At the end of the 1950s, the Aston Martin team officially withdrew from the circuits. David Brown was the director of the brand at that time, and he wanted to continue supplying competition machines to customers who demanded them, focusing the brand's efforts on road cars. Even so, he decided to approve the creation of several "prototypes" based on the Aston Martin DB4GT, with the aim of participating occasionally in competitions as mediatic as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thus the DP212, DP214 and DP215 were born, a perfected evolution of its two predecessors.
The Aston Martin DP215 had an arduous task ahead of it. To be as successful as the DP214 - which was able to beat a Ferrari 250 GTO in competition at Monza - and to further refine its predecessor's mechanical recipe, riding the crest of the wave in terms of engineering and performance. The DP215 was the last racing car officially developed by Aston Martin and was developed in just two months, on a tight budget for the time. The car was to use a new V8 designed by Tarek Marek, but had to settle for a DP214-derived six-cylinder.
That six-cylinder engine and 3,996 cubic centimeters was an engine with pedigree. A sharp engine capable of developing 327 hp at 6,000 rpm, fed by three double-barrel Weber carburettors, and with a double-overhead-cam cylinder head. All the power passed to the ground through what was perhaps the weakest link in the set: the veteran five-ratio transaxle gearbox of the Aston Martin DBR1. Its chassis was made up of tubular elements and its bodywork had both magnesium and aluminum elements. The whole weighed only a ton.
The Aston Martin DP215 made its debut at the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, reaching a bone-chilling 195 mph (319.6 km/h) on the Mulsanne straight… during practice! In the race the car was six seconds per lap faster than the Ferrari 330 LMBs and twelve seconds per lap faster than the Ferrari 250 GTOs. Unfortunately, after two hours of competition the gearbox said enough, unable to withstand the torque of the six-cylinder engine - what he told you about the weakest link was not a literary license. At Reims the following month, a similar problem forced the car to retire.
When Aston Martin engineers finally fitted the DP215 with the gearbox it should have had, Aston Martin was forced to shut down its racing department for good. The car was sold to a client, who fitted it with a DB6 engine, as well as its gearbox, and used it on the road for years. The next owner managed to return it with a lot of effort - and investment - to its original state, requesting the help of specialists and Aston Martin itself. The 400/215/1 engine was already recovered in the 21st century, after being acquired from the owner of the Aston Martin DP214.
This British beauty makes us fall in love not only on a technical and historical level, but also on an aesthetic level. It was a racing car that was also a real beauty, as was the case with the Ferrari 250 GTO or the Jaguar XKSS of the time. A golden age for racing cars, in which form and function were married in an unrepeatable way. Unique cars in which there was still a link with street cars. This unique appeal has been reflected in its auction prices. In this case, we are talking about the most expensive British car ever auctioned. Pure contemporary art.
