Aston Martin DB3S sportscar.
Doug Sharp has a number of photographs of racing cars that his father, Wilf, took in the mid-1950s. He worked for a company in Newcastle (Small & Parks) that re-lined brake shoes. From time to time, Wilf would be invited by contacts at Girling to help them out in the paddock at various race meetings. This photograph, of Aston Martin DB3S registration YMY 307, was taken at the Charterhall racing circuit in Scotland. The year is believed to be 1955. Maybe it was the August 6th meeting, a race which saw Reg Parnell behind the wheels of a DB3S.
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This car is in fact car number one, chassis #DB3S/1, exhibiting the "egg-crate" style of grille that featured on the early cars, similar to that which would also appear on the DBR1 later in the 1950s. The car just visible to the right, in the background, is - I think - R.D. Poore's Alfa. A couple of transporters can be seen in the background. In all there were eleven "Works" DB3S Astons, although one was not raced by the factory, plus twenty customer cars.
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The lorry on the left looks like a typical box van that had been pressed into service carrying a car. The one to the right is clearly a converted coach, with the
rear panel opened up and a full-width door fitted. The legend above the windows appears to read Gould's Garage, which if this is the case, means that it belonged to racing driver Horace Gould. In 1954 he raced a Cooper T23, while from 1955 to 1960 he ran a Maserati 250F.
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The DB3S was introduced in 1953 and, while not instantly successful, was a distinct improvement over the previous DB3 and soon was developed into a race-winning car. The cars used Aston's straight-six, double overhead cam, engine, later cars benefiting from a twin-plug cylinder head. This car, DB3S/1, survives to this day, and won the 2013 Gran Turismo Trophy at Pebble Beach in the USA (now with the later style nose).
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Original advertisement.
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Other DB3S links.
A number of early photos featuring Aston Martins can be found on OCC via the site search. Below are a few links to other DB3S-related pages on this site:
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Return to Page 19 in the photographic archive, or visit the main index here. Links to pages relating to motor racing in particular may be found in this section of the site.
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