Aston Martin DB1 - A Legend is Discovered

A few weeks ago commercial car photographer Tim Wallace spent some time with a very rare Aston Martin DB1 that had been discovered and brought back home to our client 'Aston'
This week saw media interest explode both within the UK and Internationally when the cars existence was made known.
02/03/2013
A few weeks ago commercial car photographer Tim Wallace spent some time with a very rare Aston Martin DB1 that had been discovered and brought back home to our client 'Aston'
This week saw media interest explode both within the UK and Internationally when the cars existence was made known.

It may look like a rusty wreck, but this ultra-rare Aston Martin will still set you back a pretty penny - and will cost a further £250,000 to restore to its former glory.
For the 1949 Aston Martin Two-Litre Sports was just the fourth car built by the iconic British car company after it was bought by David Brown.
The much-coveted car, which retrospectively became known as the DB1, is one of just 15 ever made and nine still in existence. But it is in need of some tender loving care from a car enthusiast with plenty of spare cash to spend after three decades of decay.
Aston has the motor on the market for £99,950 in the hope that someone will snap it up with the intention of restoring it. Whoever takes on the project could end up making a tidy profit in the end however, with mint condition DB1s usually shifting for more than £400,000, with prices of classic Aston Martins rising in the current market.



Clive Dickinson, general manager for Aston, said: 'The chassis is good and it is a complete car but it is need of a serious restoration.
'The body looks quite bad but we don't think it will need to be replaced and it still has its original chassis and engine which is important.
'Any rare Aston Martin such as this model is desirable and values are really going up at the moment.'About 90 per cent of all Aston Martins ever built still exist but we think there are just eight or nine of the 15 Two-Litres left and only two others we know about in the UK.



'The past ten years has seen some prices appreciate by more than 600 per cent. The Aston is a really pretty car and it will look fantastic when restored.

'The car will probably cost around £250,000 to restore and take between a year and 18 months.'
David Brown took over the Aston Martin in 1947 with the Two-Litre Sports model the first car built under his management.
It later became known as the DB1 with Brown's DB initials continuing to live on in the current Aston Martin range, with the firm currently building the DB9.
As the original name suggests, the car is powered by a 2-litre engine which developed a modest 90bhp when it was new - giving the Aston a top speed of a mere 93mph.
This is less than half the top speed a current Aston Martin is capable of but its impressive 24mpg makes it greener than all of the current range barring the Toyota-based Cygnet.
The car's brochure states: 'The discriminating motorist will find every virtue he is likely to look for - beauty of styling, superb comfort, speed with safety and power to spare.'
It adds: 'You will certainly be proud to own one; you could even be excused for boasting about it.'
David Brown is understood to have opted against larger scale production of the car because he was underwhelmed by its performance, focusing the firm's resources onto the more powerful DB2.
This particular model was the fourth 'DB1' to leave the firm's factory in Feltham, Middlesex and was delivered to Cyril Williams (Motors) Ltd in 1949 in its original livery of Alpine Blue with Grey Hide.
The car was then chosen to represent Aston Martin at the Motor Show of that year where it was sold to another dealer, Brooklands Motors.

A 'continuation' log book from 1963 shows it was moved to Scotland that year where it remained until Aston Workshop recently bought it.
For the past 41 years it has had just one owner and has been kept off the road since 1983.
Aston Workshop is calling the classic sports car one of the world's most exciting Aston Martin restoration projects.
Mr Dickinson added: 'The DB1 was the last Aston Martin to have a four-cylinder engine with David Brown fitting the DB2 with a more powerful six-cylinder.
'It was capable of nearly 100mph when it was new so it was quite respectable at the time but this wasn't fast enough for David Brown.'

Daily Mail
Read the article in full from this publication featuring the DB1 here

The Times
Read the article in full from this publication featuring the DB1 here

The Scotsman
Read the article in full from this publication featuring the DB1 here