Give This 1-of-75 Aston Martin DB2 a Shot at a New Life for $135,000
It’ll need a lot of TLC before it can hit the road again, but a rare roadster like this is worth the love.
Some people have more luck than others, and one of those with good fortune to spare is Peter Kumar, owner of Gullwing Motor Cars. His company recently acquired a million-dollar Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster that spent the last 40 years lost in storage in Indiana, and his streak of luck hasn't yet run cold, because one of his latest acquisitions—a 1952 Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupe—is even rarer.
Dating from the early days of Aston Martin's time under David Brown (from whom the DB prefix is derived), this DB2 is thought to be one of around 75 Drophead Coupes (a British term for a four-seat convertible sports car) built in left-hand drive, and one of 98 total. Gullwing hasn't shared any details of where this car came from, though extensive body damage and a trashed interior suggest it wasn't exactly stored with care.
Neglect of this vintage roadster seems to have started well before it went into storage, too, as its 2.6-liter, twin-cam Lagonda straight-six is said not to be the car's original. In its heyday, this motor would've produced up to 105 horsepower, which would've propelled the DB2 Drophead from a dead stop to 60 mph in 11.2 seconds, and to a top speed of 116 mph. Those aren't groundbreaking numbers in 2020, but they weren't to be trifled with when the DB2 was new—one of this DB2's sister cars won its class at the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans, placing fifth overall.
But new, this Drophead isn't, and in fact, it's advertised as being one of the few remaining examples in "restorable condition." That's a glass-half-full way of saying it needs all the time and money you can throw at it, though if you're willing to put in both (or just an F-600 dump truck load of the latter), you'll be rewarded with a unique classic, and a valuable one at that. A DB2 Drophead in better nick fetched $346,500 at an RM Sotheby's auction in 2017, so with the right bidders in the audience, this car could fetch similar money. Just be ready to drop six figures on making it worth that much, because as the owner of any old British car can tell you, there's no deeper money pit to be found.
Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com
h/t Barn Finds
