Aston Martin DP214
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The Aston Martin DP214 was a prototype
sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
developed 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 ...
for use in
grand touring 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 ...
-style racing, including the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
. Two DP214s were built in 1963, with one surviving today. Just like its predecessor, the DP212, to comply with GT regulations, the DP214 was based on DB4GT chassis, numbers #0194/R and #0195/R. The body was completely redesigned, using elements from the DP212 such as the
Kamm tail A Kammback—also known as a Kamm tail or K-tail—is an automotive styling feature wherein the rear of the car slopes downwards before being abruptly cut off with a vertical or near-vertical surface. A Kammback improves aerodynamic drag, thus ...
rear end. The bodywork would be wider than the DP212 though, and the nose would be a completely new design. The DP214 would also use a production
Tadek Marek Tadeusz "Tadek" Marek (1908–1982) was a Polish automobile engineer, known for his Aston Martin engines. Marek was from Kraków and studied engineering at Technische Universität Berlin before working for Fiat in Poland and also for General Mo ...
3.7-litre
Inline-6 The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...
, (bored to from ) unlike the DP212's larger 4.0-litre engine


Racing history


1963

Unlike the DP212, the DP214s would be used in races other than Le Mans. The DP214 made its debut with DP215 at the
1963 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 31st Grand Prix of Endurance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans series and took place on 15 and 16 June 1963. It was also the tenth round of the 1963 World Sportscar Championship season. Despite good weather througho ...
, Bill Kimberley and
Jo Schlesser Joseph Schlesser (18 May 1928 – 7 July 1968) was a French Formula One and sports car racing driver. He participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, including the 1968 French Grand Prix in which he was killed. He scored no championship ...
in 0194 and
Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
and
Innes Ireland Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins incl ...
in 0195. During practice recording, DP214 set an unofficial time of 3m 58.7s and an official time of 4m 00s, with Ireland recording down the
Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (''Ligne Droite des Hunaudières'' in French) is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is int ...
. The race plan was for 0194 and 0195 to lap at 4m 15s. On lap 28 McLaren in 0195 pitted when leading the GT class and 10th overall. Ireland took over 0195 and took it up to 6th overall but during his stint a piston failed on the Mulsanne Straight on lap 60 (4h 06m) and forced them to retire, which was a result similar to that of the DP212 in 1962. The engine failure resulted in 20 litres of oil being spilled on the track, causing a multiple accident involving
Roy Salvadori Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a s ...
's Jaguar E-Type lightweight and Jean-Pierre Manzon's
René Bonnet René Bonnet ( Vaumas, 27 December 1904 – 13 January 1983) was a French driver and automobile constructor. Early life The young René first learned about machines working with his father, a carpenter. By 1915, with most teachers conscripted, ...
Aerodjet LM6.
Christian Heins Christian Heins (January 16, 1935 – June 15, 1963) known as "Bino", was a Brazilian sports car racing driver. Life Heins was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a Brazilian entrepreneur and an Italian mother. His maternal grandfather taught him ...
' Alpine M63 Renault was unable to avoid the wreck, swerved out of control, hit another vehicle and spun into a lamp post exploding into flames, killing him instantly. DP214 0194 had to stop on lap three to unblock a main jet, but had more luck during the race, reaching 5th overall in 110 laps (nearly 8 hours). By 10 hours Kimberley and Schlesser were lying 3rd overall and leading the GT class, however they suffered the same fate as McLaren and Ireland, with a
piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...
failure. That was Aston Martin's last Le Mans of the era. The piston failure was caused by inadequate strength around the underside of the gudgeon-pin boss.
John Wyer John Wyer (11 December 1909 in Kidderminster, England – 8 April 1989 in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States), was an English automobile racing engineer and team manager. He is mainly associated with cars running in the light blue and orange ...
records that both cars (as well as DP215) were capable of winning at the Le Mans that year, but their preparation left insufficient time to have forged pistons manufactured so they made do with cast pistons; it was these that failed in the race. Perhaps, another missed opportunity for
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 ...
. Moving to the Guard's Trophy at
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, a lone DP214, driven by Innes Ireland would manage to finish in sixth place overall, and second in class. With the second DP214 (0195) retiring, after spinning off (Kimberley). This was followed by a seventh-place finish and fourth in class in the TT at Goodwood for 0194, with 0195, driven by McLaren retiring after 95 laps with a valve failure. The two cars were certainly capable of winning the TT at Goodwood in the hands of
Innes Ireland Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins incl ...
and Bruce McLaren, but unfortunately they fell foul of the RAC Scrutineer (Procter). He refused to allow the cars to run with the 6.5" inch rims that they had run at Le Mans, because they had not been homologated, even though by then the production cars were fitted with them as standard. As it was, they were required to race with 5.5" inch rims, which actually narrowed the track by 4" inches and ruined their handling. They had never run with these narrow rims in the first place, and were never to do so again. An angry Innes Ireland spent the whole race going luridly sideways in the car which he had originally put on pole. Next was a victory at the Inter-Europa Cup at
Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
driven by Salvadori, setting a new GT lap record, with an average speed of . This race also saw the second DP214 (0195, driven by Bianchi)) take 3rd (, average speed). The next two rounds at Monthéry would see the DP214s take victory (0194, driven by Claude Le Guezec) and second place (Dewez) in the first race. The second race would also see a DP214 victorious again, this time with 0195 winning (Schlesser) and 0194 (Le Guezec) finishing in fifth.


