Astons with a difference
From the unique to the downright strange, Aston Martin has built some very unusual cars in its time.
Here’s a rundown of some of the more left-field Astons created for the road, racing and, well, just for sheer audacity.
The cars are listed in chronological order. Enjoy!
1. Razor Blade (1923)
Built with the sole purpose of taking the one-hour light car record, Aston Martin worked with the De Havilland Aircraft Company to come up with the narrowest possible body for the best aerodynamics.
Nicknamed Razor Blade for how slim the car was, it originally had a hinged canopy over the cockpit to further help it slip through the air.
With a 1500cc former Grand Prix engine powering it, Razor Blade didn’t win the one-hour record, but it did take several class records.
It was also the fastest car to ascend Brooklands’ Test Hill in 1923, and Razor Blade is also thought to be the inspiration for the badge of the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
2. Aston Martin 2-Litre Brooklands (1939)
This single-seater Aston Martin was a curious what-might-have-been model.
Developed in a bid to win the Outer Circuit record at Brooklands, it used an innovative rotary-valve cylinder head, but it didn’t give the 2.0-litre engine any more power than the usual overhead-valve design.
It was also used on the road by Aston’s Claude Sutherland and Charles Brackenbury as an engineering test bed.
When the Second World War intervened, development of this model ceased and the car was sold off post-war, when it was fitted with a two-seat body. Andy Bell then restored the car, but retained a slimline two-seat body.
3. Atom (1940)
Finished in 1940, Aston Martin’s Atom saloon was its idea of how a four-door sports car should be.
It used a method of integral body and chassis building to make it light and strong, with an alloy body placed on top.
Despite the war, the Atom received a warm welcome from a few motoring journalists who drove it at the time.
It went on to cover 90,000 miles on war work between 1940 and 1947, proving the reliability and effectiveness of the design.
4. Two Litre Sports (1948)
Now often referred to as the DB1, the Two Litre Sports was the first Aston Martin built with new owner David Brown in charge.
It made good use of the chassis from the Atom saloon, while the body was shaped by Frank Feeley. Many felt the Two Litre Sports was not as pretty as Aston’s pre-war cars, or the new Jaguar XK120.
A bigger problem for the new Aston Martin was its price at launch, which was £1498 that meant it attracted double purchase tax and pushed the final price in the UK to a huge £2331 14s 6d.
Little wonder then that only 15 were made.
5. Arnolt Spider (1954)
Not an Aston Martin as such, the Arnolt Spider was based on the chassis and running gear of a DB2/4.
The car was the realisation of Stanley Harold ‘Wacky’ Arnolt’s ambition to create his own car, and he used the 1952 Turin motor show concept from Bertone as his inspiration.
By 1954, Arnolt had what he wanted with bodywork by Scaglione over the Aston chassis and engine. The combination was light, fast and pretty, yet only three examples were ever made.
This was because Aston refused to sell Arnolt rolling chassis, perhaps because the British firm saw the US-built car as too close a rival for its own machinery.
6. DB2/4 Disco Volante (1955)
This is the first Aston Martin that had the Volante name attached to it. The name means ‘flying’ in Italian, but this car seems to have been fitted with a British-made glassfibre body on a DB2.4 chassis for Lord O’Neil.
Little is known of the Disco Volante’s history and the car is thought to have been scrapped in the 1950s after being left parked on the street in London while its last owner was in prison.
7. DB2/4 Vignale (1955)
In 1954, Aston Martin sent a rolling chassis to coachbuilder Vignale in Italy at the behest of his Majesty King Baudouin of Belgium.
A keen and wealthy enthusiast, the king wanted a one-off and Vignale came up with this fastback shape featuring a large opening rear hatch.
The car was delivered to King Baudouin in March 1955, but he sold it a few years later. It ended up in the US with a V8 conversion before coming to the UK in the mid-1990s and being restored back to its original state.
8. DB5 Radford Shooting Brake (1965)
Only 12 Aston Martin DB5 Radford Shooting Brakes were made in period, eight with right-hand drive and four with the steering wheel on the left.
The story goes that company owner David Brown wanted a car to carry his hunting dog and the estate version of the DB5 was the result.
When customers saw the Shooting Brake, they asked for their own but Aston was too busy with production, so Radford was commissioned to make the cars.
With the rear seats folded down, the Shooting Brake offers up to 40 cubic feet (1132 litres) of load space.
9. DBSC (1966)
The DBSC, or DBS by Touring as it was first known, was a glimpse of what might have been for Aston Martin.
Styled as a proposal to replace the DB6, the DBSC used the existing car’s running gear but with the engine repositioned to allow for the concept’s lower bonnet line.
Touring built two DBSC show cars, but the Italian coachbuilder was beset with problems that meant Aston Martin went with its own DBS proposal.
The second DBSC show car was displayed at the 1967 Paris motor show and then sold to a private customer.
10. Ogle Sotheby Special (1972)
Few Aston Martins are more unusual than the Ogle Sotheby Special – and not just for its looks.
Conceived as a promotional vehicle for cigarette firm Wills, the car was based on a DBS V8 chassis with the body styled by Tom Karen of Ogle Design.
The lower half of the car’s body is made from glassfibre, while the upper section is Perspex over a Reynolds tubing frame to keep the weight down.
At the rear, there are 22 brake lights in a stainless-steel panel, with more light illuminating as the driver presses harder on the brake pedal. Inside, the rear seat was a single side-mounted chaise longue.
The first example was shown at the 1972 Montreal motor show but later stripped for parts, while a second car was built to use on the road.
