And it would be hard not to feel fantastic when powering along behind the steering-wheel of a 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark 1. Like the one we have at Beverly Hills Car Club *note: SOLD this week. This is a rare left-hand-drive 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 MK1 Saloon that is finished in Silver, complemented by a Silver-Grey interior.

Buyer or Seller Questions? Let’s Talk! 310-975-0272

It is equipped with a 3-speed manual transmission, retrofitted with a Chevrolet 283 V8 engine (245HP), Carter AFB carburetor, twin exhaust finishers, Smiths instrumentation, 4-wheel drum brakes, wood-rimmed steering wheel, chrome trim, and chrome bumpers with overriders. Amenities include manual-crank windows, vent windows, forward-folding front seats, interior wood trim, a Motorola radio, passenger dash grab handle, and sun visors with a vanity mirror on the passenger side. This is an extremely collectible DB2/4 MK1 Saloon that is a piece of British automobile history and is mechanically sound.

And when it debuted at the London Motor Show in 1953, the DB2/4 presented a leap forward, a subsequently much imitated true first in the motoring world. For the DB2/4 was what widely would become known as a ‘sporting hatchback.’

Essentially a later version of the DB2, the DB2/4 had a revised rear chassis and smaller fuel tank. The two-door original, with its small letterbox boot, had been re-engineered to make it into one of the world’s first hatchbacks, offering greater rear headroom, two vestigial rear seats and the convenience of a mainly glass tailgate. The DB2/4 was now a four-seater car: if there were only two occupants, the rear seats could be folded down, offering colossal luggage capacity. The rear screen was significantly larger than on the DB2, which aids easy identification.

The Laguna straight-6 engine, designated the VB6E, was initially the same dual overhead cam straight-6 used in the DB2. Displacement was 2.6 L (2,580 cc/157 in³), giving 125 hp (93 kW). In September 1953 for the Saloon and in April 1954 for the Drophead, a 2.9 L (2,922 cc/178 in³) VB6J version was used, raising power to 140 hp (104 kW) and maximum speed to 120 mph (193 km/h).

The roofline of the DB2/4 was raised so as to provide extra headroom for rear seat passengers. And the front windscreen became a single piece full width curved affair.

As well as by the hatchback, the DB2/4 can be distinguished from the earlier car by more substantial bumpers complete with over-riders. And the headlamps were positioned slightly higher than on early DB2s, as demanded by new safety regulations.

From mid-1954, that enlarged 2.9 liter engine was introduced giving a much improved 140 bhp. Once fitted with the larger capacity engine, the 2.9 liter DB2/4 was capable of a genuine 120mph top speed.

A total of 565 Aston Martin DB2/4s Mk 1s were built, employing several different locations. The rolling chassis, engines and other parts were made in the David Brown Industries factories at Meltham Mill near Huddersfield in Yorkshire and at his nearby tractor engine factory at Farsley, six miles to the west of Leeds, again in the northern county of Yorkshire – David Brown himself was a Yorkshireman of course. The coachwork was assembled by Mulliners of Birmingham from panels made by the likes of Airflow Streamline in Northampton, fifty miles north of London. Then the cars eventually arrived for final finishing at the premises that David Brown had purchased with his acquisition of Lagonda in west London’s Feltham.

In 1963 the master film-maker Alfred Hitchcock released his seminal movie The Birds, a tale of avian terror in a small Californian beach resort. Into this quiet seaside location drives socialite Melanie Daniels, an inspired performance by Tippi Hedren.

And what is Ms Hedren – with no sign of James Bond – so sexily driving? Why, an Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk 1.

Sometimes you can’t just leave it to the birds…

-Alex Manos, Owner