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| Aston Martin DB Mark II (DB2 Prototype) (1949) |
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Aston Martins three car entry to Le Mans in 1949 featured a car described at the time as the DB Mark II. These three cars had a shortened wheelbase 2 litre Sports (DB1) tubular chassis and a new streamlined body designed by Frank Feeley, who joined the company with Lagonda. Two of the cars were using the Claude Hill 4 cylinder engine, the third, UMC 66, had a new 2.6 litre six cylinder, twin overhead cam engine. The engine, designed by Willie Wilson (but under the supervision of W.O.Bentley) was acquired from the Lagonda company (recently purchased by David Brown). At Le Mans, the first 4 cylinder car, UMC 64 crashed heavily and the driver, Pierre Marechal sadly died the following day. The second car, UMC 65 went on to finish 7th overall and third in class. The six-cylinder car, UMC 66 was less successful and retired shortly into the race with water pump failure. A little later, at the Spa 24 hour race, UMC 66 finished 3rd overall and UMC 65 5th. But it marked the end of 4 cylinder Astons Martins. The six cylinder UMC 66 went on to be the development car for the production DB2. |
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Since the car is now resident in the USA, I was fortunate to see the six-cylinder UMC 66 in the paddock at Laguna Seca and at the Pebble Beach Concours in the Summer of 2007. |
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| Page Updated Sunday September 23, 2007 |
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