1962 Aston Martin DP212

The 1995 Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995 marked the Diamond Jubilee of the Aston Martin Owners Club with a display of Aston Martins in the paddock and this is one of the cars in that display.

It's the Aston Martin DP212 that was created to run in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hour race and was driven in that race by Graham Hill and Richie Ginther. The car was built on a DB4 GT chassis with an inline 6-cylinder 4 litre engine based on the DB4 GT's 3.7 litre unit. A note in the programme of the event says this about it:

1962 Prototype DP212

The only team car entered for Le Mans in

1962, DP212 was in second place, but

forced to retire after 6 hours with

piston failure. In 1964 it was rebuilt as

a road car, but continued to be raced in

this country. In 1974 DP212 won the

Classic Car Championship, driven by

Mike Salmon for its owner Viscount

Downe, President of the AMOC.

Aston Martin Project 212

This car took part in the Coys of Kensington Pre-1964 GT Car race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's the 1961 Aston Martin Project 212, entered in the race by Hugo Investments Ltd and driven by Gary Pearson and Mike Salmon. It was created to run in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hour race and built on a DB4 GT chassis with an inline 6-cylinder 4 litre engine based on the DB4 GT's 3.7 litre unit. Driven in that race by Graham Hill and Richie Ginther it was amongst the leaders in the early part of the race, but retired on lap 79 after a piston failure.

On 23 January 2017 I showed a photograph of the later Aston Martin Project 214 car.