Aston Martin for F1 in 2008....

[kipper]

Originally Posted by f1manoz

How come I have a bad feeling that this could end up like being that embarrassing Jaguar saga, when their name was completely embarrassed from for around five years in F1 from 2000 onwards.

I think the problem with having a glamorous team names (be it Ferrari, Jaguar, Aston Martin or whatever) is that it is easy to assume that the cars would automatically be of a high performance, where as a in F1 it is possible for a more glamorous entrant to be shown up by the likes of Renault or Honda who don't construct road cars of the same league and as such, the name is tarnished.

As for whether a Prodrive-Aston Martin F1 team falls into this trap, I am unsure. However, a tie up with Cosworth could be a step in the right direction. In addition the Aston Martin name being more conducive to attracting sponsors than Prodrive. So I would suggest that there is some potential to be reasonably successful.

[MRJUCY]

I wonder if any ex-Aston people are still working for Prodrive from when they bought Tickford a few years back.

[TwoSheds]

Now confirmed that a Dave Richards led UK based consortium (with Kuwati investors also involved) has bought Aston Martin for £479m ($924m).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6442101.stm

[icemachine]

From the BBC article

Mr Richards' consortium also said that earlier speculation that Prodrive may brand its cars Aston Martin when it enters Formula One racing next year was completely unfounded.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by icemachine

From the BBC article

Maybe he'll wait until they get a little nearer the front of the grid,then name the team Aston Martin.

[broadrun96]

i think he is looking alot more forward then just 08. the smart money says he is loking to dive into AM and sell-off all or a majority of Prodrive, prob to Dennis for the slots on the grid. esp going by how AM was sold and the immediate push of the Rapide to production. would be nice to see that green return to the grid though.