Aston Martins aren’t cheap, but some are worth more than others. Like
this one, which could become not only the most valuable Aston ever offered for
sale, but the most expensive car from any British manufacturer. It’s called the DP215, and it’s
one-of-a-kind. Far from a race-converted version of one of Aston’s road cars,
the DP215 was fabricated for one purpose, and one purpose only: to race at Le
Mans.
It was more streamlined, with its engine set further back in its
frame, and it was fast. In fact it was the first car ever to crack the 300 km/h
barrier at Le Mans, hitting a top speed of 198.6 mph down the Mulsanne Straight
during qualifying.
The last racing car built under owner David Brown’s auspices, it was
completed just a couple of months before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963, and
was driven by none other than Phil Hill in the race – alongside Belgian racer
Lucien Bianchi (great uncle of the late F1 driver Jules Bianchi, who suffered a
similar fate). Unfortunately Hill and Bianchi didn’t make it to the finish
line, suffering from a gearbox failure only four hours into the race. But its
place in the famous marque’s lore was cemented.
Now 55 years later, the car’s been exhaustively restored and reunited
with its original engine. And it’s headed for the auction block. RM Sotheby’s
will sell it to the highest bidder at Monterey, alongside a Ferrari 250 GTO and
Le Mans-winning Ford GT40. If it falls in the upper half of its US$ 20-25 million
estimate, it could even top the US$ 22,550,000 for which the same auctioneer sold a
1956 Aston Martin DBR1 at the same event just last year.
