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DBR1/1 debuted at the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans at the hands of Tony Brooks and Reg Parnell, retiring after
more than 22 hours with engine bearing failure. The car’s impressive list of Works entries that followed saw
the who’s who of endurance racing behind its wheel, including greats such as Carroll Shelby, Roy Salvadori,
Stirling Moss, and Jack Brabham. Entries included two more runs at Le Mans in 1957 and 1958, the 12 Hours
of Sebring in 1958 and 1959, as well as three entries at the Nürburgring 1000 KM, in 1957, 1958 and 1959,
the latter of which saw an overall victory with Sir Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman at the helm. This marked the
third consecutive win for Aston Martin and the DBR1. The win at Nürburgring also played a major role in
securing Aston Martin the 1959 World Sportscar Championship victory—the first time a British manufacturer
had done so.
Nürburgring would mark DBR1/1’s final appearance as a Works entrant, but it would return under privateer
Essex Racing Stable in both 1961 and 1962. The Aston was then sold to the Honourable John Dawnay, future
Viscount Downe and Aston Martin Owner’s Club president, under whose ownership it saw considerable
historic racing success in the early 1980s, piloted by veteran Mike Salmon. The car passed through another
major collection, during which time it was awarded the Most Elegant Sports Car Trophy at the 2001 Pebble
Beach Concours d’Elegance, before landing with its current owner.
Immaculately presented down to every last detail, and the most correct of all five examples built, DBR1/1 is
offered with its final Works fitted engine, and is currently equipped with a bespoke, completely correct
reproduction engine manufactured by Aston Martin specialist Richard Stewart Williams. Following recent
competition at Goodwood Revival at the hands of Brian Redman, DBR1/1 comes to RM Sotheby’s Monterey
sale as the first DBR1 ever offered at public auction. With the potential to break the current record for the
most valuable British car ever sold, DBR1/1 is expected to fetch in excess of $20,000,000 when it crosses
the Monterey podium this August.
“This is the most significant group of Astons to ever come to auction,” says Barney Ruprecht, Car Specialist,
RM Sotheby’s. “It is a true privilege to be entrusted with the sale of all four remarkable cars. From the
Ulster—the pinnacle of pre-war competition—to the founding member of the DB4GT family, the ultimate Aston
in the DBR1, all the way through to modern times with the DBR9, the group represents the complete lineage
of Aston Martin competition history.”
DBR1/1 is joined in Monterey by three additional significant competition Aston Martins
1935 Aston Martin Ulster Competition Sports, chassis no. B5/549/U
One of the best known and most original of the 21 Ulsters produced, B5/549/U was a Works-supported car,
campaigned in period at motorsport’s finest events. The Ulster ran the 1935 Mille Miglia, and secured a fourth
in class finish at Le Mans that same year before winning the Targa Abruzzo in 1936. After having spent more
than three decades as the personal race car of Derrick Edwards, founder of Ecurie Bertelli, it is presented in
Monterey as a highly eligible historic racer, ready for the Le Mans Classic, the Mille Miglia, Goodwood, and
the Monaco Historic Grand Prix (Est. $2,500,000 - $3,000,000).
1959 Aston Martin DB4GT, chassis no. DP199
DP199 (development prototype) is widely considered the most important non-Zagato DB4GT. Significantly,
DP199 took overall victory in its first competitive outing at Silverstone in 1959, with none other than Sir Stirling
Moss as its driver, and was campaigned at Le Mans later that year. Following its Works career, DP199
passed through a string of privateers, seeing club racing action over the next couple of decades. Restored to
its 1959 Le Mans specification, the DB4GT comes to Monterey representative of the beginning of the GT
lineage (Est. $6,000,000 - $8,000,000).
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