The Aston Martin DB2 is a

grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...

that was sold by

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

from May 1950 until April 1953. The successor to the 2-Litre Sports model, it had a comparatively advanced

dual overhead cam An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

2.6 L

Lagonda straight-6 engine The Lagonda Straight-6 is a famous automobile engine used by Aston Martin and Lagonda marques in the 1950s. Designed by Willie Watson under the supervision of Walter Owen Bentley of Bentley Motors Limited, it vaulted Aston Martin to fame as a m ...

in place of the previous

overhead valve engine An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

straight-four engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

. It was available as a closed, 2-seater

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

which Aston Martin called a sports saloon, and later also as a

drophead coupé A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving exp ...

, which accounted for a quarter of the model's total sales. The closed version had some success in racing.

Development and racing

In 1947 David Brown bought the Aston Martin and

Lagonda Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...

companies and incorporated them as Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. Lagonda's 2.6 L (2580 cc/157 in³), dual overhead cam, straight-six engine, more powerful than the pushrod 2.0 L straight 4 unit in the Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports, was the main objective in Brown's acquisition of the company.

W. O. Bentley Walter Owen Bentley, MBE (16 September 1888 – 13 August 1971) was an English engineer who founded Bentley Motors Limited in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft a ...

had supervised the engine's design, which was largely by William (Willie) Watson, an engineer with the pre-war Invicta company who had collaborated on Lagonda's pre-war V12 and also designed the short-lived post-war version. In its original form the Lagonda straight-6 had a 78 mm (3.07 in) bore and 90 mm (3.543 in) stroke, and produced about 105 hp (78 kW) with dual

SU carburettor SU carburettors were a British manufacturer of constant-depression carburettors. Their designs were in mass production during most of the twentieth century. The S.U. Carburetter Company Limited also manufactured dual-choke updraught carburettor ...

s. The DB2 utilized it in a shortened version of the tube-frame chassis designed by Claude Hill for the Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports, with a

fastback A fastback is an automotive styling feature, defined by the rear of the car having a single slope from the roof to the tail. The kammback is a type of fastback style. Some models, such as the Ford Mustang, have been specifically marketed as ...

coupé body designed by

Frank Feeley Frank Gerald Feeley, born in Staines-upon-Thames on 16 January 1912, was an automotive stylist and designer. He joined Lagonda based in Staines, where his father, Jeremiah Feeley, also worked, straight from school as an office boy under Arthur T ...

. Three pre-production cars were entered for the

1949 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 17th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 25 and 26 June 1949. Luigi Chinetti won the race for a third time in the first Ferrari barchetta by driving 22.5 hours. This race also saw the death of British d ...

. One, which would become the development car for the production DB2, had the Lagonda straight-6, while the four-cylinder Aston Martin 2-litre unit powered the other two. After six laps the Lagonda-powered car, driven by Leslie Johnson, retired with overheating caused by failure of the water pump. One of the 2-litre cars was in 4th place and running without brakes when it crashed two hours short of the finish, fatally injuring driver

Pierre Maréchal Jean-Pierre Maréchal (4 October 1915 – 27 June 1949) was an engineer and racing driver who died after his Aston Martin team car crashed in the first postwar running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. French-born, he settled in England ...

. The other finished 7th, crewed by Arthur Jones and Nick Haines. A month later, the larger-engined car, driven by Leslie Johnson and Charles Brackenbury, finished 3rd in the Spa 24-hour race, where one of the 2-litre cars was driven to 5th by Nick Haines and

Lance Macklin Lance Noel Macklin (2 September 1919 – 29 August 2002) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952. He was infamously involved in the 1955 Le Mans disaste ...

. For 1950 all three factory team cars were equipped with the Lagonda engine. At the 1950 Le Mans race the one driven by

George Abecassis George Edgar Abecassis (21 March 1913 – 18 December 1991) was a British racing driver, and co-founder of the HWM Formula One team. Pre-1946 career Born in Oatlands, Surrey, Abecassis was educated at Clifton College. He began circuit racin ...

and

finished 5th, with Brackenbury and

Reg Parnell Reg or REG may refer to: * Reginald (disambiguation) * Reg or desert pavement * Raising for Effective Giving, a charity * Random event generator (parapsychology) * Raptor Education Group * Regal Entertainment Group * Regular language * .reg MS Wind ...

bringing another home 6th, which won Aston Martin 1st and 2nd in the 3-litre class. Across the Atlantic,

Briggs Cunningham Briggs Swift Cunningham II (January 19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht ''Columbia'' to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team o ...

drove his DB2 to 2nd in its class at the inaugural Sebring race meeting in December 1950. The factory team cars continued racing in Europe throughout 1951, including at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, where Macklin and

Eric Thompson Eric Norman Thompson (9 November 1929 – 30 November 1982) was an English actor, scriptwriter and stage director. He is best remembered for creating and performing the English narration for ''The Magic Roundabout'', which he adapted from ...

took 3rd overall, with Abecassis and

Brian Shawe-Taylor Brian Newton Shawe-Taylor (28 January 1915 – 1 May 1999) was a British racing driver. He participated in 3 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship Formula One races. He scored no World Championship points. Shawe-Taylor ...

5th. David Brown soon embarked on a series of Aston Martins designed specifically for competition use, starting with the DB3.

Production

The DB2 debuted at the

New York Auto Show The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Su ...

in April 1950 and continued in production until April 1953, by which time 411 had been made. The first 49 had a chrome-framed front grille in three separate parts, and large rectangular cooling vents in the front wings. Subsequent cars had a one-piece grille with horizontal chrome slats, and no side vents. The single-piece bonnet was hinged at the front. At the rear of the fixed-head coupé (FHC) a small top-hinged lid gave access to the spare wheel, and luggage space was behind the front seats, accessible only from inside the car. Later in 1950, a Drophead Coupé (DHC) variant was introduced. At least 102 were built. In April 1950, an engine with larger

carburettor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

s, inlet camshaft the same as the exhaust (for increased

duration Duration may refer to: * The amount of time elapsed between two events * Duration (music) – an amount of time or a particular time interval, often cited as one of the fundamental aspects of music * Duration (philosophy) – a theory of time and ...

), and higher

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values. A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...

pistons (8.16:1) was made available. Aston Martin's first Vantage upgrade option offered 125 hp (93 kW). Initially the higher compression ratio made the engine unsuitable for the British market, as the postwar austerity measures of the early 1950s restricted UK vehicles to 72 octane "

Pool petrol Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom was importing 20 million long tons of ...

". The first DB2 Vantage, LML 50/21, was delivered to, and raced by, Briggs Cunningham in the United States.

Performance

A closed coupé tested by the British magazine ''The Motor'' in 1950 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 11.2 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1914 including taxes. File:1949 Aston Martin DB2 prototype at the 2015 Carmel Tour d'Elegance.jpg, The fourth and last DB2 prototype, built in 1949 for David Brown's personal use File:Aston Martin DB2 in Morges 2013 - Engine left.jpg, Aston Martin DB2 straight-6 engine File:AM DB2 top.jpg, The Aston Martin DB2 closed coupé body was a

design by

File:Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupe 1951.jpg, 1951 Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupé File:1953 AM DB2 competition quasi-Vantage.jpg, 1953 Aston Martin DB2 competition quasi-Vantage

References

External links

Aston Martin Scrapbook on Washboards
''Astonunts.free.fr'' {{Authority control DB2 Cars introduced in 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Sports cars

Development and racing

Production

Performance

References

Further reading

External links