One of Aston Martin’s celebrated Team Cars, the 1950 Le Mans entry DB2 'VMF 65', is an early headlining entry at this year’s Newport Pagnell sale.

Post-War Astons do not get much more famous than this. Chassis LML/50/9 was raced by a dazzling line-up of British drivers including Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Roy Salvadori, Major Tony Rolt, Lance Macklin, George Abecassis and Eric Thompson. The car was one of a triple factory entry at Le Mans in 1950, when works driver Jack Fairman crashed it badly enough en route to the French classic for it to be a non-starter.

This was the time, of course, when racing cars were routinely driven on the roads to meetings. The sister cars, VMF 63 and VMF 64, did start the 24-hour race, finishing sixth and fifth overall, respectively.

VMF 65 was repaired and became a works entry at Silverstone (Eric Thompson), the Ulster Tourist Trophy (Abecassis) and the MCC Daily Express 1000-Mile Rally (Moss/Macklin), before its sale out of works ownership to the legendary British private owner/entrant Rob Walker. Having further top-flight excursions in the hands of Abecassis, Rolt, Thompson, and Walker himself, it then passed into collectors’ hands, including the late Robert Leyba in whose collection it joined two other DB2 works cars, VMF 63 and XMC 76.

Bonhams estimates its price at £380,000-£440,000. For the record (as indeed it was, for the type), RM Auctions sold ‘VMF 64’, another ex-Factory DB2, for £550,000 last October.

The Bonhams Aston Martin sale will be held on May 22, 2010 at Aston Martin Works Service, Newport Pagnell.

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: The Klementaski Collection