1964

Following the 1963 season, both DP214s were sold to John Dawnay's racing team for use throughout the international circuit. With 0195 later being sold to Brian Hetreed in 1964. Mike Salmon in 0194 and Hetreed in 0195 took both DP214's to Daytona 2000 km. Salmon with co-driver
Roy Salvadori Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a s ...
and Hetreed partnered by Chris Kerrison. Both had been up to 5th place during the race. But 0194 retired with value failure and 0195 slipped back to 17th when the gearbox started to seize. At the International Trophy Silverstone GT race, Salmon broke the GT record (with 0194) in practice with 1m 41.0s but spun in the wet on the first lap. But worked his way back up to take second place overall. Around the same time, Hetreed took DP214 0195 to the Wiscombe hill climb and set a best time. Both cars then went to Spa 500 km, but both DP214's had engine troubles and neither finished. Unfortunately, one of the DP214s (0195) was destroyed in an accident during practice at the
Nürburgring 1000 km The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...
in 1964, killing driver Brian Hetreed. Hetreed crashed on his first practice lap, with the car rolling down a bank at 'Bergwerk' corner. The remains of 0195 were returned to London from Germany and were comprehensively cut up and destroyed. With the engine being repaired and going into an Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, with chassis number DB4GT/0200/R. The other lone DP214 finished the season, moving onto Le Mans again. With
Peter Sutcliffe Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...
and Mike Salmon racing at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the end of the first lap DP214 was running in tenth place, dropping to eleventh after half an hour. Early evening pit stops had moved the car up to sixth overall, but again dropped, down to twelfth place. However, after 17h 45m on Sunday morning they were disqualified due to replenishing the car's oil at the wrong time when lying 11th. In the closing event of 1964, 0194 finished as the first GT car and fifth overall, in the Silverstone Martini meeting, with fastest lap of 1m 42.8s and 4th in class in the Guards Trophy despite a spin at Clearways.


Rest of the 1960s

In 1965 the sole remaining DP214 was bought by Tom Rose, who painted the car, a very dark blue, possibly black in colour. Rose registered the car with the registration number '5 NBP' (which it still holds today) and then competed the car in
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 ...
events during the next year. Results including a win at
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and at the Belgian Day of Records (Jabbeke Speed Trial) Rose set a best time, with a top speed of . Finally driven by Pye, the car competed at B.A.R.C. Goodwood event, where Pye set a best time. Colin Crabbe then acquired the car in 1965, with the car now showing flared wheel arches to accommodate wider wheels. In 1966 Crabbe raced the project car at the B.A.R.C. event at
Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...
and was victorious overall. Crabbe was then second overall in the Monte Cristo Trophy at the
AMOC The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is part of a global thermohaline circulation in the oceans and is the zonally integrated component of surface and deep currents in the Atlantic Ocean. It is characterized by a northward f ...
St John Horsfall meeting at Silverstone, second only to Ron Fry's Ferrari 275 LM. Neil Corner also drove DP214 in 1966 and won overall at the
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
Drivers' Club (B.D.C.). In 1967 at the Belgian day of Records, Crabbe won again, this time finishing first in class. The final event under Crabbe's ownership was with Neil Corner in the 'Emu Trohpy' at Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC) Silverstone event.


