The luxury car market tends to be particularly volatile, and Aston Martin went bankrupt and passed through several owners between its founding and the end of World War II. However, in 1947, a successful tractor manufacturer named David Brown bought the company for 20,500 pounds, a steal even back then. His 25-year ownership of the company would soon turn out to be one of the best and most profitable periods in Aston Martin’s history. The DB series uses his initials for their names, and in 1968 his success earned him a knighthood.

Financial troubles or not, a company has to do a lot of things successfully to stick around for over a century. Aston Martin is one of the most famous names in automobiles today not just because it produces fast cars or because it managed to get its cars into James Bond films, it’s famous because its cars are well made and come with the kinds of features that luxury car owners are looking for.