Brunei. It is well known he was a major Aston Martin customer during this period, and commissioned many of the highly custom cars in the book. Since these cars are locked far away, this book is the only way to experience these works of art. I only have one minor complaint. I really wish they included more photos inside of the Newport-Pagnell factory itself. Since this book chronicles the last chapter of hand-made cars, it would have been nice to see more details of this lost art. Worth every penny.

A lot of info and great pics worth owning if u love these autos

Awesome book that details more than the well known production models to describe the concepts, one offs and limited production runs that make Aston Martin what it is. Doesn’t cover the latest “Mercedes” era vehicles but is good through the DB9 and Casino Royale DBS.

This is a gorgeous, massive tome. Very good addition to one's Aston library, as it gives some personal anecdotes about various, often very rare, cars-- their inception and production. If you're a real expert, there may not be enough depth for you, but I learned quite a bit, for example, about the famous Pricnce of Wales V8's--I knew of their existence, and desirability, but this book gave me a bit of "color" regarding their 'back story." If you want to know a bit about more models and versions than you knew existed, like cars of which one were produced, this is a luxe way to learn about them.

Fairly well written, but repeated the same pattern for each design.

One of the best books in print on this fabled marque. Good writing, great photos. Book is highly rated for good reason.

Beautifully designed book with a great history lesson

Awesome book. Gave it as a gift to a Aston Martin fanatic and they loved it! Highly suggested according to all online reviews that I read before purchasing.

Very good history as I collect AM's 1:18 apart from other models - DB2, DB4 (Zagarto), DB5, DB6, DB7 (Vantage) and Vanquish.

Document exceptionnel de qualité, de précision, avec tous les modèles réunis de façon chronologique, méthodique. Seul ivre présentant des modèles rarissimes

Well having been a fan of the great Aston Martin marquee since the introduction of the original DBS in the 60's ( i actually sat in one in the 80's. Thoroughly awesome.). Also having bought a Aston Martin book in the late 70's early 80's which covered their years up to then ( obviously) , saw this book and thought that i'd buy it to get some decent pics of the awesome DB9. Firstly the reason that i had waited so long between my 1st book and this one is that when Ford initially bought the company in the late 80's all i kept thinking was OMG we are going to get a Aston Martin Fiesta or something and i lost interest in the make. Then back in 2003 they launched the DB9 , which was shown quite a few times on the BBC programme Top Gear , so my interest in the marquee was aroused like a sleeping lion. Anyway i looked for a book that was worthwhile of buying over , and eventually i came across this one. This book far excels my expectations , it is truly magnificent , and well worth the price , it has specifications of all the mainstream models and a lot of the prototypes that never made the showroom. It is now one of my most prized books , i absolutely love it , it even let me know that the Volante that HRH Prince Charles had in the 80's was especially built for him ( something i never knew). If like me you have a real passion for a real car , then you will love this book it is truly better than the rest for value and size.

Beautiful book good illustrations

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my 18 year old son who has been mad about Astons since he discovered the Bond films when he was 6. Sadly we could not afford an actual Aston Martin so the book would have to do this year! I looked through the book before wrapping it and although I know nothing about Astons or cars in general, I thought this was beautifully presented and really interesting. Even I loved the excellent photos, the history and the info which was included. Definitely worth the money, actually, I would say underpriced! Would be great for any Aston fan.