During the 1970s

After the last race under ownership of Colin Crabbe, Mike Ottway acquired the car with a engine installed and a damaged DP215 engine as a spare. After this Nick Cussons raced the car regularly, but it is unclear whether Cussons owned the car during this time. In 1973 Cussons won first in class at Curborough, and was again first in class at the
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Drivers' Club (JDC). Cussons was also first overall in the B.R.S.C.C. at
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, also in 1973. In its last outing of the era, Cussons was third in class at B.A.R.C at Thruxton in 1974. During this period Nick Cussons also raced the car in his own Cussons Post-Historic Championship.


Restoration period

During the period of 1974/5 to 1992 the project car underwent a full restoration by Mike Ottway. The car was then acquired by Simon Draper. Presumably this was when the car was returned to its original colour, which it still has today. Simon Draper owns the car to date.


During the 1990s

The car reappeared after its long restoration in 1992 and raced again with Draper at Silverstone in 1994 in the Coy's Historic Festival. DP214 then raced at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in l ...
in 1995, driven by Ian Mason. The car competed again at the Silverstone Coy's meeting in 1995 and 1996 with Draper and Gary Pearson finishing second overall in 1995 (after being on pole in part one of the GT Race). With Draper and Mark Hales again finishing second in 1996 in the GT race. In 1997, Simon Draper entered DP214 into the
Concours d'Elegance ''Concours d'Elegance'' ( French: ''concours d'élégance'') is a term of French origin that means a "competition of elegance" and refers to an event where prestigious vehicles are displayed and judged. It dates back to 17th-century France, whe ...
at
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in
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. In 1998 and 1999 Draper joined by David Clark entered the Coy's Historic Festival at Silverstone again, finishing 13th (1998) and 9th (1999) in the pre '64 GT Race. Again in 1998 and 1999 Draper and Clark competed the DP214 in the
Goodwood Revival The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September at Goodwood Circuit since 1998 for the types of racing cars and motorcycles that would have competed during the circuit's original period—1948–1966. History The first Revival t ...
Meeting R.A.C. Tourist Trophy Celebration Race. In 1998 they finished a very respectable fourth overall and finished 6th overall in 1999. Also at Goodwood in 1999, DP214 competed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed event, and Gillian Goldsmith finished first in class. In 1999 the
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 ...
featured in the
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur), ...
official calendar. The original DP214 could now be worth anything in excess of 7 figures, having been sold in 1993 for in excess of £1,000,000.


2012 crash

The car was involved in an accident at the 2012 Goodwood Revival. Extensive damage occurred when the car hit a tyre wall at speed.


Replica Cars

There are three known,
replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...
DP214s supposedly based on DB4 and DB4GT chassis. The first, initially claiming to be built up from some parts of the crashed 214/0195/R, was commissioned by American Ken Lawrence with a body built by Shapecraft, using the surviving DP214 as a template. Lawrence said he had found a cross-member showing the correct chassis number, in
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, in late 1979. He also claimed he had found an engine of 0195 which had raced at Le Mans, but this engine was scrapped due to a large 3" inch hole in the block. The car had been built up with contemporary
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 ...
parts, with a DB4GT engine (notably stamped 370/0195/GT), and gearbox. The body, which was crafted by Shapecraft, bears a fairly close resemblance to the original, but the similarities end there; there is no evidence that this car contains any significant authentic components. Therefore, this car is aptly deemed a modern recreation, which aesthetically shares a large resemblance to the original DP214. This
replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...
is currently owned by Wolfgang Friedrichs (who also owns DP212) and which has had a good record in the Spa 6 hour races, of two overall second places (2004 & 2006) and an overall victory in 2005. The second car is much more recently built by Martin Brewer of Runnymede Motor Company, but the build was apparently started (according to the Aston Martin Owners Club) alongside the aforementioned replica. It was built up using DB4/559/L as the basis. Completed in 2005, it was given the registration number ‘DSL 449’, but has since been re-registered as ‘5 BVY’ in order that it might closely resemble the surviving, original car: ‘5 NBP’. This car has appeared at the Le Mans Legends race on 16 June 2007. The third replica DP214 was commissioned by Robert Rawe and was completed in late 2013. This car competed in the Spa 6 hours event in the same year.


Specification for Le Mans 24 Hour 1963


References


External links


AstonMartins.com
- DP214 {{Aston Martin Sportscar Racers DP214 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles 1960s cars ja:アストンマーチン・DP212/DP214/DP215