c2012 WAM Aston Martin DBR1 Recreation

Description

One of the most revered sports-racing cars of all time, Aston Martin’s DBR1 remains the most successful racing car to emerge from the Feltham factory, with an incredible heritage than includes outright victories at the famous Nürburgring and Le Mans 24-Hours. Under the experienced direction of General Manager John Wyer and racing head Reg Parnell, Aston Martin’s successor to the pretty DB3S racing models was almost entirely developed by talented designer Ted Cutting in the latter part of 1955. With streamlined bodywork clothing a multi-tubular space-frame chassis, the DBR1 was lower and more aerodynamically efficient than its predecessor, powered by the RB6 straight six developed in conjunction with AJS, using gear-driven cams and the power output almost reached the magic 100 bhp per litre. The suspension retained the DB3S’s trailing links and torsion bars up front, with a de Dion axle located by a Watts linkage and longitudinal torsion bars at the rear; rack and pinion steering and Girling disc brakes completed the package. Although the DBR1 retired in its first outing at Le Mans in 1956, it had been an encouraging debut and further development saw team drivers Roy Salvadori and Tony Brooks score several important wins the following season, including Spa and the Nürburging (the first of three successive victories on the famous Nordschleife circuit). For 1958 the DBR1 competed in the FIA’s classic three-litre formula against opposition like Ferraris’s 250 Testa Rossa and had the mettle of its opposition on numerous occasions, helped by a stellar driving line-up. However 1959 proved to be the Aston Martin’s finest year, with Salvadori teaming up with Texan Carroll Shelby to record a memorable victory at La Sarthe, helping the team take out the World Sports Car Championship against the might of Ferrari and Porsche. With only five original cars in existence, locked away in some of the most important private collections around the world, values of the DBR1 are now measured in millions, ensuring that ownership remains an impossible dream for all but the fortunate few.