ASTON MARTIN DB3S SPECIAL
SPORTING TWO-SEATER
Registration no. 866 XUM
Engine no. LB6V50507 / 2580cc
Gearbox no. DBRW/152/RH
Chassis DP155
History
This most interesting and well-finished sporting two-seater is based upon an Aston Martin DB3S-type chassis frame stamped DP155, and is equipped with a 2.6-litre Aston Martin 6-cylinder double-overhead camshaft engine, driving via a David Brown Aston Martin racing gearbox to the rear wheels. This cars with origins back to the early-1950s when Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd first contemplated manufacture of a single-seat Grand Prix racing Formula 2 car. An early prototype was assembled, using a mildly-developed 2-litre version of the company’s familiar 2.6-litre engine, mounted in a modified DB3-type chassis. However, contemporary Technical Director Prof Dr Robert Eberan von Eberhorst rejected the notion and the car was quickly dismantled and forgotten.
However, soon afterwards the International governing body, the Commission Sportive of the FIA global authority, announced a new 2.5-litre Formula 1 to which World Championship Grand Prix races would be run from January 1, 1954 forward. Late in 1953, Aston Martin contemplated the category once more, but on a very low priority. The project was given the classification DP155, the car comprising an un-numbered DB3S sports car-type chassis frame powered by a 2.5-litre version of the Willie Watsondesigned 2.9-litre Aston Martin power unit.
The 2.5-litre engine was subsequently installed in works Aston Martin DB3S sports-racing car chassis No 5, which Reg Parnell drove to good effect in that year’s British Empire Trophy race. This prompted contemporary rumours that Aston Martin was considering an entry into Grand Prix competition. Such stories were denied but the belief that this was the case intensified when the Feltham factory confirmed that Reg Parnell would be racing a DB3S-based single-seater car in New Zealand during the opening weeks of 1956.