Two litre Sports – DB1 « Aston Martins.com (original) (raw)

Two litre Sports – DB1

(1948 - 1950)

As well as the Spa Replica, Aston Martin premiered the Two Litre Sports on their stand at the 1948 London Motor Show. It was also based on a chassis very much like that of the Atom and was powered by Claude Hill's 2 litre 4 cylinder push rod engine. Partly due to the weight of the 2 seater open coachwork, post-war low octane pool petrol and the modest power output of 90 bhp, maximum speed was only 93 mph.

Two litre Sports – DB1

Sadly, only 14 examples were built, 13 with the open 2 seater coachwork, and a single example sold chassis only. They are very rarely seen indeed. The first that I have ever seen was in the showroom of Aston Workshop in Beamish during March 2006. This particular car was the last one to be made. It took until 2013 and the Centenary Celebration at Kensington Gardens for me to see my second 2 litre sports.

But one distinctive feature of the 2 Litre Sports can still be seen Aston Martins to the present day. It’s possible to see a familiar shape in the three piece grille. Unfortunately the centre section was not fitted to the car at Aston Workshop when I took these pictures.

After the DB2 was first announced in 1950, the 2 litre Sports become known retrospectively as the DB1.