Aston Martin DBR1/1: The $22 Million Legend
While Italian and German cars dominate the list of biggest sellers at auction, Britain holds its own thanks to the legendary Aston Martin DBR1, but perhaps not the car you’d think…
First, but perhaps not foremost. That’s the story of this particular Aston Martin DBR1, the open-topped sports car that would bring Aston Martin its finest success to date.
Chassis DBR1/1 hammered down for $22million at RM Sotheby’s 2017 Monterey auction, in doing so set a new record for the sale of a British automobile at auction.
A stunning performance from Moss during the 1959 Nürburgring 1000Km race set Aston Martin up for what stands as its sole world title
Getty Images
The sale was so seismic that the car still stands as the 15th most valuable automobile ever sold at auction. The 1956 Le Mans-winning Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar D-type is the only other homegrown machine to get close to the Aston’s figure, initially becoming the most expensive British car ever auctioned when it sold for $21.78m in 2016, before being surpassed a year later.
But, perhaps ironically, this particular DBR1 isn’t the one that took the biggest of the headlines. It was actually the sister car, chassis DBR1/2 which was driven to that historic 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours victory by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori.
“Aston’s world title was only possible thanks to DBR1/1’s win”
DBR1/1 is however the first of the bloodline, the chassis that set the tone. It was also not devoid of its own sporting success as this was the chassis that Stirling Moss talked Aston Martin into entering for the 1959 Nürburgring 1000Kms. Believing the car capable of winning and knowing victory in Germany would kick-start Aston’s World Sportscar Championship challenge, Moss shared the car with Jack Fairman and broke the lap record 16 times on his way to a virtuoso victory – a drive that many consider to be one of his finest- ever performances.
More commonly found with Roy Salvadori behind the wheel, DBR1/1 also claimed the runner-up spot in the 1957 British Empire Trophy, Goodwood Easter meeting, the British Grand Prix sports car race and the 1958 RAC Tourist Trophy, the latter sharing with Jack Brabham.
At Goodwood’s Tourist Trophy that September – the WSC’s season finale – DBR1/1 served as a spare car, with Shelby/Fairman/Moss winning the race to clinch Aston Martin’s sole world championship. But that feat was only made possible by DBR1/1’s triumph at the Nürburgring.
Once Aston Martin had exited the sports car scene as a works entry, Jim Clark and Bruce McLaren also drove it for Essex Racing Stables.
