During the 1949 Le Mans 24 hour race, the first 4 cylinder car, UMC64, crashed heavily and the driver, Pierre Marechal sadly died the following day. The second car, UMC65 went on to finish 7th overall and third in class. The six-cylinder car, UMC66 was less successful and retired shortly into the race with water pump failure. A little later, at the Spa 24 hour race, 6 cylinder UMC66 finished 3rd overall and the 4 cylinder UMC65, 5th. Yet despite the strong performance from the 4 cylinder car, it was the last engine of that configuration fitted to an Aston Martin (until the Cygnet!). The six cylinder UMC66 went on to be the development car for the upcoming production DB2.

Since UMC66 is now resident in the USA, I was fortunate to see the very first six-cylinder Aston Martin in the paddock at Laguna Seca and at the Pebble Beach Concours in the Summer of 2007.

The forth DB2 prototype and second with the six cylinder engine is LML/49/4 which carries the number UMC272. UMC272 became David Brown’s personal car but was also driven by Lance Macklin in competitive events during 1950. It was photographed during the Kensington Palace, Aston Martin Centenary Celebration in 2013.