Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark I Arrival

This rare classic has just come into our workshop with an interesting history. This is the background supplied by Bonhams;

EX-PHILIPPE BLÉSIN
1955 ASTON MARTIN DB2/4 ‘MARK I’ 2.6-LITRE SPORTS SALOON
COACHWORK BY MULLINERS OF BIRMINGHAM
CHASSIS NO. LML/678
ENGINE NO. VB6E/50/1407

“The Aston Martin DB2/4 is an expensive car designed to cater for the connoisseur of sports cars who is not limited by financial considerations.” – Autocar, 2nd October 1953.

With the introduction of the ‘2+2’ DB2/4 in October 1953, Aston Martin extended the DB2’s appeal to the hitherto untapped yet increasingly important market comprised of ‘sports car enthusiasts with a family’. Modifications to the rear of the chassis plus a reduction in fuel tank capacity from 19 to 17 gallons liberated sufficient space within the existing design for two child-sized occasional rear seats. Alternatively, the rear seat backs could be folded down, thus creating a load-carrying platform that more than doubled the luggage space. The latter could be accessed via the 2/4’s opening rear door, a pioneering example of the now commonplace ‘hatchback’ concept.

“This transformation gives the Aston Martin DB2/4 an unrivalled luggage-carrying capacity in a car which should be capable in favourable circumstances of achieving two miles a minute,” reported The Motor. “The DB2/4 can truthfully claim to be the fastest car in the world capable of carrying two people with a month’s luggage.”

Standard specification included the 2.6-litre VB6E engine in 125bhp Vantage tune, while from early in 1954 the 3.0-litre 140bhp VB6J engine became available.

This right-hand drive DB2/4 was supplied new to Aston Martin’s Belgian importer Mannes and sold to a company in Brussels, where it was first registered on 7th July 1955. Interestingly, ‘LML/678’ has two external locking handles for the rear hatch; these were not a feature of the standard arrangement, the hatch being released by pulling a lever behind the driver’s seat.

A matching-numbers example, the car is believed to have had one owner up to June 1985 when it passed to Marcelle Autier of La Louvière and was reregistered (document on file). The accompanying (copy) guarantee form records three services, the last one in 1956 at 15,311 kilometres.

The Aston remains highly original apart from a colour change from Moonbeam Grey to the present light green, and an interior re-trim, alterations believed to have been carried out in 1985 with the change of owner. In 2007 the DB2/4 was bought by the well-known Aston Martin collector Philippe Blésin, who sold it to the current owner without having registered it in his name, resulting in this DB2/4 having had only 2 registered owners from new.

Unmolested and in well-preserved ‘barn find’ condition, ‘LML/678’ represents an excellent basis for a complete restoration or could well be used as a daily driver following a mechanical re-commissioning (the car is in running condition). Presumably dating from the 1980s, the lovely dark green interior appears in very good condition and has a lovely patina. The odometer reading of 75,770 kilometres is believed genuine.

A wonderful opportunity to acquire a highly original, matching-numbers example of this landmark Aston Martin model.