11. Aston Martin Lagonda V8 (1974)
Before the wedge-shaped Lagonda of 1976 that stole so many headlines, Aston Martin had reintroduced the Lagonda name with a four-door version of its two-door V8.
It was a pet project of David Brown, but he had left the business by the time the seven production cars were made between 1974 and 1976.
The Lagonda had a 12in (305mm) longer wheelbase than the two-door car, which freed up enough space for rear passengers to fit into the back without contortions.
With the same 5.3-litre engine as the two-door, the Lagonda was claimed to be capable of 160mph, but the oil crisis of the 1970s and huge cost of the model put paid to it selling in serious numbers.
12. RHAM/1 (1977)
A DBS V8 was not the most obvious base to start from to develop a Le Mans 24 Hours contender, but Robin Hamilton was undeterred by this. What he came up with was the RHAM/1, also known as ‘The Muncher’.
Hamilton entered the car in the 1977 edition of that famous round-the-clock race, and again in 1979.
He had intended to compete in the race in 1978 with a twin-turbo version of the car that developed 800bhp, but its 2.5mpg fuel consumption was just too thirsty to be viable.
In 1980, the car was used to set a World Land Speed Record for towing a caravan, hitting a giddy 124mph.
13. Bulldog (1979)
Aston Martin was in bullish form when designer William Towns came up with the company’s vision of a supercar for the 1980s.
The link to Towns’ earlier wedge Lagonda was obvious, but the Bulldog pushed the boundaries much further with its mid-mounted twin-turbo V8 and backbone chassis that allowed for the huge gullwing doors.
A limited run of Bulldog production models was planned, but when Victor Gauntlett took over the company this idea was shelved.
The one-off Bulldog was sold, but it has recently undergone a 6000-hour restoration to bring it back to full working order.
14. V8 Vantage Zagato (1986)
By the time Aston Martin showed off the V8 Vantage Zagato for the first time at the 1986 Geneva show, all 50 of the limited-production run had been sold.
It showed how special this car was with its shortened wheelbase and two-seat cabin.
The bodywork by Zagato features flush-fitting glass to aid with the aerodynamics, which helped the car achieve a 186mph top speed.
In 1987, Aston offered a Volante open-top version of the Zagato, initially intending to build 25, but 37 were made in the end to meet demand. The Volante used a fuel-injected V8 engine that was more than 100bhp down on the coupé’s 5.3-litre V8 that came with four downdraught carburettors.
15. Virage 6.3 (1992)
For those Aston Martin customers with especially deep pockets in 1993, a further £50,000 on top of the purchase price of a Virage would get you the 6.3 Coupé.
Created by the Customer Service Division, now called Aston Martin Works, the 6.3 not only gained an extra one litre in engine capacity, but an increase in power from 330bhp to 645bhp. This was soon upped to 500bhp in 1993 for 0-60mph in 5.1 secs and a 175mph top speed.
Aside from the engine, there were changes to the brakes, suspension and, most obviously, the body. Wider wings were needed to fit the 18in wheels shod with 10.5in wide tyres.
16. Virage Lagonda Shooting Brake (1994)
This car possibly combined more varied elements of Aston Martin than any other.
Based on a Virage coupé, it gained rear doors to earn the Lagonda name, while an estate body added the Shooting Brake designation.
It was quite a coming together of ideas and the car had its wheelbase extended by 12in (305mm) to accommodate rear passengers.
This particular Lagonda Shooting Brake was the only one of its kind with its 6.3-litre V8, five-speed manual gearbox and two rear-facing child seats in the boot that made it a seven-seater.
Five other Virage Lagonda Shooting Brakes were built, but with a 16in longer wheelbase for more rear-seat legroom.
17. Vantage Special Series 1 (1998)
Aston Martin has always been happy to oblige customers’ every wish. This explains the Vantage Special Series 1 and the subsequent 2 and 3 cars, which were one-offs for the Sultan of Brunei.
The Series 1 was based on a Vantage V600 with styling reminiscent of the DB4 GT Zagato.
This car used the doors from a standard DB7 coupé so it could have frameless windows, but the rest of the body was unique.
Three Special Series 1 cars were produced in total, with one each finished in red, black and grey paint.
18. Vantage V600 (1998)
The Vantage V600 is unusual for becoming a model in its own right when it was, essentially, a collection of options gathered into one package.
It was also Aston Martin’s fastest production road car in 1998 with a top speed of 200mph, helped along by its twin Eaton superchargers that resulted in 600bhp.
With a price-tag of £233,682 when new in 1998, the V600 was always going to be exclusive and Aston Martin sold nine in this specification when it was brand new.
However, it was and remains possible to return a Vantage V550 to the Works Service to be upgraded to V600 spec, which many have taken advantage of.
19. Vanquish (2001)
What makes the Vanquish unusual among Astons is it was the first to adopt the new carbonfibre and aluminium platform.
It left behind the more traditional methods of construction and its bonded structure was far more rigid to meet the demands of a modern super GT car.
Styled by Ian Callum, the handsome Vanquish used the 5.9-litre V12 from the DB7 but with a new paddle-shift six-speed manual gearbox.
Not to everyone’s liking, the factory now does a line in converting the Vanquish to a full manual transmission.
20. DB AR1 (2003)
It might be based on a DB7, but the AR1 did not use the 7 in its title.
Instead, the American Roadster 1 was a standalone model as a convertible alternative to the DB7 Zagato Coupé, but the AR1 didn’t have the shortened chassis of the coupé version.
Unveiled at the 2003 Los Angeles Auto Show, the AR1 was aimed solely at US customers, so it was sold without any roof.
Despite this, eight cars were sold to European buyers and a single right-hand drive example found a home in the UK.
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