1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk I Coupé

The Aston Martin DB2 is a sports car that was sold by Aston Martin from May 1950 through to April 1953. The successor to the 2-Litre Sports model, it had a comparatively advanced dual overhead cam 2.6 L straight-6 engine in place of the previous pushrod straight-4. It was available as a closed, 2-door, 2-seater coupé which Aston Martin called a sports saloon, and later also as a drophead coupé, which accounted for a quarter of the model's total sales.

Introduced at the 1953 London Motor Show the DB2/4 was a larger model than the previous DB2, offering two occasional rear seats. Initially offered with the 2.6-liter engine, in April 1954 the model received the enlarged 2.9-liter unit giving 140 hp. It is believed that 102 DB2/4 Drophead Coupes were built over two years with more than half in right hand drive for the British market. A DB2/4 Drophead Coupé appeared in the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds. The DB2/4 Drophead was replaced by the updated DB2/4 Mark II in 1955, the first open Aston Martin with coachwork by Tickfords in Newport Pagnell.

One-of-a-kind unit designed by Bertone's own Franco Scaglione in August 1954 and then delivered to Henry Pagezy of Paris the following January. Factory records show that the car was ordered by Wacky Arnolt for him but given the slightly misspelled spelling, it is believed that this customer could actually be Henri Pigozzi, founder of the Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile, better known as Simca and it is curious that some features of the LML/765, such as the rear lights, were borrowed from Simca cars. Bertone reportedly planned to build a small run of Aston Martin based Berlinettas, but the British company refused to supply any further rolling chassis. Bertone subsequently exhibited the two-seater coupé at the Salone dell’Automobile in Torino twice, in 1957 (painted white) and 1958 (painted blue). The car later crossed the ocean and was in the US in 1976, in the hands of John G. Gyann. It was then owned by Dr. Jim Pavlatos, who undertook a first restoration. It then passed through the Chicago sports car dealer, Bill Jacobs, and finally arrived at the Blackhawk Collection. In 1987, it was purchased by Roger Karlson, who had the car for eleven years and spent considerable time and resources refining the previous restoration. The car was displayed in 1987 at Pebble Beach. In 2019, the car was purchased by a new owner, who commissioned Aston Martin specialists Kevin Kay Restorations of Redding, California, to undertake a full concours restoration. The car thus participated in the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where it was awarded First in Class. This unique body has a pronounced wraparound rear window and neatly creased fenders. The interior has a very unusual dash which looks more modern than that of the other Bertone built cars. The vehicle featured airy interiors, a long bonnet, and a short, flat boot, outlined by two slight tail fins with large lights. Powered by the renovated twin cam, 6-cylinder 2922 ccs engine (140 bhp at 5000 rpm), the car flaunted a formal balance of notable effect and some unusual solutions, like the front bumper in two separate sections. This is the only coupe built, of seven Aston Martin chassis supplied to Bertone by Stanley 'Wacky' Arnolt, that is known to exist. The car was praised as a typical Scaglione work of art, by historian Stanley Nowak in his article on the Bertone Aston Martins in Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 26 No. 4.