The outcome of the work was a delightful  coupe which was subsequently used in the press photographs to launch the production DB2/4 Mark II FHC. The ‘lift the dot’ fasteners for the tonneau, fitted when the car was built as a drophead, can still be seen on the chrome strip running along the top of the doors.

This particular car was the only fixed head coupe built by Mulliners in Birmingham, the Mark II and Mark III versions were bodied by the coach builders Tickfords in Newport Pagnell.

In May 2014, the car was offered for sale by Bonhams at the annual Aston Martin sale at Newport Pagnell.

In many publications the car is described as having a fibreglass body but I am assured that has aluminium coachwork. The car was exhibited at the 1956 Turin Motor Show and then disappeared from view. Yet the car survived in the USA although in very poor condition and is missing most of the mechanical components.

From 2003, the car underwent a total restoration which was completed in 2011. The car debuted at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegence and took second place in the post-war touring class. After success in other US concours, the car was sold in the ‘Art of the Automobile’ auction November 2013 in New York by RM auctions where the car achieved a sale price of $2,310,000.

Below you will find some rare images found by ‘Supersonic expert’, Erik Nielsen, and show the pristine car in 1956 and again at sometime in the early 1970’s, still in the US, but less well cared for. When first displayed at the Turin Motor Show, the car was originally finished in pale green with beige leather upholstery. The remaining images by Michael Furman are used with the kind permission of RM Auctions.

The standard 3 litre (2922cc, twin SU carbs) engine fitted to the Mark III was designated as the DBA version and produced 162 bhp @5500 rpm although with the fitting of optional twin exhausts, this could be raised to possibly 178 bhp. A special series engine using three twin choke Webers, twin exhausts and special camshafts, called the DBB version was able to produce 195 bhp. Just to add more choice, a DBD version was also available with three SU carbs and producing 180 bhp.

This (below images) was the first production DB Mark III and was owned by David Brown himself. This particular car and the first examples of the DB Mark III have the rear wings and lights as seen on the Mark II. Most cars had a different design of rear wings which was altered to take the Humber Hawk rear light cluster, a feature which carried through to the first three series of the DB4.

Without doubt, the DB Mark III is the best looking car of the DB2 line. The style of the sculptured single piece bonnet can be followed through to the AM V8.

Production of the Mark III lasted just a shade over two years and actually overlapped the DB4 by seven months. Production of all variants during this time was 551 cars. This example was photographed at the 40th Anniversary meeting at Donnington Park in 1999.

You would not be surprised to find out that the Mark III was the heaviest of the Feltham Cars and indeed it is by about 160kg. But as it is also the most powerful of the line, the extra weight is more than cancelled out and thus the Mark III is a popular racecar. But during the mid to late 1950’s AML were using the DBR1 in sportscar racing; the Mark III was never raced by the factory. This car was photographed in the paddock and on the track at the 1997 and 1998 AMOC race meetings at Donnington Park.

If you are interested in the Mark III, you will very much enjoy this video featuring the prototype car , DP193

Touring received a total of three rolling chassis in 1956 and created what they anticipated to be a sales sensation. After being displayed at the Turin Motor Show, the Paris Salon and London Motor Show, Touring were expecting orders which sadly (and unexpectedly) were not forthcoming.

The first example (AM300/1161), was offered in a Daily Mail newspaper caption competition. The lucky winner, a Scot, called Alexander Smith soon sold the car as I believe, he couldn’t drive. This car remains in the UK in a private collection but is occasionally seen at historic events. The second car, (AM300/1162), was shown at the 1956 Paris Motor Show and eventually ended up in the US. Following restoration and exhibition at many prestigious concours, the car is now on public display in a motor museum in South Africa. 

As for the  final car, (AM300/1163), I have had the opportunity to photograph twice now. Firstly I saw the car back in the 1990’s at a Silverstone Coys Classic weekend when it was being offererd for sale by Talacrest, a dealer more closely associated with classic Ferraris. Almost 20 years later in August 2013, I very fortunate to be able to see and photograph this beautiful car again during ‘The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering’ in Carmel, California.

Although the Spyder generated no additional sales, the association between Touring and Aston Martin had begun.  Touring went on to style the highly successful 1958 DB4, also using the Superleggera method of construction. It is easily possible to see many styling cues on the Sypder that were carried through to the early DB4 such as the pronounced headlights, grille, bumpers and vertical tail lights.

