A rather notable MotorTrend reviewer wrote of the Aston Martin DB2 that it was the “best cornering car I’ve had,” and went on to enthuse, “I have never driven a car that tracks as straight and as comfortably.” High praise indeed, considering that appraisal came from none other than road- racing legend Phil Hill. That’s a pretty good place to start, but from the DB2 of 1950 to the DB2/4 MkIII of 1957, the car that earned Hill’s high praise evolved into a faster, far more capable, more comfortable and better appointed true GT that author Ian Fleming deemed fitting for his iconic James Bond. Yes, though Bond drove a DB5 in the “Goldfinger” movie, 007’s wheels in the 1959 novel were fitted to a DB2/4 MkIII. It all started when British industrialist David Brown acquired what was essentially a niche artisan cottage industry in 1947 and mated Aston Martin with Lagonda, an acquisition which furnished WO Bentley’s superb 2580cc twin-overhead-cam inline-6 with hemispherical combustion chambers. When first installed in the aluminum-bodied DB2 it produced 105-107 HP, which made it good for 110-117 MPH. By the time the DB2/4 MkIII appeared in 1957, the iron-block six had grown to 2922cc and produced 162 HP, as seen in this example. While top speed increased marginally to 119-120 MPH, the latest model got there an awful lot quicker, reaching 60 MPH in 9.3 seconds, an improvement of more than 3 seconds. Along the way, accommodations had also been improved with two occasional rear seats, hence the 2/4 designation, while the aesthetics, particularly to the bluff front end with its rather brutal three-piece, prison-bar grille, were continually refined, resulting in an altogether more harmonious whole and, with the introduction of the DB2/4 MKIII, the signature Aston Martin full-width mesh grille. Along with an improved interior and dash layout, the DB2/4 MkIII also featured front disc brakes courtesy of Girling. This 1957 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkIII from The Rick Grant III Estate Collection is what the Brits called a saloon, but in reality, it’s a fastback coupe with a practical, top-hinged, hatchback- style tail gate that allows easy access to the load bay, which can be considerably enlarged by lowering the fold-flat rear seats. The overall result is what Road & Track called “a car for connoisseurs,” and indeed, at $7,450, it most certainly was. All but a very few of the 551 DB2/4 MkIIIs were right-hand drive, as is this former Blackhawk Collection car, which was acquired by Grant in 2007 and features Tickford coachwork. Chassis No. AM300/3A/1478’s 2922cc/162 HP Lagonda DOHC straight-6, Engine No. DBA/1186, is equipped with twin SU carburetors and backed by a 4-speed manual gearbox. Meanwhile, its two-tone blue and white livery is more flamboyant than James Bond’s battleship gray DB2/4 MkIII, which Fleming believed “suited his cover – well-to-do, rather adventurous young man with a taste for the good, fast things of life.”
