Coachwork Mulliners - Birmingham
Chassis n° LML/805
Zoute Sale - Bonhams
Estimated : € 300.000 - 350.000
Sold for € 322.000
Zoute Grand Prix 2024
Knokke - Zoute
België - Belgium
October 2024
"The Aston Martin DB2/4 is an expensive car designed to cater for the connoisseur of sports cars who is not limited by financial considerations." - Autocar, 2nd October 1953.
With the introduction of the '2+2' DB2/4 in October 1953, Aston Martin extended the DB2's appeal to the hitherto untapped yet increasingly important market comprised of 'sports car enthusiasts with a family'. Modifications to the rear of the chassis plus a reduction in fuel tank capacity from 19 to 17 gallons liberated sufficient space within the existing design for two child-sized occasional rear seats. Alternatively, the rear seat backs could be folded down, thus creating a load-carrying platform that more than doubled the luggage space. The latter could be accessed via the 2/4's opening rear door, a pioneering example of the now commonplace 'hatchback' concept.
"This transformation gives the Aston Martin DB2/4 an unrivalled luggage-carrying capacity in a car which should be capable in favourable circumstances of achieving two miles a minute," reported The Motor. "The DB2/4 can truthfully claim to be the fastest car in the world capable of carrying two people with a month's luggage."
Standard specification included the 2.6-litre 'VB6E' engine in 125bhp Vantage tune, but from early in 1954 the 3.0-litre 140bhp 'VB6J' engine was installed. Equipped with latter, the DB2/4 was one of the fastest cars then built in Great Britain - with 100mph achievable in third gear and around 120mph maximum - possessing impeccable handling plus a level of comfort rare in any high-performance car.
Aston Martins have appeared in countless movies over the years, - most notably the 'James Bond' franchise, featuring in 13 films - and fans of Alfred Hitchcock will no doubt remember the DB2/4 DHC from its prominent role in The Birds (1963) in which 'LML/944' was driven by co-star Tippi Hedren.
According to the AMOC Register, at least 102 drophead coupés were constructed on the DB2/4 chassis: 56 for the home market and 46 for export, with a further 12 supplied in rolling chassis form for bodying by independent coachbuilders.
The example offered here, left-hand drive chassis number 'LML/805', was delivered new to Ets Remy Mannes in Brussels, Belgium, finished in Moonbeam Grey with red interior and matching hood. The car was first registered on 11th February 1955 and the various archives accompanying the car allow us to trace different owners : Louis Gillet de Busschere, Donstiennes, Belgium (1959); Dr M Merchez, surgeon and lecturer at the University of Louvain (1984-1990); The father of the current owner had it for a few months in 1990 (twenty years before they spotted their old car in a motorsport magazine and bought it back) ; Mr Guy Marx, France (1990); Mrs Claude Spies, Paris, France (2002-2011).
The build sheet that comes with the car indicates that in 1956, a few months after it left the factory, the engine underwent a complete overhaul, including the installation of a new cylinder block, among other changes or cleaning of parts. These significant works, carried out at the factory and detailed precisely in the available document, likely explain the subsequent addition of the 'L' to the original stamped engine number.
The Aston has just emerged from a 10-year restoration to original specification and comes with an important file of pictures recording the process: disassembly; body stripping; chrome parts; hood and trim, etc.
Accompanying the car are several documents, including the original logbook for the period 1959 to 1964; a photocopy of the Aston Martin build sheet; British Motor Industry Heritage Trust copy of factory records; photocopies of 1990 purchase invoice by Maraston, of 1990 purchase invoice by Mr Guy Marx; photocopies of the 1984 and 2002 registration documents; 2023/2024 invoices.
