Aston Martin is one of the most famous car brands of all, although perhaps only 75,000 cars have been built to date. That's about as many vehicles as Volkswagen produces in three days. But it took Aston over 100 years! So you can imagine how rare these cars are, with barely a few dozen sports cars of many types being produced.
With so many different designs, it is not so easy to keep track of them all, and this is where Michael Schäfer's type compass "Aston Martin - Series Models since 1948", published by Motorbuch Verlag, aims to help.
On 128 pages, the production models after the Second World War are briefly characterized on one page each.
The second part of the story
The fact that the story begins after the war is no doubt mainly for marketing reasons, as far fewer people are interested in the cars before the war. And perhaps this would have gone beyond the scope of the book.
Clear, but concise
128 pages is not much if you want to explain over 100 vehicle types and sub-types, so Schäfer had to be brief. The introductory text is supplemented by at least one photo and a table with the most important information. The reader should not expect historical photographs, but the volume is illustrated in full color throughout.
It is to the author's credit that the number of units produced has not been forgotten. It is understandable that it was not possible to go too deeply into the technical data.
Not just for classic car fans
Of course, the booklet does not stop where the transition from classic car (Aston Martin V8) to modern times (DB7) takes place, so neither Vanquish nor One-77 or Rapide are missing. Only the DB11 is missing - after all, you have to close a book at some point.
Introduction worth reading
In addition to the brief characterizations of the individual cars, a kind of extended quartet card, author Schäfer has written an interesting introduction that summarizes the more than 100-year history of Aston Martin. Each model series is also roughly outlined.
Not for everyone
Of course, not every Aston Martin connoisseur, who already has a detailed book on almost every model series on the shelf, will buy Schäfer's type compass. Although, sometimes you can find the information you need more quickly in a clearly laid out work than in a 300-page tome. And fans may also discover one or two gems among the many Aston Martin specialties.
However, the booklet is probably intended more for people who want to read up for the first time and don't want to laboriously gather all the information from Wikipedia and individual articles in magazines or on portals. From this point of view, EUR 12.00 is certainly a fair deal for a well-structured list.
Bibliographic information
- Title: Aston Martin - Series models since 1948 (Type Compass)
- Author: Michael Schäfer
- Language: German
- Publisher: Motorbuch Verlag
- Edition: 1st edition 2016 (September)
- Format: Softcover, 140mm x 205mm
- Size: 128 pages, 116 color pictures
- ISBN: 978-3-613-03905-6
- Price: EUR 12.00
- Buy/order: Online at amazon.de, at the publisher Motorbuch or at the relevant bookstore
