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| Aston Martin 15/98 4 door Saloon (1936 - 1938) |
| The 2 litre production Aston Martins of the late 1930's are very important cars in the history of the marque. The 2 litre engine was first seen (in dry sump form) in 1936 Le Mans Team Cars, before being shown in more pedestrian models at the Olympia Motor Show later in the year. Previous Aston Martins had been very sporting indeed, whereas the 2 litre 15/98 cars were intended as fast tourers, very much in the same vein as the DB7 of today. 15/98 refers to the RAC rating (15) and the power output (98bhp) of the wet sump engine. | |
| Many pre-war cars were bodied by the company of E. Bertelli Ltd, run by Enrico 'Harry' Bertelli, brother of A.C. 'Bert' Bertelli, in a factory next door to Astons in Feltham. It was intended that 100 of the 4 door saloon would be built on the long chassis (9' 8'') together with a lesser number of 2 door tourers. Although orders for the saloon were taken at the 1936 Motor Show, the car had barely been tested and the engine was found to be relatively rough, especially with the enclosed saloon body and performance was not as good as had been anticipated. After AM management realised that the saloon was somewhat filled with teething problems, planned production was halved and only 50 were built. Relatively few survive in original form, many have been scrapped and others re-bodied with more sporting coachwork. This excellent example, photographed at the AML/Brookes Auction in May 2000 sold for only £21,275 including buyers premium. |
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Initially priced at £595 complete; deliveries first started in early 1937. Then, in June 1938, the price was slashed by £100 in an attempt to move on the unsold examples. The heavy body was too much for the 2 litre engine; the coachwork was too much of a departure from Astons sporting past and the styling was uninspiring. |
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