|
Aston Martin
Promotions
PartyPoker
Drive The Dream
Website
PartyPoker.com
Win
a brand new Aston Martin DB9 Coupe for absolutely
nothing
We’ll
give you a brand new Aston Martin DB9 Coupe if you
finish in pole position at our live Drive the Dream
final in London.
You
can win your way to this fantastic event for free
as we’re giving away five prize packages to the
final on 2nd October: win yours by joining our daily
freerolls, qualifying through to the monthly satellites
where you can win your seat to the live final in London.
Take a look at the complete qualifying structure page
to see how you can book your seat at our exciting
final.
As
well as the Aston Martin DB9 Coupe, every player who
sits down in London is guaranteed an amazing prize.
Take a look at what’s up for grabs:
1st
Aston Martin DB9 Coupe
2nd
Lamborghini Extreme Driving Academy package
3rd
Ferrari Driving Experience package
4th
Porsche Sport Driving School package
5th
F1 Brazilian Grand Prix package
6th
F1 Italian Grand Prix package
7th
$4,000
8th
$3,000
9th
$2,000
We
also have $175,000 in cash prizes to be won in our
weekly and monthly finals. In each monthly final a
VIP package to London will be won which will include
return flights, hotel accommodation and PartyPoker.com's
legendary
hospitality.
Leave
the competition for dust and you could be driving
home in a brand new Aston Martin DB9 Coupe.
Drive
the Dream today
News
James
Bond Casino Icon: Aston Martin Up For Sale, by Greg
Tingle - 2nd June 2010
Punters,
we know its not casino or gambling news purse, but
Bond remains one of the world's most famous (and successful)
gamblers. Geez, we wonder why he always wins. Media
Man and Gambling911 hit top gear with this special
report...
The
famous Aston Martin driven by Sean Connery in the
James Bond franchise movies is going up for sale at
a London auction house this October.
The
silver 1964 Aston Martin DB5, named by car auctioneers
RM Auctions as "the world’s most famous
car," is expected to fetch at least $5 million
bucks!!!
The
beast of a car is one of only two of the original
Aston Martins that featured on the big screen with
Sean Connery behind the wheel in Goldfinger and Thunderball.
It
comes complete with Bond gadgets including fake machine
guns, revolving number plates and smoke screen. If
you want real guns, you will have to add them yourself!
The
model is being sold by American radio broadcaster
Jerry Lee, who bought it for $US12,000 ($A14,193)
in 1969. It's been largely parked at his home since
then and has rarely been seen publicly.
RM
Auctions advise the car is going under the hammer
in London on October 27.
Favorite
casino games of Bond include Baccarat Chemin de Fer,
Texas Hold'em Poker and Roulette.
Media
Man and Bond fans...you may be interested to learn
that Media Man is the manager and agent for Aussie
- Fijian actor - pro wrestler, John "Vulcan"
Seru. Johnno played 'Gabor' in James Bond 'The World
Is Not Enough'. Seru also recently featured in an
'Underbelly' episode alongside up and coming Aussie
actor, Firass Dirani.
Stay
glued to Gambling911 for more on motorsport, including
Aussie legend Mark "The Turkey" Webber.
Folks, the names' Tingle, Greg Tingle. Putting the
"I" in Bond I Beach!
Profiles
James
Bond
John
Seru
Aston
Martin
*Greg
Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media
Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal
development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers
dozen of sectors they cover.
Aston
Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of
luxury cars headquartered at Gaydon, Warwickshire,
England. The company name was derived from the Aston
Clinton hill climb and the company's founder, Lionel
Martin. Today, Aston Martin is part of the Premier
Automotive Group division of Ford Motor Company.
Foundation
Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin
and Robert Bamford. The two had joined forces as Bamford
& Martin the previous year to sell cars made by
Singer from premises in Callow Street, London. Martin
raced specials at the Aston Hill near Aston Clinton,
and the pair decided to make their own vehicles. The
first car to be named Aston Martin was created by
Martin by fitting a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex
engine to the chassis of a 1908 Isotta-Fraschini[1].
They acquired premises at Henniker Place in Kensington
and produced their first car in March 1915. Production
could not start because of World War 1 and Martin
joined the Admiralty and Bamford the Royal Army Service
Corps. All machinery was sold to the Sopwith Aviation
Company
Inter war years
After the war hiatus, the company was refounded at
Abingdon Road, Kensington and a new car designed which
would carry the Aston-Martin name. Bamford left in
1920 and the company was revitalised with funding
from Count Louis Zborowski. In 1922, Bamford &
Martin produced cars to compete in the French Grand
Prix, and the cars set world speed and endurance records
at Brooklands. The company went bankrupt in 1924 and
was bought by Lady Charnwood who put her son John
Benson on the board. The company failed again in 1925
and the factory closed in 1926 with Lionel Martin
leaving.
Later
that year, a number of rich investors, including Lady
Charnwood, took control of the company and renamed
it Aston Martin Motors, and moved the firm to the
former Citroen plant in Feltham. John Benson brought
in Augusto Bertelli as designer. The 1929 Aston Martin
International was another successful racer and was
followed by the Le Mans and the Ulster. Financial
problems reappeared in 1932 and the company was rescued
by L Prideaux Brune who funded it for the following
year before passing the company on to Sir Arthur Sutherland.
In 1936, the company decided to concentrate on road
cars. Car production had always been on a small scale
and from the company's founding until the advent of
World War II halted work only about 700 had been made.
