DB2/4 Team Rally Cars
DB2/4 Team Rally Cars

DB2/4 Team Rally Cars

(1955)

The DB2/4 was never campaigned on the race track by the Works team due to them having the pure racing DB3 and DB3S. But after privately owned DB2/4's had shown their worth in rallying, the Works Racing Department prepared three cars for the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally. These cars with the later 2.9 litre engine featured cylinder heads from the DB3S and thus had useful increase in power output to 170 bhp @ 5500 rpm.

DB2/4 Team Rally Cars

54DMF (LML/857) was driven by the young Peter Collins and Graham Whitehead and achieved 11th in class. 55DMF (LML/784) was driven by Maurice Gatsonides, the winning driver from the 1953, partnered by Marcel Becquart. Gatsonides would have almost certainly won had he not missed a secret checkpoint – they eventually came in 7th and 1st in class. 56DMF (LML/855) was driven by Reg Parnell, co-driven by Louis Klementaski and came 17th in class. As third and fourth places were won by privately entered DB2/4’s, Aston Martin were awarded the team prize.

Louis Klementaski was, at the time the official Aston Martin works photographer considered the greatest motor racing photographer of the time, if not ever. Maurice Gatsonides is also famous for another reason: he went on to develop the Gatso speed camera which, ironically has caught out many an over enthusiastic Aston Martin driver.

Later that year, the two entries for the Mille Miglia (#54 and #56) both dropped out due to clutch failure in the early stages.

55DMF was offered as a star lot at the Bonhams & Brookes/AML auction at the Newport Pagnell factory in May 2001.