1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 3.0-Litre Sports Saloon
Coachwork by Mulliners of Birmingham
Registration no. NOU 660
Chassis no. LML/748
Engine no. VB6J/198

"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 Mark II 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 Mark II version arrived in October 1955.

Beautifully presented, the matching-numbers DB2/4 we offer was supplied new to Muirhead & Sons Ltd, timber merchants of Grangemouth, Falkirk, Scotland. The (copy) guarantee form lists the original colour scheme as Blue Haze with matching interior trim. A letter on file from a previous owner recounts his and his wife's use of the car, which included competing in a number of MCC events. In the early 2000s the Aston (formerly registered 'FWG 1') was professionally restored, including body repairs and a bare-metal re-spray, as recorded by numerous photographs on file. In recent years the DB2/4 has formed part of a substantial collection of Aston Martins and numerous other classic cars in the UK. Offered with a V5C document.