AmD first came into existence in 1987 when the owner decided that his previous tuning business was in desperate need of a rolling road. Unable to accommodate a rolling road test cell at his premises (the workshop itself was not much bigger than our current rolling road test cell), new premises had to be found.

When the company moved in January 1987, the business name was changed to Automotive Developments to reflect the more 'hi-tech' nature of the business. Whilst still trading under this name to this day, the nickname 'AmD' has also been adopted. This was created by the customers and suppliers, who often shortened the name to 'AmD' for ease of use. This nickname stuck, and has since been adopted as the company logo.