1959 Aston Martin DB2/ 4 MKIII Drop Head Coupe. 40, 574 genuine miles from new*
This DB 2/ 4 is presented in its original factory specification of sea green paintwork on its Tickford coach built body with beige Connolly interior and having covered 40, 574 genuine miles from new*.
The original factory build spec confirms the matching engine number: DBA1391 and chassis number: AM. 300/ 3/ 1849RHD, making this the penultimate production vehicle.
The build sheet further confirms the following as existing:
Gearbox: DBLCW/ 0/ 351
Rear Axle Ratio: 4. 09:1 (optional equipment)
Rear Axle No: C. 59/ 34
Body No: TC 189 (penultimate body produced for this model)
Brakes: Front discs and rear Alfin drums
Non-standard equipment: Overdrive 28/ 1464/ 000256
Continental Spares kit
Amber headlamp bulbs
The car was delivered delivery direct from the factory and registered to its first owner, one Mrs Bader of Stroud, on 25/ 09/ 1959. It was allocated registration mark XGW749, which it has retained for the entirety of its existence.
During Mrs Bader’s ownership the vehicle attended the Aston Martin factory on three occasions as follows.
September 1959 – Recorded mileage of 154.
October 1959 – First 500-mile service carried out. Mileage given as 1000.
Jan 1960 – First service undertaken and noted that the vehicle has been resprayed in Wedgwood Blue. Mileage given 1000.
Mrs Bader then sold the vehicle to renowned dealer Brooklands of Bond Street, who subsequently c. 1962 sold the DB2/ 4 to Lance Callingham of South Kensington.
Mr Callingham, the son of Lady Docker, then sold the car onto a British peer, one T. I Dale-Harris of West Kensington. Albeit the vehicle was registered to his country home in Banbury and it is noted that the family now reside in the Stroud area.
Whilst under the ownership of T. I Dale-Harris, the vehicle attended the factory, and the following works were undertaken:
- Removing faulty distributor cap, changing over leads to new cap & fitting cap to distributor.
- Remove rear brake drums & removing brake shoes from backplates. Cleaning & freeing out handbrake mechanism on rear wheel cylinders.
- Cleaning backplates & shoes, roughing up linings, cleaning out drums.
- Adjusting brakes.
- Mileage recorded at this point 38847.
Following this major service in December 1965, the car was purchased by Mr Westley of North Staffordshire. Mr Westley was the last owner to tax the vehicle for road use and indeed present is the last tax disc from 1967 issued in North Staffordshire. Following this the vehicle was put into hibernation by Mr Westley.
There is documented information that the engine of this vehicle was worked on by Andy Chapman in c. 1970 to replace the timing chain. Mr Chapman confirms that the vehicle had indeed been stored for some time but was presented as a super example. Mr Chapman at this time was undertaking work for Aston Distributors Limited before later going on to form Chapman Spooner LTD, an Aston Martin dealer. It should be noted that Mr Chapman’s career started off as an engineer and test driver for Aston Martin in the 1960’s, later becoming the factory’s service manager.
The DB2/ 4 was bequeathed to Mr Westley’s daughter, Miss Sarah Westley on 06/ 09/ 1992 and at this point there was mileage information provided to the DVLA of 40, 000.
Miss Westley continued to store the car untaxed until selling it to the current owner in November 2006, who added to a private collection.
When the current owner purchased, following the 39-year hibernation, the Aston was indicating 40, 068 miles at the point of sale.
Following the purchase in November 2006, the current owner embarked upon a fully documented recommissioning of the car considering its nearly four decades in hibernation.
The vast majority of works for the current owner were undertaken by Four Ashes Aston Martin Specialists. Work undertaken includes but is not limited to:
- Full bare metal re-spray returning the vehicle to the original factory specified Sea Green. It was noted that the original Tickford body presented corrosion free.
- Full engine strip and re-build following substantial storage.
- Full gearbox and drivetrain strip and re-build, including suspension, rear axle and brakes.
Works were finally completed in 2012 and the vehicle proudly retains all original parts bar except consumable parts. It is noted that during these works the mileage on the vehicle had increased by approx. 200miles which were covered as part of the testing and re-commissioning.
Following the completed work in 2012, the vehicle is presented in concours condition and now having covered a total distance of 40, 574 miles. The 306 miles covered in the last 10 years being for the purposes of keeping the vehicle in running order and the milage having been covered on dry, private estate roads as the vehicle remains untaxed since 1967.
Current DVLA records** indicate that only 2 of this particular example (not including this one) are currently registered as either taxed or SORN, making this variation of the Aston Martin DB2/ 4 MKIII extremely rare indeed.
It should be noted that albeit this Aston Martin DB2/ 4 has been cherished by a total of five owners across its 65 years of existence, it has only been registered with the DVLA as a two-owner vehicle.
The ownership history is broken down as follows:
1959 – 1962 Mrs Bader of Stroud
1962 – 1963(approx.) Lance Callingham of South Kensington
1963(approx.) – 1965 T. I Dale-Harris of West Kensington
1965 – 2006 Mr Westley and his daughter
2006 – Present, Current owner (within private collection)
In Summary:
This DB2/ 4 MKIII Drop Head Coupe is presented as an all-matching numbers example in original factory specification, indicating two registered keepers with the DVLA and following nearly six decades in dry storage and has been fully re-commissioned retaining all its original parts ready for the next custodian.
* Genuine mileage is the opinion of Quintessential cars, based on a review of the information provided and available with the vehicle.
** Information obtained from the DVLA database was correct at the time of writing this description. The data relates to vehicles registered with the DVLA between 1957-59 that were recorded as a Aston Martin DB2/ 4 MKIII RHD with a body style of convertible. This vehicle does not appear on the DVLA database due to its status of not being taxed for more than 56years, effectively making this vehicle dormant to the DVLA.
