Aston Martin Garage Sale

Legendary racecar driver Sir Sterling Moss was once again associated with a major collector car auction sale last weekend during Bonham’s 11^th annual Aston Martin Works Service sale.  The 80-year-old Moss was the subject of several media reports last March when he seriously injured himself by falling into an elevator shaft and then miraculously recovered sufficiently to purchase a 1961 Porsche RS61 Spyder at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction less than two weeks later.

This time, Moss’s name surfaced in connection to his role in the racing lineage of a rare 1950 Aston Martin DB2 team car that was prepared specifically for competition in the second postwar 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Unfortunately the DB2 never made it to the famed endurance race, as it was damaged in transit, but a few months later Moss campaigned the repaired car in the MCC ‘Daily Express’ 1,000-Mile Rally.

In many ways the DB2 can be viewed as the beginning of owner David Brown’s postwar racecar evolution, a process that was catalyzed by Aston’s acquisition of Lagonda (and its in-house engineer W.O. Bentley), and culminated in a 1959 win at Le Mans with none other than Carroll Shelby behind the wheel of a DBR1.

Bonhams announced that this year’s Aston Martin sale, which was again staged at the British manufacturer’s Newport Pagnell facility, earned a best-ever 4.7 million pounds ($6.75 million).  The ex-Moss DB2 team car, which sold for an auction high 513,000 pounds ($737,078), was joined in prominence by a 1965 DB5 Convertible that sold for 359,000 pounds ($515,811), and a 1962 DB4 Series IV Vantage Saloon that sold for 214,900 pounds ($308,768).