Overview

The Aston Martin DB1 is a sports car produced by Aston Martin. The car was first introduced at the 1948 London Motor Show and it was based on the “Atom” prototype. The Atom was a car developed by Aston martin during the Second World War and it featured a tube-frame chassis and a four cylinder 2.0-Liter engine which was developed by Claude Hill. The Aston Martin is one of the rarest cars in the world, with a production number of only 15 units. The DB1 was replaced by the Aston Martin DB2 in 1950.

Variants

The Aston Martin DB2 was built under the leadership of David Brown, which bought Aston Martin in 1947. To test the car’s durability and performance, Aston Martin built an updated version and entered the 24Hours race at the Spa in 1948. The car won the race and a rebuilt version of the Spa was shown at the London Motor Show, to show the public that a Spa Replica is for sale. There was no Spa DB1 ever sold and until 2006 the single Spa car has been kept in the Dutch Motor Museum. In 2006 the car returned into the UL and has been restored.

Under direct orders from David Brown, Aston Martin decided to build a 2-seat roadster with a more conventional and appealing body. This car was also unveiled at the London Motor Shown and it was named 2-Liter Sports. This is the car which we now call the DB1. It was powered by a four-cylinder 2.0-Liter engine that produced 90 horsepower and 108 lb-ft of torque. The car could have reached a maximum speed of 100 mph, which was outstanding for that period of time. The engine was mated to a four speed manual transmission. In the front the DB1 used an independent suspension with coil springs and in the rear a beam-axle suspension with coil springs.

Additional Information

There were only 15 Aston Martin DB1 cars ever produced from which 14 of them had an open roadster body complete with a three part grille, a feature which is still visible on the Aston Martins built today. Number 15 was sold as a chassis for custom coachwork.