Aston Martin

Aston Martin was one of the cars and teams I had a relationship with for quite a long part of my career, from 1950 right up to 1961. I remember sharing a DB2 coupe with Lance Macklin in what was called the Daily Express 1000 Mile Rally at the end of the 1950 season. It was a pleasant car to drive, but the engine was like many of the Astons I drove. For its time, it had sufficient power but it could have used more, and it was somewhat fragile if you worked it hard, as the aluminium bodywork would crack over the wheel arches. The cars handled well and this DB2 was no exception. Even though we completed the entire road section of this event without any penalties, we made a mess of the parking tests at the end which were characteristic of some rallies in those days… a big difference to championship rallies now!

After driving for Jaguar in the sports car races of the early 1950s, I went to Mercedes to drive both Grand Prix and sports cars, and shortly after Mercedes withdrew from racing in 1955, Aston Martin’s John Wyer talked me into a test session at Goodwood in February 1956. Wyer was a very well-organized and methodical team manager, and played a very important part in the team’s success. He then went on and did the same for the Gulf Ford GT team and then for Gulf Porsche. I had been impressed by the Aston DB3S when I was racing against them and the test was successful, even though it was freezing cold and slippery at Goodwood. I managed to break the sports car lap record and agreed to sign to drive for them for the season and got the remarkable signing-on fee of £50!