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As mechanically sorted as its shiny appearance promises, this DB2’S to-do list is pleasingly short, writes Paul Hardiman
One of 411 DB2S including 102 dropheads, this is an older restoration, but the workmanship is lasting so well it’s hard to tell. The 25-year-old paint is still deep and shiny over a dead-straight body, with only a couple of small areas of pickling on the rear corners of the front clamshell. The brightwork is all good and the wheels look fairly recent, shod in a half-worn set of Michelin Pilots dated 2006.
Restored over 11 years up to the mid-nineties during the ownership of Sunbeam Tiger Owners’ Club luminary Keith Hampson, there are bills totalling more than £100k within the box files of history, most of them from marque specialists, which included engine and transmission rebuilds and adding electric steering assistance. The panel gaps, especially at the front end, are typically wide but even, and the doors fit and shut beautifully. Event stickers and archive pictures show that it has completed several Three Castles Challenges and a Classic Malts, and the intention was to run it on the Mille Miglia before plans changed.
Inside, the leather is just settling in, with a few small marks to seat edges and the dash covering, the carpets aren’t worn and the headlining, dash and instruments are excellent. These include an extra oil temperature gauge, and there’s a Brantz rally meter plus cargo nets in the back. The indicators now operate via the side and tail lamps rather than the original semaphores, and there are spare LED bulbs in the glovebox. As well as inertia-reel seat belts, a wood-rim steering wheel is fitted, and the original Bakelite item is included.
The motor is clean and tidy, with no leaks. There’s an aluminium radiator and electric fan, K&N filters, fresh-looking stainless exhaust, plus meticulous touches such as a lockwired sump plug and lots of Aeroquip hosing. Unleaded-tolerant and rebuilt to Vantage spec (carrying a Vantage VB6E engine number, which technically belongs on a DB2/4 MKI Vantage), it was dyno tested at 161bhp, against the original DB2 Vantage figure of 125bhp.
It starts easily, goes well and, as you’d hope at this money, is a fully sorted car that’s very pleasant to drive. DBS of this vintage can be crude old things, but this is about as good as they get. The steering is almost devoid of play at standstill, provides good feel and the amount of assistance is adjustable via a discreet rheostat under the dash. The gearchange is fairly slick when warm, though you have to be gentle in order not to beat the synchromesh. Oil pressure is 50psi-plus at 2500-3000rpm and temperature sits at 75°C. The all-drum brakes are sharp, though they pull to the right – but the car hadn’t been used for a while.
When tired DB2/4S can be bought at auction for not much more than £100k in 2019, this might look pricey at first glance, but it is the earlier, rarer, more elegant (and Mille Miglia-eligible) model that couldn’t be replicated to this near-perfect standard for the price. Sold with FIVA identity card (issued 2017) and car cover – and if it doesn’t sell before it will be viewable at the NEC during the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, November 8-10.