During the two year production run of the Mark III, 551 examples of all derivatives were built, yet only 84 were dropheads. A majority of these drop heads were built with the standard fit 3 litre DBA engine with twin SU carburettors offering 162 bhp. Fourteen cars had the more powerful DBD triple SU carburettor unit with 180 bhp, and just two had the most powerful DBB special series engine (195bhp) with triple Webers instead of the SU’s. Thus, the DB Mark III drophead coupes with either the DBD or DBB engines are amongst the most desirable of the Feltham era cars.

Of course, not all Aston Martins are quite so shiny. Occasionally they are found rotting away in barns and lock-ups. The Drophead coupe (above) attracted great attention from bidders at the 2014 Bonhams Aston Martin auction.

How to identify the Mark III drop head coupe

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.

The silver over blue car was often seen at British AMOC meetings, whereas the Peony Red example, which looks very original, I have only seen twice,  once in 2000 at the AMOC Spring Concorse and once at Silverstone in 2013.

I think this is my favourite Feltham Aston Martin model

The earliest cars (the first 49) feature a three part grille similar to that of the DB1, a large rectangular side vent behind each front wheel and bright trim along the side beneath the door. These triple grille cars are occasionally known as ‘washboards’ on account of the distinctive side vents. An excellent photographic resource on the ‘Washboard’ cars can be found on the Astonuts website.

From the 50th car, the side vent was deleted and three part grille was replaced by a simpler arraignment of horizontal bars, a design which lasted in production through to the DB2/4 Mark 2 in 1957. The rear ‘boot’ lid is really for entry to the spare wheel. Since the DB2 is strictly a two seater, there’s plenty of space for luggage behind the seats. Some cars pictured show front indicators which were not available from the factory when the car was new.

This (pictured above) DB2 was privately entered at Le Mans, finishing well in both 1951 and 1952. And the car is still racing today as I pictured this in the paddock at Donnington Park at the AMOC race meeting in 1997 and racing in 1999.

Low weight together with a six-cylinder, twin overhead cam engine of 2,580 cc initially producing 105 bhp, made the DB2 a very quick car for the time. Motor tested the DB2 to a maximum of 110 mph, with a 0-60 time of 12.4 seconds.  The compression ratio appears especially low at 6.5 to 1 but this was necessary as at the time due to the low octane post-war pool petrol.

From January 1951, an optional 125bhp Vantage VB6E/ engine with bigger carburettors and a 8.2 to 1 compression ratio made the DB2 even quicker. At this time, the ‘Vantage’ option represented a more powerful engine but no other performance or styling modifications. Access to the engine is easy once the massive and heavy front hinged single piece bonnet is lifted. Front hinged bonnets are a bit of an Aston Martin feature including almost all DB4, 5, and 6 cars, AMV8, Virage and now the DB11.

This (pictured above) famous car belongs to long time Aston Martin owner Tom May. On his 79th birthday in 1995 (his 80th year), Tom drove his DB2 around the banked circuit at Millbrook at an average speed of 80mph for 80 minutes. This remarkable record is thus just known as the 80-80-80. At one time the DB2 and driver reached 114 mph with a lap at an average of 108.5mph.

During a production run of three years a total of 411 DB2’s were built including 102 examples of an attractive drophead coupe. It was replaced by the 2+2 DB2/4 complete with the 2.6 litre VB6E/ ‘Vantage’ engine as standard in 1953.

DP114/2 otherwise became known as the Walls Ice Cream Van because of it’s original white and blue colour scheme. The car was sidelined in 1957 after a decision to base the Mark III replacement on the Touring designed DB4 and David Brown purchased the car from his company to be used by his wife as her personal transport until 1962.

Eventually, the car was bought back by Aston Martin in 1989 and was entrusted to Works Service so that it could be rebuilt to become a showpiece for the department. These photographs were taken on the AML Works Service stand ay the Coys festival in 1995 and outside the factory offices on’ Sunnyside’ during the Brookes/AML auction in 2001.

This is an example of the drophead coupe version of the DB2. It features the revised version of the grill featuring horizontal bars. At least 102 examples were produced (5 were sold chassis only and bodied elsewhere such as Graber in Switzerland) before being replaced by the DB2/4.

This wonderful example of a DB2 DHC, below, was the second production car, delivered in 1950 to Prince Bertil of Sweden. He kept it for 12 years for his use whilst in the UK and on the continent. It was also fitted with a Vantage tuned VB6E/ engine, the first DHC thus equipped. One unique feature of this car is the combination of earlier DB2 side vents with the later one-piece grille. I’m not so keen on the white wall types and chrome over-riders though.

The car was put on sale as one of the star lots in the 2004 AM/Bonham’s sale. And despite being finished in the correct Jubilee Blue and being presented in immaculate condition, the Prince’s Aston Martin sadly remained unsold. It is now being converted back to the correct three piece grille front by the current owner.