At @zacknorman97's insistence 😀, here's the last car sale that caught my attention. A beautiful and rare sports car was sold last month through Gooding & Company during its online sale Passion of a Lifetime, a stunning 1955 Aston Martin DB3S.
For one the only 20 customer examples, the sales price exceeded 3 million pounds, within the asking price range (between $US 4mm and $US 5mm). Another world (or not mine 😀 )!
History of Aston Martin DB3S
The DB3S is the successor of the first sports car produced by Aston Martin under David Brown, the DB3, which was a failure on the race tracks due to its heaviness. The DB3 was designed by Eberan Eberhorst, Austrian automotive engineer. His assistant, William Watson, proposed the DB3S with a design by Frank Feeley. The car is presented in 1953 and had better results in spite of a failure at 1953 Le Mans.
Only 31 cars were produced between 1953 and 1955 :
- 11 factory cars (DB3S/1 to DB3S/11),
- 20 customer cars (DB3S/101 Ã DB3S/120, the model sold was chassis 102).
This example was purchased by the Kangaroo Stable, a racing team from Australia (hence its name) founded by David McKay and Tony Gaze, Royal Air Force pilot and racing driver after WWII (his biography is worth reading).
I love leather strap on car... the detail that kills.
The car participated at many races during the 1955 and 1956 seasons with its best result during the 12 Hours of Hyères (South of France), 2nd overall. It's best performance its the Australian Land Speed Record in 1957 with a top speed of 230,44 kmh (143,19 mph).
Specification
The Aston Martin DB3S is equipped of 2,992 cc DOHC 6 cylinder engine mated to 3 Weber carburetors producing 210 hp at 5,500 rpm. The car can reach the top speed of 225 kmh.
For the pleasure of driving, we have a 4-Speed David Brown S430 manual gearbox, frond disc brakes and rear drum brakes. The car was fully restored and finished in dark green over a light brown interior. And with this beautiful wood wheel, it must be a thrill to be behind it.
This car is great reminder of this golden era of the sports car racing where everyone could participate in these races and battle for victory on tracks all around the world.
Sale
| Model : | Aston Martin DB3S |
| Where : | Passion of a Lifetime by Gooding & Company |
| When : | 5 September |
| Price : | SOLD £ 3,011,000 |
Sources
Gooding & Company
Lot : Aston Martin DB3S
Wikipedia :
Aston Martin DB3S
Eberan Eberhorst
Frank Feeley
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Bonus Video
Car's Presentation by Gooding & Company
I'm glad I made you write this one, because holy goodness, it's jaw-droppingly beautiful! If I recall the history correctly, much of the DB3S evolved into the DBR1, after regulation changes meant that Aston could have an upper hand. The fruity note of that inline-6 is just wonderful, and perhaps even more distracting than that gorgeous bodywork... British Racing Green (although my personal favourite would still be Almond Green) 💚
Beautiful color this almond green...
It's a magnificent shade of colour, and it'll certainly be my go-to colour for an Aston Martin, just like Rosso Corsa for Ferrari. It even translates well into their modern cars, and even better with a bit of racing livery on it...
It's impossible to describe how beautiful it is...