DB2/4 Drophead Coupe
DB2/4 Drophead Coupe

DB2/4 Drophead Coupe

(1953 - 1955)

In addition to the practical and sporting saloon, the DB2/4 was offered as this sophisticated convertible, the Drophead Coupe. Like the saloon version, the open car was also a four seater, although the occasional rear seats were quite rudimentary. Much of the car was actually built not in Feltham, but at the Newlands Works, the David Brown Tractor factory in Farsley, West Yorkshire; the coachwork was supplied by Mulliners in Birmingham.

DB2/4 Drophead Coupe

Initially, the DB2/4’s were first sold with the 2.6 litre VB6E/ engine in Vantage tune as first seen as an option on the DB2, which offered peak power of 125 bhp. From April 1954 until the end of DB2/4 production in October 1955, the 2.9 litre VB6J/ engine with 140 bhp as fitted as standard.

It is believed that 102 DB2/4 Drophead Coupes were built over two years with more than half in right hand drive for the British market. The left hand drive examples are highly desirable partly due to their rarity and the fact that most countries in the world drive on the right.

I’m often asked about the Aston Martin that was driven by Tippi Hedren in the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film, ‘The Birds’. Well, the AMHT Register tells us that it was a DB2/4 Drophead coupe, chassis number LML/944 that was loaned to Universal Studios in 1963 especially for the film. This famous car still exists and lives in a private collection in the USA.

The DB2/4 Drophead was replaced by the updated DB2/4 Mark II in 1955, the first open Aston Martin with coachwork by Tickfords in Newport Pagnell.