1950 - DB2 Drophead Prototype, VMF 37, LML/50/10

LML/50/10 was registered in May 4th 1950 as VMF 37 in the name of David Brown Tractors Ltd and subsequently in the name of David Brown Tractors (Engineering) Ltd, and in October 1952 in the name of David Brown Jnr. During that period it was David Brown's personal car.

Being the prototype she was featured on the DB2 model brochure and as the factory demonstrator she was also the test car for many publications of the day – Autocar in Oct 1950, Country Life in January 1951 and Motorsport in Feb 1951. More recently she was featured in other magazines – The British Sports Car Association Magazine in May/June 1996, The Automobile in May 2001 and ASTON Issue 8 in 2006. A 1/43 model of her was included in the AMOC and AMHT Aston Martin 100 Years – The Model Collection 1 – The Road Cars. More details and many photographs of her early history can be found for instance in

http://astonuts.free.fr/WASHBOARD/HTML/10E.html

Rebuilt by Colin Simmonds in 1971 it was auctioned in May 1996 by Sotheby's and sold to the USA.

I bought her in 2004 in very peculiar circumstances… We were staying in a hotel in Heathrow on the eve of the start of the 2004 London Sydney Marathon when I saw on a classic car magazine an advert for the car from a dealer in South Kensington, acting on behalf of that American owner. We had enjoyed a DB2 Saloon for several years and always wanted a drophead, so I went to London that afternoon, literally drove her around the block, agreed a price and told the dealer: “keep her for a month please, while I drive to Sydney”… Six weeks later I collected the car and drove her directly to Portugal.

Sometime later I had her mechanically sorted out by David Reed of Davron, including an engine rebuild, and have since driven her many thousands of miles on many tours across the world, in New Zealand, the US, Jordan and most European countries.

She was recently subject to a sympathetic restoration by Spray Tec Restorations, with new sills but keeping all panels and as many original components as possible, including the non-original body and trim colours and the steering wheel, which after 50 years in the car are already part of her image.

Static photos below are from last September's Hampton Court Concours d'Elegance.