On 26 May 1957, British cars, and a gentleman from Huddersfield named David Brown, attained a long-sought goal. Since the war, this short, bespectacled industrialist, who had been a keen racer in his youth, had spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on machinery to perpetuate the name Aston Martin. On that day, he had the pleasure of watching his latest Aston racecar trample the cream of Italy’s sports machines on one of the world’s most testing road courses, the Nürburgring.
Brown’s drivers were the impeccably fast Tony Brooks and newcomer, Noel Cunningham-Reid, young men who had been groomed for Aston’s racing programme by team manager, Reg Parnell, and his predecessor, John Wyer, now general manager of David Brown Automobiles.
Although an all-English victory, it was important for a number of other reasons.
Since the war, Jaguars had dominated fast courses like Le Mans and Reims. Britain’s own short sprint and club races were the province of home-grown marques like Lister and Tojeiro, while Cooper and Lotus were the forces to be reckoned with in any class under 2.0-litres. Yet, through it all, there was no English car that could challenge the eminence of German and Italian creations in the world’s classic sports car races: the ’Ring; Mille Miglia; Targa Florio; Tourist Trophy; Mexican Road Race and Sebring.
The rivals
These, and similar events, could only be contested by well-balanced, all-round sports racers such as the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR or Maserati 300S. Cars not too big and not too small, with no more power than could be used and excellent suspension to keep it all on the road. Aston Martin was the only English outfit to pursue this goal sincerely.
Always just on the verge of success, the company finally made the grade that May. Its car, the DBR1/300, was a beautiful, purposeful design that drew heavily from the past but also pointed significantly to the future.
Thanks to Brown’s enthusiasm for good cars, by 1948 the David Brown Companies (builders of Cropmaster and Trackmaster tractors, transmissions, axles, gears, gear cutters, steel castings, and once the Lucas Valveless and Dodson cars) owned the assets of both Aston Martin and Lagonda. The latter boasted little more than a respected name and a promising prototype engine designed in 1945 by WO Bentley, famed for his creations during the 1930s.
Bentley’s twin-cam, 2.5-litre six, the LB6, became the heart of the early post-war Astons. It was still recognisably the base of the DBR1’s engine, though
