Aston Martin DB2
Encyclopedia
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
sold by Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
from May 1950 through to April 1953. It was a major advancement over the 2-Litre Sports
Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports
The Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports was a sports car sold by Aston Martin from 1948 to 1950. It was the first product of the company under new owner, David Brown, and is retrospectively known as the DB1. The car debuted at the 1948 London Motor Show and was based on the "Atom" prototype. Just 15 were...
model it replaced, with a dual overhead cam straight-6
Straight-6
The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...
in place of the previously-used pushrod straight-4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
. The car featured a 2.6 L engine, and was designed as a closed coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
(described as a sports-saloon by Aston Martin). A later drophead coupé model was also introduced, accounting for ¼ of the model's total sales. The DB2 was extremely successful in racing, setting David Brown
David Brown (entrepreneur)
Sir David Brown was an English entrepreneur, managing director of his family firm David Brown Limited and one time owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft and automobile manufacturer Aston Martin....
's company up for future success.
Development
The prototype for the DB2 appeared as one of three Aston Martins at the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans1949 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 17th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 25 and 26 1949.This was the first race held following the end of World War II...
. The car was based on Claude Hill's tube-frame chassis, created for the 2-Litre Sports "DB1"
Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports
The Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports was a sports car sold by Aston Martin from 1948 to 1950. It was the first product of the company under new owner, David Brown, and is retrospectively known as the DB1. The car debuted at the 1948 London Motor Show and was based on the "Atom" prototype. Just 15 were...
, with a closed coupé body design by Frank Feeley.
The straight-6 engine was derived from Lagonda
Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car marque, founded as a company in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex by a former opera singer from Ohio, but of Scottish ancestry, named Wilbur Gunn . He named the company after a river near the town of his birth, Springfield, Ohio, United States...
, which Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
owner, David Brown
David Brown (entrepreneur)
Sir David Brown was an English entrepreneur, managing director of his family firm David Brown Limited and one time owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft and automobile manufacturer Aston Martin....
, purchased for this reason. This engine was designed by W. O. Bentley
W. O. Bentley
Walter Owen Bentley, MBE engineer; designer of aero engines, designer and racer of motor cars, founder of Bentley Motors Limited in Cricklewood near London.He was known as "W.O." without any need to add the word Bentley....
, namesake of the Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
motorcar company, and engineer William (Willie) Watson also of the pre-war Invicta
Invicta
Invicta may refer to:*Invicta , a British make of car*Invicta , an Italian outdoor equipment manufacturer*Invicta , an early steam locomotive*Invicta , motto of the county of Kent, England...
, collaborating designer of the pre-war V12 Lagonda & designer of the short-lived post-war V12.
The production DB2 debuted at the New York Auto Show in April 1950. Although demand was high, the second, third, and fourth DB2 models to be produced competed at Le Mans in 1950. They achieved first and second in class that year; all three continued competing through 1951. The 21st example was raced by American sportsman Briggs Cunningham
Briggs Cunningham
Briggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman, who raced automobiles and yachts. Born into a wealthy family, he became a racing car constructor, driver, and team owner as well as a sports car manufacturer and automobile collector.He skippered the victorious yacht Columbia...
in the first Sebring race, December 1950 attaining second in class. Success brought fame to David Brown's resurgent company, convincing the company to begin a series of purpose-built racing models, starting with the DB3
Aston Martin DB3
The Aston Martin DB3 and later DB3S were racing cars built in the 1950s. Although they used some DB2 parts, they were quite different, being designed especially for racing...
.
Production
In total 411 DB2s were produced from their 1950 introduction through 1953. The first 49 cars used a square three-part grille in front with large rectangular side vents. This was soon updated with the more familiar integrated, rounded Aston Martin grille with horizontal slats. The three racing models were similarly upgraded establishing the company's new face. Among these 49 cars: two "Vantage spec" models. The first Vantage was LML 50/21 delivered in 1950 to racing driver Briggs Cunningham.The car was a fixed-head coupé (FHC) with a tiny top-hinged boot in back containing a spare wheel. Luggage space was behind the front seats, accessed somewhat inconveniently from inside the car. A large single-piece bonnet was hinged at the front.
Later in 1950, a Drophead Coupé (DHC) variant was introduced. At least 102 were built.
In January, 1951, an optional engine with larger carburettors, inlet camshaft the same as the exhaust (increased duration) & higher compression ratio pistons (8.16:1) was available as Aston Martin's first Vantage
Aston Martin Vantage
Aston Martin has used the Vantage name on a number of vehicles, normally indicating a high-performance version of another model. In one case, during 1972–1973, the Vantage was a distinct model, being a straight-6 powered version of the DBS, a car that had been launched as a straight-6 but was by...
upgrade. This was a power-only upgrade, with 125 hp (93 kW) available. Many cars went back to Aston Martin to have later 3 ltr engines fitted, many more have been converted since.
The name "Vantage" was chosen after leafing through a thesaurus looking for suitable tags for higher performance variants of the then current model. In the same tradition were later the names Volante for a convertible and Virage for a model in the 90s created.
Performance
A saloon tested by the British magazine The MotorThe Motor (magazine)
The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....
in 1950 had a top speed of 116.4 mph (187.3 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 11.2 seconds. A fuel consumption of 20 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1914 including taxes.
External links
- An original sales broshure for the Aston Martin DB2 Aston.co.uk
- A second sales broshure for the Aston Martin DB2 Aston.co.uk
- Sales literature for the Aston Martin DB2 race specification car Aston.co.uk
- Aston Martin Scrapbook on Washboards Astonunts.free.fr