1955 Aston Martin DB3S

David Brown started working in his family business, manufacturing tractors and gears. When WWII started, Brown was a major producer for tank transmissions and the provider for gears in Spitfire fighter planes. In 1948 Brown bought both Aston Martin and Lagonda. He had a vision of beating Ferrari and winning Le Mansoverall. Brown started with the DB2, which took 1^st place in Class at Le Mans in 1950. Winning the class was a start but was not his vision; he wanted to win overall. In 1953 Eberan von Eberhorst developed the DB3 for David Brown. The DB3 was much faster than the DB2 but was not as reliable. It wasn't until Aston Martin produced the DB3S prototype that featured a lighter chassis, a shorter wheelbase, and the hypoid-bevel gearbox that Aston Martin was a major competitor. The new DB3S also featured a new body that had similar looks to a Ferrari 250 TR with pontoon fenders and a cut away behind the front tires. Aston Martin came so close in 1955, finishing 2^nd overall at Le Mans in a DB3S driven by Sir Stirling Moss and Peter Collins. After trying for 10 years, David Brown reached his goal. In 1959, the DBR1 driven by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori finished 1^st overall atLe Mans !

Aston Martin produced 31 DB3S cars from 1953-1956. Twenty of these cars were cars built for customers, which featured a less powerful engine and slower racing components than the team cars. DB3S/118 was the only DB3S delivered new in Dutch Racing Orange. HansDavids took deliver of the Aston Martin and first raced it at Goodwood. Later that year,Davids did not feel the engine was powerful enough and took it back to the Aston Martin factory for it to be fitted with twin plug heads like the more powerful team cars. HansDavids' last race of the year was at Zandvoort, where he placed 1st overall and also set the lap record. This was also HansDavids' last race as a professional driver. HansDavids sold DB3S/118 to Paul Hyatt, a captain in the U.S. Merchant Navy. Hyatt started racing right away and was successful, winning its class at Bridgehampton in 1958. Later, the car was sold to Joe Lubin, who owned the car until 1964, when it was sold to Richard Felt. Richard held onto the car for almost 30 years until well know Aston Martin collector, Chris Salyer, was able to pry DB3S/118 loose. When Salyer bought the car it was in the middle of a restoration. Salyer finished restoring the car back to the way Paul Hyatt had raced it. Later, Salyer painted the car the colour it left the factory, Dutch Racing Orange. With DB3S/118 retaining all of its original components, it is possibly the most original DB3S in existence. The DB3s is one of the most attractive post-war European racing sports cars and is ready to be shown around the world in Historic races or at concours events.