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.

The roofline of the DB2/4 was raised so as to provide extra headroom for rear seat passengers. Also the front windscreen became a single piece full width curved affair. 50 years after it was first seen, the hatchback returned to the Aston Martin range on the AMV8 Vantage concept and into production with the Gaydon built V8 Vantage.

As well as the useful hatchback, the DB2/4 can be distinguished from the earlier car by more substantial bumpers with over-riders. That said, its quite common to see DB2/4’s modified for the track without bumpers fitted.  Also the headlamps were repositioned slightly higher than on early DB2’s as demanded by new safety regulations.

Initially the DB2/4 had, as standard, the 2.6 litre engine (2580 cc, VB6E/) in Vantage tune producing 125 bhp previously an option on the outgoing DB2. Then from mid 1954, an enlarged 2.9 litre (2922 cc, VB6/J) engine was introduced giving a much improved 140 bhp. Once fitted with the larger capacity engine, the 2.9 litre DB2/4 was capable of a genuine 120mph top speed.

While the DB2/4 is regarded as a Feltham car, they were actually built in many different places. The rolling chassis, engines and other parts were made in the David Brown Industries factories at Meltham Mill near Huddersfield and the nearby tractor engine factory at Farsley, both in the county of Yorkshire. David Brown was a Yorkshireman himself of course. The coachwork was assembled by Mulliners of Birmingham from panels made by such people as Airflow Streamline in Northampton. Then the cars eventually arrived at Feltham for final finishing.  However, by 1955 the cars were assembled almost entirely at Farsley in West Yorkshire.  Fully trimmed bodies from coach builders, Mulliners were fitted to the rolling chassis and finished on a production line alongside the David Brown tractors.

How to identify a DB2/4 saloon

The car below is a bit of a mystery. At some time during the 1960’s it has had its bonnet professionally replaced in the style of the later works DB3S.

In total, 451 DB2/4 saloons were built before the model was replaced by the DB2/4 Mark II, late in 1955.