Aston Martin, one of the most evocative marques in motoring, is looking forward to a bright new future.

The DBZ Zagato line-up at the Aston Martin factory at Wykham Mill at Bloxham

With a major new model, state of the art premises and a customer list that reads like a who's who of sport and showbusiness, times have never been better.

And Oxfordshire can proudly stand up and say it has been instrumental in the development of this company and its proud heritage. It was ten years ago that the firm bought the Wykham Mill premises at Bloxham to build its new model, the DB7, backed by £65m from new owners Ford.

That investment was sorely needed -- the previous year Aston Martin production had dwindled to just 43 cars thanks to the crippling effects of the recession.

But last year, that total had risen to 1,550 cars, many of them DB7s, and although the last standard production car rolled off the line at Bloxham at the end of 2003, this was the car that ensured the proud heritage of the British company is thriving.

The Bloxham plant will close within a month and many staff are already installed at the new state of the art facility at Gaydon in Warwickshire. The first of the new DB9 series, a car that has generated rave reviews from the motoring press, comes off the line this week.

The finishing touches are being put to the last cars at the plant -- a DB7 Zagato and a DB AR1, a coupe designed for the American market. Only 99 of each are being built making them real collectors pieces. All of them have already been sold to discerning drivers from across Europe and America who have £160,000 to spend on a car.

Wykham Mill is unlike any other car plant, having been cobbled together from a collection of farm buildings to provide the production line, offices and the all-important customer reception centre.

Aston Martin customers pay a lot for their cars but they are treated with huge respect and are highly influential in how their own individual vehicle looks.

Each one is invited to the plant, given a tour and they can see their car being built. They are asked what specification they would like and to name a colour -- it can be any one they like, even Ferrari red if they want it.

But Aston Martin Racing Green (lighter than traditional British Racing Green) is still a popular choice.

Manufacturing manager Arthur Sinclair said: "The cars we build are non-standard. If we can adapt them we do it as all of them are individually built."

Unlike modern manufacturing methods where cars are finished in a matter of minutes, each Aston Martin takes 35 hours to paint, 18 of those taken up by hand polishing alone.

Mr Sinclair, 57, from Kirtlington, has overseen the DB7 story since the beginning at Bloxham and has the utmost respect for an old friend, while looking forward to the DB9 as a the most ambitious Aston ever produced.

He said: "The DB7 has been hugely successful over the last ten years but the DB9 brings the company into a totally new era.

"It is a technological flagship, the most highly developed and engineered car we have built."

Wide use of lightweight aluminium has been introduced while the car is bonded together rather than welded, using aircraft technology.

But at the same time the car still retains the look and feel of an Aston Martin -- it is very much the latest generation of a family and heritage is important in this dynasty.

Mr Sinclair added: "Heritage is something Aston Martin can build on. We are very aware of the past."

In fact the company is to revive its past sporting glories as it is re-entering the world of GT racing although there is a long way to go to match the cars of 1959 which won Le Mans and the World Sports Car Championship.

The family feel stretches to the workforce. Some have spent 40 years working with the company and there are fathers and sons working side by side on the production line.

That will continue at Gaydon and no doubt current Aston owners including footballers David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand and Hollywood actress Jennifer Lopez will be casting a keen eye over the DB9.

As for Mr Sinclair, who, like many of the workforce will continue to live in the county, coming to work will continue to be a pleasure in itself.

He said: "People ask me where I work and when I tell them, they say 'You are so lucky.' I have to keep bringing myself down to earth."