Aston Martin's First Car Is Missing and the Company Wants It Back

Aston Martin has been building cars for over a hundred years at this point and company historians are hoping to bring home its oldest-born model, nicknamed the Coal Scuttle.

Built in 1914, the so-called Coal Scuttle is Aston's first production car, assembled by Bamford & Martin Ltd and retrospectively given the chassis code A1. The model was built primarily as an example of the kind of functional car-building the company could do and was kept in the company's hands for publicity until around 1924. It was then sold for about $65 (or about $2000 adjusting for 110 years of inflation) and has been missing in action ever since then.

Hence, the preservation-focused team at the Aston Martin Heritage Trust putting out a call for the piece of history to return home on social media.

"Ahead of the Aston Martin Heritage Festival on 31st August, we are calling for car enthusiasts worldwide to check their garages, outhouses, barns and stores for any potential traces of the missing car," a post on X reads.

Aston Martin was set on competing with Bugatti and its founders, Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, were quick to design and build their first chassis, but the onset of World War I put a damper on their plans as both were shipped off to battle. The car was officially registered on March 16, 1915, but wasn't properly utilized until after the war ended in 1918. Once it was up and running, however, A1 was entered into the London to Edinburgh trial, where it took the top spot in the hundreds of miles-long endurance race. It even raced at Brooklands in 1920 and took multiple road trips around the United Kingdom.

"We are very fortunate here at the AMHT to have the oldest known Aston Martin in existence, now known as A3, along with extensive records from the earliest days of the company and priceless artifacts from across the history of the brand, but, to date, Coal Scuttle has eluded us, " Aston Martin Heritage Trust Treasurer Garry Taylor said. "Now, we are appealing for car enthusiasts to help us find that very first car, or discover definitively what became of it."

"I am fascinated by this car and I have often wondered what might have happened to it. If it was eventually scrapped, did parts of it survive, such as the beautiful radiator housing? Being the first Aston Martin, the car lacked any external badges so, if the radiator was saved as a memento, is it hanging on a wall somewhere, unidentified?," said Aston Martin company Historian and AMHT Trustee Steve Waddingham.

If you have any information about A1's whereabouts or know someone who does, contact the Aston Martin Heritage Trust on its website.

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