Beschreibung:

1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 3.0-Litre Sports Saloon Coachwork by Mulliners of Birmingham Chassis no. LML/574 Engine no. VB6J/148• Original left-hand drive example • Delivered new to France • Present ownership since 2007 • Professionally restored between 2010 and 2012 • Registered in Luxembourg Footnotes"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'. By modifying the rear of the chassis and reducing the fuel tank capacity from 19 to 17 gallons, Aston's engineers 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." In addition, a raised roofline, one-piece windscreen, larger bumpers and other detail styling changes differentiated the newcomer from its predecessor. Otherwise, the DB2/4 remained much the same as the DB2, employing the latter's rectangular-tube chassis, trailing arm independent front suspension and well-located live rear axle. Bodies were supplied by Mulliners of Birmingham until the advent of the MkII version in October 1955, when Tickford - recently acquired by Aston Martin's owner, David Brown - took over. Designed at Lagonda by Willy Watson, under the supervision of W O Bentley, the 2.6-litre, six-cylinder, twin-cam power unit came in tuned (125bhp) Vantage specification as standard for the 2/4. Despite this, the redesign's inevitable weight gain was not fully compensated for until the arrival of the 3.0-litre, 140bhp engine in 1954. The DB2/4's top speed was now 118mph with 60mph reachable in around 11 seconds, making it one of the fastest British-built cars of the day. In total, 565 of all types had been produced by the time the MkII version arrived in October 1955. The DB2/4 we offer was supplied new in July 1954 to one G Livanos, Hotel Plaza Athénée, Paris (presumed to be George S. Livanos). The accompanying copy guarantee form shows that the Aston was built in left-hand drive configuration and left the factory finished in Blue Haze with matching grey-piped interior trim. The following items of non-standard equipment are listed: heavy-duty shock absorbers; RJ needles; Alfin brake drums; Le Mans headlamps; and a twin exhaust system. Servicing is recorded up to July 1956, by which time the engine had been rebuilt at the factory and fitted with a 'special type large valve cylinder head'. The AMOC Register (published 2000) records 'LML/574' as competing at Montlhéry in 1957 driven by 'Koopman', and resident in the USA in 1979. The guaranteed form lists only one additional owner: Gianetto Papeschi of Milan, Italy (1988). The current vendor purchased the Aston at a Monaco auction in 2007, since when it has undergone an almost complete restoration from a 'barn find' state, which was undertaken by Retro Cars Héritage of Nannine, Belgium, whose detailed bills totalling €38,070 are on file. The refurbishment included a full repaint and rebuilding the engine around a new VB6J (3-litre) cylinder block. Sine the rebuild's completion the Aston has been extensively campaigned by the vendor, taking part regularly in the ING Ardenne Roads rally in Belgium (2009, 2010, 2013,