DB Mark III Saloon

STORY

Sold from 1957 to 1959 and usually called simply the DB Mark III, this was the last evolution of the DB2 family and the last Aston built at Feltham. Its most lasting contribution was the curved grille shape that would define every DB Aston thereafter. Under the skin it used a heavily revised 2.9-litre Lagonda six (the DBA), and it gained front disc brakes as an option.

The standard DBA engine with twin SU carburettors produced 162 bhp, with a dual-exhaust setup raising output to a claimed 178 bhp. In the original Ian Fleming novel it was a DB Mark III that James Bond drove in Goldfinger, before the film substituted a DB5.

A total of 551 were hand-built before the all-new DB4 arrived, most of them 2+2 hatchbacks with a smaller number of convertibles and coupés.