Aston Martin has been sold by Ford to a consortium led by Dave Richards, head of the performance car specialists Prodrive.

The company got its name in 1914 when Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford had their first success in the Aston Hill Climb.

The first Aston Martin car was registered in 1915.

Aston Martin became an iconic British brand when the car was first driven by James Bond.

This 1965 Aston Martin DB5 was driven by Sean Connery in the films Thunderball and Goldfinger. It was auctioned in 2006 in Arizona for $2,090,000 (�1,190,000).

Famous Aston Martin owners have included Prince Charles, seen here getting out of his Aston Martin Volante before a tour of the company's headquarters in 2004.

Aston Martin brought out a special model of its DBS for the latest Bond, Daniel Craig, to drive in Casino Royale.

Rumours abounded at the Geneva motor show about who would end up owning the luxury marque.

The consortium buying Aston Martin includes Dave Richards, the US investor John Sinders and the Kuwaiti firms Investment Dar and Adeem Investment.