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Despite its wooden seat and modest performance, it’s perfect for Sarah Lahalih
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Films:
This 1957 Aston Martin Mk III Is Perfectly Awful
What a beautiful film by Dave on his Aston Martin. I am very similar to Dave in my thinking and approach to my small car collection – I live in the UK and about the same age as Dave I guess, and it was glorious to see his Corgi model car collection alongside his cars – just like mine! More on your collection of cars please!!
I have just watched Dave’s film and endorse everything he says about his “perfectly awful” car – cars are made to be used and his must be amongst the best of cars in original usable condition. I also have a MKIII which I purchased in 2007 in an “imperfectly awful” state, restoring it over a 12 month period for use as a long distance road/rally car. Since then I have covered over 65,000 miles in it and agree entirely that the MkIII is truly the best AM drivers car for all conditions and a huge credit to Claude Hill, Willie Watson (who designed the original engine for Lagonda when it was owned by WO Bentley) David Brown the entrepreneurial head of Aston Martin and Frank Feeley the design genius who provided the perfect bodies for the pre-war Aston chassis (modified for better rigidity by Ted Cutting) taking it well on into the post war era. I attach a picture of my car from which you will note the only external modification being the removal of the bumpers (fenders) which gives it a more sporty appearance as well as revealing the perfection of the design! Oh dear, no photos as I couldn’t master the technology on the site!
Probably one of the most passionate films Petrolicious did about drivers and their cars!
Altought I’m sure that if it was mine, I would try to restore it, it’s really nice to see the car getting older along with its owner! Not many AM owner would have the personality nor the character to leave their gems looking like this!
I’ve lurked around Petrolicious for years, enjoying the site in general and the shorts in particular, but I was moved to sign up by this one.
What a fantastic combination of car and driver! This car lucked-in when he came along. And kudos to the Petrolicious crew – you seem to find genuine people who, like many others stricken with the classic car and bike bug, are genuinely happy to talk about them.
Again, a fantastic film. I even heard a slight hint of ‘note’ at the end from that sweet twin cam 6. Keep ’em coming!
Car enthusiast at is finest… Stories like this inspire, no need to modify the car or modify one’s life around a car restoration project. I have nothing against people who find passion and meaning in restoring cars. But this simple, enjoyable relationship with an original car is what inspires me the most about car ownership. Great story petrol.
Another cool video. Great job Petrolicious! It’s great to see people actually enjoying their wonderful cars instead of keeping them hidden behind glass cases in their secluded garages and then hauling them around for a show once in a while.
Also, I see nothing wrong with that color! It’s nice, fitting to the car, and refreshing to see an Aston Martin in a color other than Silver or British Racing Green.
Adam’s is easily one of the most erudite and articulate owner-collectors presented in this series. I had never noticed before, for instance, that the shape of the grill and the instrument binnacle echo one another. While Adam’s does not point this out explicitly, he has us looking at both in the same sentence.
One of my all time favourite Petrolicious films. You guys kick bum. But then I am biased. I love Astons and this just got me. The ‘Staw Hat folk at Pebble Beech comment made me smile. As Ingrt older, I’ve begun to realise it is all about Patina – in the car and in the story and even in the owner if they happen to have owned it long enough to share much of the car’s history like this guy has. I recently met a guy at Shelsley Walsh breakfast club who brought his one-owner beaten up DB5 along. The car had a bit of rust here and there, flacking and rubbed paint, dents, dirt, worn carpets, headlining and leather. It was absolutely beautiful in all its worn glory and the best car there by far. Maybe you guys at Petrolicious could come over to Blighty sometime and do a feature on Shelsley. I’m sure they’d love to have you along. If you time it right, there might even be a Spitfire flying around too.
Yes. I liked the ‘straw hat’ quip as well. A full restoration on something like this is a phenomenal amount of work and money. Things like the out of production rubber bits are the among the hardest to get right. And in consequence of the expense the customer expects and receives a level of perfection which never existed in these cars. In consequence the car becomes this anomaly: this ‘recreation’ of a thing that never was.
Filmed in Stafford Hamlet, Clackamas County, Oregon. mid march.
This period video is very cool.
More on Raymond Baxter @ the start of the 58 Monte Carlo Rally is at 11 minutes in. enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze-MSAOw74s&sns=em
“…it’s about the story.”
Bingo. The memory of what it was or the dream of what it might be is what inspires my love of cars. You begin to lose the connection to the story as you begin restoring something and I think the term “sympathetic restoration” is appropriate when trying to stay close to that ethos.
Well done.
Sigh .. seriously mate … ” Its about the story ” is a Snowflake/Hipster 21st century phrase that is nine times out of ten a load of hype used to cover up the reality that what’s underneath is in fact a pile of ____ .
Suffice it to say .. its not about the story in the slightest … its all about the substance … with this car having substance …. to spare
Yes. This car is just on the cusp of modernity. It still had a live axle. The wheels are wire, not cast. The limit to travel strap on the rear suspension was a pair of woven cotton straps. But there were disk brakes all around, the 2.9L I6 engine reached 195 Hp in the higher specification version, and it was relatively light for a 2+2 coupe at 3,000 pounds. The later cars in the Aston Martin range interest me less. They were over-powered high-speed grand tourers. To me personally represents a kind of pinnacle in their opus from the David Brown era.
