The Company continued to produce exciting cars and by 1984 the helm was in the hands of Victor Gauntlet and Peter Livanos. These two rekindled the link with Zagato, who brought to life the V8 Zagato. The Lagonda V8 continued to keep their heads above water and they also gave support to a number of private racing teams, such as Nimrod, EMKA and others by supplying engines, re-engineered by a subsidiary, Tickford Ltd, to a racing specification. On the production front, they brought about the next push forward in 1988 with the introduction of the brand new Virage, powered by a new 5.3 litre, 32-valve V8. At the same time, the Company decided on a return to motor racing, which manifested itself in the V8 AMR1 series of Group C racers. However, money, or rather the lack of it, was still a worry and when in 1987, the Ford Motor Company took an interest in taking Aston Martin into their range, Gauntlet and Livanos recognised the wisdom of accepting their offer. With the might of Ford behind them, the V8 cars continued to increase in luxury and power and the AMR1 entered its first season of international racing. However, its continued appearance in 1990 was thwarted by some very doubtful rule changes at the end of 1989 and the team was reluctantly wound up. Nevertheless the cars have seen some success in historic races of the early years of the 21st century. It was becoming clear that there was a need for a model that would bring in a steady flow of cash from a new market; there just were not enough very wealthy buyers to go around! 1993 saw the establishment of Aston Martin (Oxford) Ltd, based at the TWR works at Bloxham near Banbury. It was from here that the answer would emanate in a years time. Included are road tests, new model reports & performance data. Models covered: Vantage, AM V8, Volante, Zagato, Virage, Nimrod, Lagonda & AMR.
