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A 1950 Aston Martin that raced twice at Le Mans sold for 550,000 pounds ($900,000) at an auction in London last night as demand contracted for other high-value classic cars.

The dark blue DB2 Team Car came fifth and third in the French 24-hour race in 1950 and 1951 respectively. It was offered with a low estimate of 250,000 pounds by RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s, at its annual “Automobiles of London” sale in Battersea Park.

The classic British racer had been owned by Aston Martin’s chairman David Brown, who coined the “DB” marque, and had been kept unrestored in the same private collection for the last 52 years.

“It was a strong price,” said Simon Kidston, a Geneva- based classic car adviser. “The purchase will give the buyer instant access to exclusive racing events like the Le Mans Classic,” Kidston said in an interview.

The sale raised a total of 10.9 million pounds with fees, with 81 percent of the cars successful, RM said. These figures include lots that were sold after the auction, such as a 1925 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS that found a buyer later in the evening at 522,500 pounds, said RM. No figures were available for the number of lots left unsold at the end of the auction. The presale estimate for the event, which included 84 cars and 37 lots of memorabilia, was 10 million pounds.

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In Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, the ugly duckling grows into a swan. Upper-crust British auto manufacturer Aston Martin may reverse the process, morphing its handsome sports cars into the Cygnet microcar.

Cygnet is a collaboration with Toyota, which will sell Aston Martin 2,000 of its iQ mini-commuters to be adapted, with a target sale date of 2010 in Europe. Aston Martin, best known for its dashing James Bond DB series of 150 m.p.h. sports cars, has grafted its signature grille onto the iQ microbox.

This makes the mini-Martin concept look like a fugitive from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” The bold Aston Martin “face” is disproportionately narrow and tall; think a Rolls-Royce golf cart.

The iQ is only 117 inches long (that’s less than 10 feet) and 59 inches high, but it seats four. It’s powered by a 998-cc 3-cylinder engine, with a 1,300-cc 4 optional, and a 5-speed manual transmission. A CVT automatic is optional, and the iQ is expected un the U.S. next year as a Scion.
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Niche sportscar manufacturer Lotus has scooped a ‘best driver’s car’ accolade for its Evora model. The award, from Autocar magazine, followed assessment on road and track around the South Downs and the Goodwood race circuit. Lotus beat off competition from Aston Martin, Nissan, Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and Jaguar.

The mid-engined 2+2 Lotus Evora combines a super stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis with vehicle dynamics knowledge employed to tune its race-car derived double wishbone suspension.

Roger Becker, vehicle engineering director for Lotus, said: “The dynamic ability and driving experience of the Evora were the foundation of the engineering process and we are delighted that Autocar has recognised this by giving the Evora this accolade. The Evora offers the great Lotus driving experience in a very comfortable, practical, refined and efficient package, and with only 205 g/km of CO2 it shows that the Evora is a supercar for the 21st century.”

Luke Bennett, director of Lotus Cars, added: “We are really pleased to win this title as it not only demonstrates the engineering expertise and brilliant manufacturing at Lotus, but also asserts our position in this very exclusive and competitive sector. There is huge global demand for the Evora and to cope with this high demand we are taking on over 150 manufacturing staff, which is roughly a 30% increase.”

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Two icons of British car lore, a 1928 Rolls-Royce and a 1950 Aston Martin, will be on display at a concours event July 21-24 in London.

The cars are being shown at Salon Prive, a supercar and concours gathering next week in advance of RM auctions’ sale in October.

While the auction could get pricey with competitive bidding, Salon Prive will offer fans of British cars an opportunity to simply soak in these storied rides.

The 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I “Jarvis Torpedo” wears chassis No. 17EX and is one of just three experimental chassis made by the company at the time.

The 1950 Aston Martin DB2 Team Car “VMF 64,” with Mille Miglia and Le Mans credentials, is considered one of the most successful early DB2 sports saloons. The auction will be the first time this car has been on the market in 53 years.

The Aston Martin also will be entered in the concours in the Le Mans class.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com

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