This decrepit Aston Martin could be yours for £50k

By Chris Rowlands

| 22 May 2018

This ruined Aston Martin could be yours for £50k

Leave a car to rust away in the garage and, chances are, it’ll be good for little but scrap and sentiment. Not so with an early Aston Martin.

Take this DB2 from 1951: it’ll need a total overhaul before it’s roadworthy, and yet it’s still expected to fetch upwards of £40,000 (US$54,000) when it goes to auction with Bonhams on 2 June.

Racing heritage

Aston Martin launched the DB2 at the New York Motor show in 1950, off the back of a successful showing for the pre-production model at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The renowned British marque, now under David Brown’s control, would go on to build a total of 411 of the two-seat sports car before production ceased three years later.

When new, the DB2 had quite the sporting pedigree: fitted with a 2.6-litre Lagonda engine, the standard model derived 105bhp and could sprint to 60mph in around 11 seconds.

Mid-century machine

This particular DB2 – registration LXH 813 – was built and delivered in 1951 to Brooklands of Bond Street. It’s believed the car was originally used as a demonstration vehicle.

Records show that it belonged in 1952 to one J H Walton, who took the DB2 to at least three racing victories that year – which might explain why it had its gearbox replaced twice in three years.

Besides its competition history, LXH 813 is recorded as having had at least six owners – and its current custodian purchased the car in 1966, holding on to it for the next five decades.

Driven for just two years, the current owner consigned it to storage at the end of the 1960s – and it would go on to sit unused and unloved for the next 50 years.

While its brake shoes are included in the sale, they were removed to prevent the wheels seizing up. In fact, the car’s only movement in half a century has been from one garage to another.

Alas, time has not been kind to this DB2. The garages it was kept in were not climate-controlled and even from the pictures on the listing it’s clear that the entire car needs serious restoration work.

There’s also no way to tell if it’s all original: the chassis plate is missing and the auctioneers haven’t been able to find the engine number (likely due to damage from the drastic ageing).

What’s more, the seller believes that the engine was at one time converted to 3-litre capacity from the original 2.6, alongside a gearbox and drum brake upgrade – though records of the work are limited or non-existent.

As if it wasn’t storied enough, this DB2 also happens to be one of just 50 early models fitted with a rare ‘Washboard’-style front grille – though its bonnet has at some point been replaced with a later-style hood.

You’d be forgiven for missing it under all that rust and dust, but the front end and bonnet were also damaged during transportation at some point during the car’s life.

No easy fix

All-in-all, this is hardly your average restoration job, then. While everything looks original (albeit heavily aged and damaged), with absent serials and lost logbooks it’s a brave buyer who takes on this project.

All the same, DB2s are increasingly rare things (even in rusty form). Well-restored and with its past tracked down, there’s every chance this Aston Martin could make a pretty penny.

Mint DB2s usually go for big figures whenever they come up for auction. Hagerty's Price Guide states an estimate of £137,000 for even a 'Fair' condition model, rising to £331,000 for concours quality. So if you can knock it into shape you could be looking at a nice little earner.

Provided, that is, you have the readies to restore it – and judging from the scale of the rust, rot and decay pictured, you’ll need to spend a whole lot more than the £60,000 upper estimate to do that.

Think you’re up to the task of bringing this classic coupé back to its former glory? It's set for auction at Bonhams’ exclusive Aston Martin sale at Englefield House, Reading on 2 June. We'll let you know how it does.

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Chris Rowlands

Perennially on the road, Chris has to content himself with writing about classic cars instead of owning them – though he’s sure he’ll one day have the keys to an E-type. A regular contributor to Classic & Sports Car, his first love is motorsport.