21 June 2013

Fit for a King

We proudly present a truly stunning one-off Aston Martin DB2/4 Vignale 1954.

The car was built for King Baudouin of Belgium, he was approximately 25 years old when he ordered the Vignale bodied Aston. Just before 1954 King Baudouins mother-in-law, Lilian Princess of Rethy had just taken possession of a Vignale bodied Ferrari, word has it the DB2/4 Vignale was made especially so the king was not upstaged!

Records show the DB2/4 was originally delivered to Vignale in Turin on September 28, 1954, as a fastback model with a large opening rear hatch. Vignale then transformed it into a one-off grand tourer which was completed on March 10, 1955, and given to King Baudouin. Under the bonnet was a 3-litre engine which, back in 1954, gave the car a 0-60mph time of 10.5 seconds and a top speed of 118mph. It is unknown how long the King held onto the Aston for as there are no records. After this, the car vanished for around 30 years until the 90s, between the 60s and 90s the car appears to have come in possession of a Canadian gentleman serving in the RCAF in France, again it is unsure of how long this gentleman held onto the Vignale bodied Aston although we do know the next person in possession of the car is Roland Wommack of Virginia USA who reputably found the car "in a very sorry state" in a breakers yard in Virginia.


Now, we are in possession of the car. The car requires a full, ground-up restoration or we will return the DB2/4 to its original condition.

The remarkable Vignale bodied Aston currently has much of its original Vignale body along with the original chassis and because of the car's Italian styling, it looks more like a Ferrari from the era than a classic Aston Martin which makes it even more unique.

Not only is this Aston an extremely rare one-off car it is absolutely unique! Aston Martins are becoming more and more collectible and the classic car market is booming, rare cars with an interesting history like the Vignale-bodied DB2/4 are proving to be increasingly good investments not to mention the company is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary this year so it couldn't be a better time to start!


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