For Sale at Auction: 1954 Aston Martin Coupe in Carmel, California

Chassis No. LML 562
Engine No. VB6E 50 1294

The Aston Martin name that the world came to know through the elegant Touring-designed DB cars of the 1960s was built on the foundation of the sporting Feltham cars, so-called for their production in Feltham, England. Incorporated by David Brown in 1947 after purchasing Aston Martin and the bankrupt Lagonda factory at Hanworth Park, the firm began production of the "DB" series, with the DB2 as the company's first post-war production road car. The DB2/4 followed in 1953, introducing two rear seats that could be folded down for additional luggage space, a raised roofline for rear passengers, and a rear "hatchback" liftgate in fixed-head Sports Saloon form. DB2/4s remain highly coveted today as capable grand tourers that paved the way for the later Touring-designed DB cars.

Power came from the Lagonda twin-cam inline-six, fed by twin SU carburetors and rated at 125 horsepower in the 2.6-liter specification carried by the late Mark I cars. Top speed comfortably exceeded 100 miles per hour, in keeping with David Brown's idea of the Aston Martin as a gentleman's express. The model quickly proved its competition credentials as well, taking class honors at the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Peter Collins and Graham Whitehead, while works examples also carried the marque's colors into that year's Mille Miglia.

Mulliners of Birmingham supplied the Saloon, Drophead Coupe, and Notchback coachwork for the DB2/4, and the vast majority of the 565 Mark I cars were clothed in these factory bodies. A small number of owners, however, took advantage of Aston Martin's willingness to sell a bare rolling chassis and turned instead to an independent carrosserie. One such owner sent his chassis to Hermann Graber of Wichtrach, Switzerland, the coachbuilder who had earned a reputation through the 1930s clothing Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Duesenberg, and Packard chassis, and who spent his postwar years working largely on British marques. By the account of restorer Kevin Kay, who researched the AMOC records during the car's restoration, Graber bodied just five Aston Martins in all, four DB2s and a single DB2/4, the last being chassis LML 562 offered here.

Where the factory cars carried Frank Feeley's familiar shape, Graber gave the Drophead lines that read more European than British. The traditional three-part Aston grille gave way to a fine egg-crate opening, and the proportions were quieted into something more restrained than the Feltham original. Graber's construction departed from British practice as well, with aluminum forming the front of the body and steel used from the windscreen rearward, allowing the coachwork to be welded directly to the chassis, while the doors and posts were carried on oak framing. The detailing matched the carrosserie's standing, from Bosch switchgear and Smiths instruments to Marchal lighting, Dunlop tires, and Armstrong dampers.

Ordered new by A.N. Norrish of Genova-Quarto, Italy, the left-hand-drive chassis was sent to Graber's works at Wichtrach for its bespoke Drophead Coupe coachwork and delivered in May 1955 through the Stierli Garage in Z�rich. LML 562 reportedly spent the bulk of its life in Switzerland before passing into long-term storage in Basel, where it remained unseen until 2007, when it was sold to a Los Angeles collector of coachbuilt sports cars. Shortly after reaching the United States, the car underwent a thorough restoration by Aston Martin specialist Kevin Kay in Redding, California. The one-off body alone absorbed close to 1,000 hours of labor, with the coachwork chemically stripped to bare metal, new sills fabricated, the doors reskinned, and the wood of the B-posts and door frames renewed, while the steel rear structure was extensively repaired after decades of Swiss winters. The finished car emerged in period-correct Dove Grey over dark blue leather with a blue convertible top, as it presents today. There is a nearly 17-minute video documenting the entirety of the Kevin Kay restoration.

Once completed, LML 562 made its debut at the 60th Annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2010, where it claimed third in the Post-War Sports and Touring class, and it later appeared at the Palm Beach Cavallino Classic in 2012. In the ownership of a Texas collector from 2019 to 2022, the car was diligently maintained by Red Car Restorations of Rockwall, Texas. In August 2022, the car returned to Pebble Beach Golf Links at the 71st Concours d'Elegance and took third in the Graber Coachwork Late class, a measure of the lasting quality of its restoration. Under current ownership, the car has been entrusted to Panther City Classic Autos of Fort Worth, Texas, whose invoices document a mechanical sorting in late 2022 that included a full ignition tune, the resolution of oil and coolant leaks, a new fuel pump, an adjusted steering box, and five new Vredestein radial tires, along with the fitting of correct vintage seat belts and exterior mirrors. The clutch master cylinder was subsequently rebuilt with new seals, and the car received a further inspection and service as recently as July 2024. It retains its original engine according to a copy of its original build sheet, and is further accompanied by a tool roll, roadside jack, and knock-off hammer.

The sole Graber-bodied DB2/4 in existence, LML 562 unites the bloodline of a DB-era Aston Martin with the singular design of one of Switzerland's great coachbuilders. Few postwar Astons can claim a more individual identity, and fewer still open the door to the most selective concours, tours, and Aston Martin Owners Club events as readily as this one.