DB2 1950 Team Cars
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DB2 1950 Team Cars

DB2 1950 Team Cars

(1950)

Aston Martin chairman, David Brown must have been sufficiently encouraged by the performance of his embryonic racing team in 1949, that he recruited John Wyer as team manager in March 1950 shortly before the DB2 was first shown to the public. Despite the immense demand for cars, the very next three cars off the production line following the show car were diverted to the racing department for swift conversion for competition. Without any significant testing, the team of three cars were dispatched to Le Mans for the 1950 runing of the famous 24 hour race.

DB2 1950 Team Cars

VMF64 (LML/50/8 – not pictured) in the hands of George Abecassis and Lance Macklin was 5th overall and 1st in class and also 1st in Index of Performance. VMF63 (LML/50/7) driven by Reg Parnell and Charles Brackenbury was 2nd in class and 6th overall. Unfortunately VMF65 (LML/50/9) crashed on way to the race and sadly didn’t compete.

All three cars were further raced by the Factory Works team throughout 1950 at Silverstone, Dundrod (Ulster TT) and Shelsey Walsh. VMF64 continued to compete by the factory in 1951 with a fantastic 3rd overall at Le Mans (and again 1st in class) and also in the Alpine Rally. In 1952, it also competed on the Mille Miglia (12th overall, 1st in class) and again on the Alpine Rally in where it came in 15th.

All three 1950 Works cars initially had the 3 part grille common to all the early DB2’s; from 1951 they subsequently received the revised horizontal bar type that they still have today.