(1928 – LM1, LM2)

The first team cars (LM1 and LM2) competed in the 1928 Le Mans 24 hour race and although neither finished, the team was awarded a special prize for being the fastest 1½ litre cars at the start of the race.

(1929 – LM3)

Although the works did not enter Le Mans in 1929, another team car was constructed, LM3, to join LM2 to compete in UK events. This car was initially LM3 but was re-assembled in 1932 as a 2/4 seater with a new registration number and an overstamped chassis number.

(1930 – LM4)

The LM4 team car added for the 1930 season again for UK events. The car was photographed (see below) at the opening of ‘the Barn’, headquarters of the AMOC & AMHT in April 2002.

(1931 – LM5, LM6, LM7)

In 1931, the company had sufficient finance to fund the building of three new team cars, LM5, LM6 and LM7. As well as UK events, all three cars entered the Le Mans 24 hour. The LM5 was photographed (see below) during the Parade des Pilots at Le Mans in 1999 and again in the AMOC Horsfall race at Silverstone in 2000. This car sadly retired in the 1931 Le Mans race, although LM6 finished 5th overall and 1st in class.

Below is the LM7, photographed mostly during the 2006 AMOC Horsfall Race at Silverstone. When the works had finished with LM7 at the end of the 1931 season, it was purchased by Mortimer ‘Mort’ Morris-Goodall, the founder of the Aston Martin Owners Club.

Above is the famous 1929 International was initially owned by A.C. Bertelli but became the first Aston Martin owned and raced Morris ‘Mort’ Goodall, the founder of the AMOC. It features very rare and attractive 3 seater coachwork.

Other examples of 2/4 seater Internationals are in the gallery,  photographed at the 2001 AMOC Spring Concours at Waddesdon Manor.

The above car, S37 was probably built as a 2/4 seater but following a rebuild, it was spotted in 2020 with rather nice 2 seater coachwork. The car jointly won the Aston Martin prize at the 2020 Hampton Court Concours of Elegance.

The long chassis cars are more scarce since the enthusiasts of the day opted for the more sporting 2/4 seaters. In the gallery is an example of a tourer that participated in the 1999 Le Mans Parade des Pilots.

Following an extensive restoration, the car was first seen at the head of the St. Georges Day Aston Martin parade in April 2005. The coachwork is finished in the correct original colour of black and still has the polished waist level strip all along the bonnet, doors and above the rear wing.

I next saw the Headlam coupe at the 2007 AMOC gathering at RAF Cottesmore parked alongside the AMHT 2/4 seater Ulster. It also was shown on the 101 car timeline at the 2013 Centenary Event at Kensington Palace.

The photograph above shows the car in it’s original form with its proud owner at the wheel and partner in the passenger seat. But there was a problem – Jimmy used the car to travel up and down the country and it had no room for luggage – so during 1932, the car was converted to a 2/4 seater by Freestone and Webb. So to see this rare car in it’s original form is special indeed. I bought this picture late in 2002, but, perhaps foolishly, I swapped it for a 1959 Le Mans poster signed by Roy Salvadori.

The full story of this car was featured in the AMOC quarterly in the Summer of 1981 – perhaps by coincidence, a few pages back from the article was a news item about another celebrity comedian/actor AM owner, Rowan Atkinson, who had just taken delivery of his first new Aston Martin. Spooky or what.

I managed to catch up with this famous and important car in late 2003 as it’s being slowly restored whilst in the hands of an enthusiast in Lincolnshire, UK. The AMOC register records the car as having a Riley engine, although I’ m now please to inform you that it has now been reunited with a correct 1.5 litre Aston Martin unit. I’m no expert, but to my eyes, the car appears to be not to far from complete, and could well be back on the road without too much further effort. As can be seen, the car retains the unique Freestone and Webb 2/4 seater body tub which has already been restored.

The AM register lists no more than 8 International Le Mans, all but 2 are listed as 2 seaters. And this car pictured below, VN8435, is one of the only two 2/4 seaters listed (also known as four seater). I photographed it during the 2006 AMOC St John Horsfall race and also on the 101 car timeline for the Aston Martin Centenary in 2013.

This particular car has a very interesting history as it has been rescued from scrap yards three times in it’s life. The current attractive body, whilst not the original, is correct for the car. The engine is capable of delivering 38 bhp, enough for B&M to advertise its top speed as 72 mph. Sports models had an improved output of 45 bhp but in general, the side valve engine was not powerful enough to compete with more modern engines and Aston Martin went on to develop the 16 valve twin-cam.

Image provided with the kind assistance of the Aston Martin Heritage Trust

These early cars all had the same four cylinder 1486 cc side valve engine with what at the time would have been a heady power output of 38 bhp allowing for a top speed in the region of 77 mph. The price in 1923 with this 4 seater touring coachwork was £725, quite a considerable sum for such a car at the time.