In 1947 the restless and energetic David Brown saw a classified advertisment in The Times magazine offering for sale a High Class Motor Bussines and so he bought Aston MArtin for 20.000 pounds and then added another car manufacturer to his empire, Lagonda. For the 50.000 pounds he payed he got a good name and a 2.6L six-cylinder engine, offer by Lagonda man, Walter Owen Bentley, in the transaction.
The new "Aston Martin" still entered the Le Mans 24h circuit with three cars. The cars were coupes to minimize functional loss from wind resistance and they were based on the 2.0L sport model. Two out of three models had Claude Hill's four cylinder engine and the last one - registration number UMC66 - was Bentley's masterpiece. The UMC 66 had to pull out of the race due to technical difficulties, but the DB2 series was based on this car.
The Db2 was presented at the New York Motor Show in 1950. It resembled the Le Mans prototype but it was taller by 39 inches. Designer Frank Feeley made a very simple desing for the car but showed a lot of feeling for Italian flair. The front section was tipped forward, the spree tire was placed in a little compartment above the tank in the back. The gearshift was placed in the front, but if the costumers did not follow the current fashion they could order they version vith the gearshift beside the three-spike steering wheel. The rear wheels were also hung on two transverse control arms, this helped the car to sit excellently on the road, and go over really rough terrain with no difficulties.
The DB2 had 108 hp, toward the end of 1950 the vantage version was available and it offered 124 hp, the little extra the costumers needed. The radiator grill, initially in three sections, had now grown into a single unit. There were 411 cars produced, 100 were drophead coupes .
For the people with children the DB2\4 came on sale in 1953 and was available for the next two years. There were 565 cars sold. The DB2\4 was 69 inches longer than it's predecesor. The central bar on what was now a slightly curved front disk was dropped and the luggage compartment, under a large lid at the back, could be loaded from outside. From mid-1954 the model had a 3-liter engine of 140 bhp, offering more punch and more power.
The series was crowned at the 1957 Geneva Spring Show. The build for the DB3 started and with a record output of 550. The pointed radiator looked aggresive and it suited the DB3s perfectly, the dials were now located under a curve directly in the driver's view, where in earlier models they were spread right across the dashboard.
In the skilful hands of exiled Pole Tadek Marek the engine had gained considerably in power. The driver of the DB Mk II had more than 162 bhp in his hands in its basic version, 178 bhp when a dual exhaust was doing its bit, and as much as 195 bhp with further boosting. From 1958 an overdrive was added to David Brown's transmission and a year later an automatic version was available. Girling brakes were first an option and later standard.
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