Largest Aston Martin celebration has famous A3 car

A selection of pre-war cars were on show at the festival. Photos: Max Earey

The largest gathering of Aston Martin sports cars in history took place last weekend in the UK when the Aston Martin Heritage Trust held its highly-anticipated celebration event marking the centenary of the oldest surviving Aston Martin car, ‘A3’.

The Aston Martin Heritage Trust (AMHT) is a charitable organisation formed in 1998, dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and sharing the history of this iconic luxury British sports car brand. 

A total of 681 examples of the marque’s sports cars, including hugely rare and genuine one-off creations, made their way to the Dallas Burston Polo Club near Southam, Warwickshire, to honour a major milestone in the history of the great British carmaker.

There were plenty of Aston Martins at the festival.

Aside from ‘A3’ itself the displays included prized examples of almost every period of the brand’s proud 108-year history, from pre-war Aston Martin and Lagonda models through numerous Sir David Brown era cars right up to today’s exciting range of sports cars and the DBX SUV.

A V8 showcase covering the period 1968-2000 included Saloon, Volante, Vantage, Lagonda, and Virage while other rarities seen on the day included Aston Martin Tickford specials.

From the modern period both Victor and a Vulcan, graced the event, alongside the brand’s revolutionary hypercar – Valkyrie – while one-off specials such as the V8-engined Cygnet were also on show.

But it was ‘A3’ that many of those attending had travelled to see. Aston Martin chassis number 3, known as ‘A3’, is the jewel in the AMHT’s collection and is the oldest surviving Aston Martin.

The 'A3' (right) and the Vantage Roadster A3 centenary edition at the festival.

Built in 1921, this exceptional piece of iconic British automobilia was used by Lionel Martin, co-founder of Bamford & Martin Ltd, manufacturers of the first Aston Martin sports cars, for both personal and competitive use.  The car took several light-car records at Brooklands in 1921, including averaging 100 miles at 86.2 mph.

Today, ‘A3’ is a regular at AMHT events and toured the world as part of the Aston Martin centenary celebrations in 2013.

Commenting on the success of the event, and the record-breaking turnout of Aston Martin owners, AMHT Chairman Rob Smith said: “The centenary of ‘A3’ is a huge occasion for us at the AMHT and, of course, the Aston Martin brand, but even with that context we were stunned by quite how many owners made the journey to our event on Saturday.

“We are delighted that so many owners came to the festival to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of ‘A3’ the turnout and interest has been absolutely fantastic!”