This superb, hand-crafted, aluminium bodied DB2/4 Aston left the workshops late in 1954. It was first registered on the March 7, 1955, and fell into the hands of Patrick Lindsay MP, racing driver and director of Christie Manson and Woods, auctioneers, on April 12, 1956, bearing the current regis-tration, ‘WPJ-333’.
This is a high-speed luxury car that was years ahead of its rivals
It was sold on to the company and then to Simon Fraser MP, Lindsay’s brother-in-law.
He put a rod through the cylinder block (the repair being perfectly visible) and the car was not registered between December 1959 and February 2, 1966.
LML 910, as it is normally called, came into Malta in August 1966, and was used regularly until the end of 1970, when an obscure electrical fault and a general lack of spare parts forced her to be laid up.
A total rebuild was commissioned in 2003 and the first tentative drive took place towards the end of December 2010.
The car is now in the process of being ‘run-in’. However as the maximum revs used at the moment are 2,500, which corresponds to 50 mph (80 kph) in fourth gear, it is quite reasonable to recount just how a very expensive genuine GT car from the 1950s handles on our roads today.
At a cost ex-works of £2,025 (€2,334), the Aston was about £1,000 (€1,153) more than the equivalent Jaguar, and like the Jaguar, both cars could be prepared for club racing with great ease.
In effect, the Aston is a two-door, pillarless coupe with two comfortable, but somewhat cramped, rear seats, and what amounts to one of the earliest ‘hatch-back’ rear openings.
The Aston is carpeted with best-quality Wilton carpets and the leather of the remainder has been superbly done over here.
The dashboard, with its dials and switches, is made from polished rosewood, and although the interior design is far simpler than found on today’s luxury cars, the front seats are comfortable and switches, gear lever and foot pedals are well sorted.
The left foot normally lies on a sloping ‘rest’, which also houses the foot-operated dip switch, and the handbrake is an umbrella handle on the right of the driver’s legs.
By today’s standards the driver sits far closer to the steering wheel, and with neither power steering nor power brakes, driving becomes an adventure until a few miles have been covered, and the fact that the harder the brakes are used the quicker the car will stop becomes second nature.
Obviously, there are neither seat belts nor air bags, and with a top speed of 120 mph (193 kph), Lindsay must have had a few scary moments racing, borne out by the body damage, which was apparent when the car was stripped for painting in 2006.
With a bit of choke the twin SU carbs fire the engine up immediately, and the glorious six-cylinder, twin overhead camshaft mill burbles into life, revs being kept to 2,000 as the engine warms. This is necessary as the engine uses small 10 mm spark plugs, which are prone to oiling up if a cold engine is left idling too long. The driver has a series of dials that need to be observed especially from cold. The oil pressure gauge and the water temperature gauge are the most important and there is also an ammeter registering the rate of battery charge (or discharge) and, of course, a petrol gauge (three gallons in reserve from a 17-gallon (77-litre) tank).
Both the rev counter and the speedometer (only marked in miles) are six-inch, easy-to-read dials, and with everything ticking over nicely and the small interior rear-view mirror and two discreet door-mounted mirrors adjusted, the car is ready to be driven.
Words have to be chosen carefully as this type of car is obedient to the touch of hands and feet, sensitive at speed, grudgingly heavy at walking pace, and yet always alive and seemingly willing to go.
Steering is basically neutral until the driver begins to enjoy the ride too much, and then the rear end takes over if a touch too much enthusiasm is displayed. This is easy to control by a small wrist movement and a lift from the ‘fast’ pedal, and as the Aston was literally expected to be driven on race circuits either drifting through the corners or with the tail hanging in a theatrical manner she is more than safe at our Maltese speeds on the better surfaces that we used for the drive.
Comfortable, fast and as safe as the experience of the driver. This is a high-speed luxury car that was years ahead of its rivals, and even today provides a motoring thrill that very few English cars have ever matched.
Verdict
Comfort
Five stars in period, four stars by today’s standards in luxury cars.
Performance
By anybody’s standards.
Cool
Dignified yes, superb yes, and a great all rounder.
Quality
Even after 56 years it still catches the eye.
At a glance
Top speed
120 mph (193 kph)
0-60 mph (96 kph)
10 seconds
Max torque
178 ft lbs at 3,000 rpm.
Fuel consumption
23 mpg (37 kpg) on a good run.
Engine
2,922 cc twin overhead camshaft, six cylinders
Power
140 bhp at 5,000 rpm