Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/04/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Frank, Why don't you bring the group up to date? The miserable years, and then the takeover by FORD. I remember the Easter week of 1959 when I arranged the rental of a DB3 MkII (?) in the UK and driving it to Goodwood for the Grand Prix. on Easter Monday. Great machine that one! That was the week when I had hoped to beat the Lands End to JohnO'Groats record in that car! BTW, are you still with the Williams GP team? Jerry Frank Dernie wrote: > Aha! I can help here, David Brown was my first employer. His grandson > was also my flat-mate for a while in 1969. The Brown family are > industrialists based in Huddersfield in Yorkshire. The company was > started by David's (eventually Sir David) grandfather but it was he > who built it up the most as David Brown Gear Industries. This company > makes mainly specialist gears and gearboxes such as for tanks, > Frigates, Aircraft carriers plus stationary gears used in winding > gears for mines, steelmill roller transmissions and such like. They > made a range of commercial worm gear reduction units which were sold > in the USA through the Falk Gear Corporation in Milwaukee WI. I worked > there in my University vacation in summer 1970. > Sir David was car mad and bought Aston Martin, probably just post > WWII, The DB in the model number stands for David Brown and is still > used despite him having sold the company in the '70s. He ran it for > his own pleasure building sports prototypes for racing and winning Le > Mans, he never made any money from it. When asked by one of his > friends if he could buy an Aston Martin at cost price he famously said > that it was less than that from the dealer...... > David Brown had been involved as a subcontractor in the design of the > revolutionary Ferguson tractor but he and Harry Ferguson fell out, as > was often the case with these egotistical entrepreneurs and David > Brown started a successful agricultural tractor business not far from > the main Gear company. I applied for the student apprenticeship scheme > with them because I wanted a broad general engineering training, > theirs had the highest of reputations, and I wanted to design racing > cars. By the time I had graduated Sir David was retired with a wife 40 > years younger than him and the Company was doing badly under his son. > It got cut back more or less to the original Gear business, now I > believe run by Sir David's younger grandson and another of my old > friends from my apprenticeship. > Probably more information than you wanted! > Frank > > > On 5 Apr, 2007, at 17:21, David Rodgers wrote: > >> John, >> >> I've spotted this car parked around my neighborhood but I've yet to >> actually see or hear it run. >> >> I photographed the car straight on from the front and enlarged the >> medallion (the crop of which is just below the photo of the whole car). >> >> Something happened in processing, btw, and the entire roll of film and >> prints didn't turn out well. They're technically poor (thankfully Sonny >> improved them a bit). Shame on me. The subject matter here deserved >> better! >> >> In spite of everything, the medallion is very readable. The new 50/2.8 >> collapsible is quite a good lens. But I'm curious as to why the >> medallion reads "DAVID BROWN ASTON MARTIN"? >> >> Who is David Brown? >> >> DaveR >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: John Collier [mailto:jbcollier@shaw.ca] >> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 8:46 AM >> To: Leica Users Group >> Subject: Re: [Leica] IMG AstonMartin >> >> This is a good example of where a photo just doesn't do justice to >> the real thing. Aston Martin's sixes make one of the most glorious >> sounds possible. >> >> John Collier >> >> >> >> >>