As well as the Spa Replica, Aston Martin premiered the Two Litre Sports on their stand at the 1948 London Motor Show. It was also based on a chassis very much like that of the Atom and was powered by Claude Hill's 2 litre 4 cylinder push rod engine. Partly due to the weight of the 2 seater open coachwork, post-war low octane pool petrol and the modest power output of 90 bhp, maximum speed was only 93 mph.

Sadly, only 14 examples were built, 13 with the open 2 seater coachwork, and a single example sold chassis only. They are very rarely seen indeed. This was the first that I have ever seen in the showroom of Aston Workshop in Beamish during March 2006.

But one distinctive feature of the 2 Litre Sports can still be seen Aston Martins to the present day. It's possible to see a familiar shape in the three piece grille. Unfortunately the centre section was not fitted when I took these pictures

After the DB2 was first announced in 1950, the 2 litre Sports  become known retrospectively as the DB1. This particular car shown here was the last one made.