1963 Aston Martin DP215

Great auction at Monterey (California) this august... This beautiful 1963 Aston Martin DP215 will heading to auction through RM Sotheby's, it's a true piece of history, the last Aston Martin racing car under David Brown, owner of Aston Martin. The DP215 participated at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 driven by Lucien Bianchi and Phil Hill. The price is expected to go for north, above $US 20,000,000.

History of the Aston Martin DP215

In 1960, the Aston Martin racing department closed in oder to focus on the road cars, the previous year the DB4 GT was introduced with success. But, the dealers in Europe were begging for the return of the racing cars because it helped to sell cars. So David Brown launched the development of sports car based on the DB4GT chassis with the first Design Project, DP212 five months later. In 1962, the car finished 5th at Le Mans despite the problem of rear-end lift at high speed.

In 1963, two other cars was produced, the DP214 in order to compete againt Ferrari's cars with some victories : Coppa Inter Europa, Coupe de Paris... For Le Mans 1963, Aston Martin created the ultimate evolution of the GT racers in only two months with a budget of £1,500 :-), designed by Ted Cutting, Chief Engineer with an engine from Tadek Marek.

During the race, Phil Hill, American automobile racer World Drivers' Championship in 1978 and Lucien Bianchi, Italian-Belgian racing driver, drove DP215 with a top speed of 319 kmh along the Mulsanne Straight. It was the the fastest car of this race but a gearbox problem caused the retirement of the car after 2 hours of racing. The car participated also to the Reims race driven by Jo Schlesser. But at the end of 1963, tax regulations and the resignation of John Wyer the racing department is closed again and the the cars are sold except the DP215 in order to compete again in 1965 but night testing accident ended the project.

Technical specification

Under the skin of Aston Martin DP215, we have a four liter V6 twin plug engine designed by Tadek Marek, Polish automobile engineer for Aston Martin, with S532 gearbox. In 1978, the car was restored as original as possible thanks to the help of Ted Cutting, the original designer. An Indianapolis Cooper-Aston 4.2-liter engine was installed with 50 DCO Weber carburetors.

For the interior, the orignal seats was installed and covered in a green corduroy. The DP215 is looking toward a fresh start.

Sources

RM Sotheby's

On Wiki :
Aston Martin DP215
David Brown
Lucien Bianchi
Phil Hill
Tadek Marek

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