During the war years aircraft components were made.
The David Brown era
In 1947, David Brown Limited bought the company under
the leadership of managing director Sir David Brown
— its "post-war saviour". David Brown
also acquired Lagonda that year, and both companies
shared resources and workshops. In 1955, David Brown
bought the Tickford coachbuilding company and its
site at Tickford Street in Newport Pagnell, and that
was the beginning of the classic series of cars bearing
the initials 'DB'. In 1950, the company announced
the DB2, followed by the racing DB3 in 1957 and the
Italian-styled 3.7 L DB4 in 1958. All the cars established
a good racing pedigree for the firm, but the DB4 was
the key to establishing the company's reputation—which
was cemented with the famous DB5 in 1963. The company
continued developing the "grand touring"
style with the DB6 (1965–70), the DBS, and the
DBS V8 (1967–72).
Changing ownership
Despite the cars' appreciation in value, the company
was often financially troubled. In 1972, it was sold
to a Birmingham-based consortium, and resold in 1975
to the North American businessmen Peter Sprague and
George Minden. The new American owners pushed the
company into modernizing its line, producing the V8
Vantage in 1977, the convertible Volante in 1978,
and the one-off William Towns-styled Bulldog in 1980.
Towns also styled the futuristic new Lagonda saloon,
based on the existing V8 model. The Americans sold
the company to CH Industrial, who themselves turned
the company over in 1983 to Automotive Investments
who, in turn, lasted barely a year before selling
the company to Peter Livanos and company chairman
Victor Gauntlett. In 1986, the Ford Motor Company
purchased 75 per cent of the company, later gaining
complete control of the company.
In
1988, having produced some 5,000 cars in twenty years,
the company finally retired the ancient V8 and introduced
the Virage range. In 1992, the Vantage version was
announced, and the following year the company renewed
the DB range by announcing the DB7.
The Ford era
In 1993, Ford finally bought Victor Gauntlett's shares
and took full control of the firm, placing it in the
Ford Premier Automotive Group. Ford substantially
invested in new manufacturing and quickly ramped-up
production. In 1994, Ford opened a new factory at
Banbury Road in Bloxham. In 1995, the company produced
a record 700 vehicles, in 1998 the 2,000th DB7 was
built, and in 2002 the 6,000th — exceeding production
of all previous DB models. The DB7 range was boosted
by the addition of V12 Vantage models in 1999, and
in 2001 the company introduced the V12-engine Vanquish.
2003
was a significant year for Aston Martin. At the North
American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan,
U.S.A., Aston Martin introduced the new AMV8 Vantage
concept car. Expected to have few changes before its
introduction in 2005, the new AMV8 Vantage brings
back the classic V8 engine and will allow the company
to compete in a larger market. The year also saw the
opening of the Gaydon factory, the first purpose-built
factory in Aston Martin's history. Also introduced
in 2003, was the new DB9 coupé, which replaces
the ten-year-old DB7. A convertible version of the
DB9, known as the DB9 Volante, was introduced at the
2004 Detroit Auto Show.
In
December 2003, Aston Martin announced they would return
to motor racing in 2005. A new division was created,
called Aston Martin Racing, who will be responsible,
together with Prodrive, for the design, development,
and management of the DBR9 program. The DBR9 will
compete in the GT class in sports car races including
the world-famous 24 hours of Le Mans.
Astons
on film
The very British glamour of Aston Martin cars meant
they were a natural choice for the character of James
Bond, author Ian Fleming giving his hero a DBIII in
the seventh novel, Goldfinger. This became the third
in the series of film adaptations, and a long association
between 007 and the marque began on screen with the
silver DB5 that appears in Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball
(1965). This was James Bond's company car, and then,
in GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997),
appeared to have become his private car. In On Her
Majesty's Secret Service (1969) there appears, at
the beginning and end of the movie, a metallic-green
DBS. After an interlude with Lotus, Aston Martins
were again used: a charcoal-grey V8 Volante and Vantage
in The Living Daylights (1987). After switching to
BMW for several films, the
Vanquish appeared in Die Another Day (2002). In early
2004, Henrik Fisker, Design Director at Aston Martin,
revealed that James Bond will be driving the new DBS
in Casino Royale to be released in 2006. Traditionally,
the James Bond Astons have featured a variety of incredible
gadgets that real-life purchasers might have been
disappointed not be offered as optional extras!
The
Italian Job (1969) features a silver DB4 Convertible,
owned by crook Charlie Croker, played by Michael Caine.
Later, this car is destroyed in a Mafia ambush, along
with a pair of E-type Jaguars. The cars were meant
to serve as getaway vehicles in the subsequent robbery
"in case anything goes wrong." The gang
decide to proceed despite this loss, and the question
of what happens if anything goes wrong is pointedly
ignored by Croker. Although it is commonly believed
that this car was destroyed during filming, it still
exists and currently belongs to an AMOC member. Rather
than destroy an expensive Aston, a Lancia mocked up
to look like its British counterpart was pushed over
the edge for the final take. In the 2003 remake with
the same title, the character Handsome Rob, played
by Jason Statham, ends up driving an Aston Martin,
but not the Vanquish that he wanted. Instead, it is
a DB7 Volante.
An
Aston Martin also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's The
Birds. (Credit: Wikipedia)
Website
Aston
Martin official website
Profiles
Autos
Sports
Cars
James
Bond
|
