Late Pre- and Early Post- World War 2 Aston Martins

One label for this post is "First and Last," but the subject actually is "Last and First."  In this case, the final pre- World War 2 Aston Martins and the postwar models when David Brown assumed ownership of the firm.  General Aston Martin background is here, that of the postwar "DB1" (a retroactive designation) is here, and for the 1950-vintage DB2, here.

Aside from modernized styling, postwar Astons featured the "A" form grille design that the marque has continued with detail variation until this day.  But even that feature had prewar origin in the form of a prototype/concept car, the Aston Martin Atom that was first displayed in 1940.

Gallery

1938 15/98 Sports Tourer - Bonhams photo
An example of the last prewar Aston.  Styling is 1933-ish, but still prevalent in late-1930s England.  The grille design was abandoned following this model's end of production.

1939-1940 Aston Martin Atom prototype/concept - Bonhams photo
The idea was to explore streamlining, but even here English design conservatism yielded distinct fenders instead of an "envelope" body with flow-through fenders that were speculative in the late '30s and common production items not long after the war ended in 1945.

1939-1940 Aston Martin Atom prototype concept - Bonhams photo
The car has four doors and what looks like a cramped passenger compartment.  The grille opening is delta-shaped, not very far removed from the postwar "A" pattern.

1950 Aston Martin DB1 - for sale
In 1948 the Aston Martin Two Litre Sports Drophead Coupé appeared; the car in this image is one of the last built.  The central grille element slightly echoes the prewar design, but the flanking openings are the that of the so-called "A" pattern.  Note the opening panel atop the front fender: apparently it provides access to a spare tire.

1952 Aston Martin DB2 - Hyman consignment sales
The first actual DB was the DB2.  This coupé is recognizably in the styling idiom of subsequent Aston Martins, though all details have changed to varying degrees since then.

Málaga's Fine Automobile Museum

The Museo Automovilistico y de la Moda in Málaga, Spain is surprisingly good, being based on the collection of the Portuguese João Manuel Magalhães.

I was in Málaga in November while on a Mediterranean cruise and running out of things to see within walking distance of the cruise port.  I knew there was a car museum in town, but it was located about two miles from city center, and getting there required taking a taxi or a bus.  Would seeing it be worth the transportation trouble?  Since the same collection of buildings (a former tobacco processing factory) also housed a branch of St. Petersburg's Russian Museum, I decided that being able to kill two museum birds with one travel stone would be worthwhile.

The car museum's web page is here.  Note that it features period women's fashions as well as cars.  I suppose one reason for combining the two subjects was for wives of visiting car guys to be entertained as well.  Another justification for this pairing is that, especially in 1930s France, there were automobile concours featuring cars along with very well-dressed society women.

Below are some of the photos I took of the large collection.  I hope they give you a sense of what was on view.

Gallery

Museum Entrance

1930 Nash 400
Setting the scene: This car has a custom body, something unusual for Nash.   Note the women's clothing displays featuring fashion from about the same period as the car.  The automobile in the background is a 1931 Studebaker FD Commander.

1952 Aston Martin DB2
Behind is a 1952 Jaguar XK120 Coupé.

1936 Auburn 851
The famous last-of-its-kind boat-tail Auburn.  The background car is a 1927 Belgian FN (Fabrique Nationale) 1300 S.

1928 Ballot Model 2LT
The collection includes examples of seldom-seen brands such as this.  Behind it is a Lancia limousene.

1934 DeSoto Airflow
Yet another rare automobile, though I doubt this car left the factory with that color.  In the background is a 1937 Cord 812 Cabriolet.

1934 Lancia Dilambda
Body by Pinin Farina.  Behind is a 1930 Pierce-Arrow 143 rumble seat convertible coupe.

1927 Paige
Another brand seldom seen in car museums.

1938 Panhard et Levassor X77 Dynamic
This coupé strikes me as being pretty rare.  I am not sure if its paint colors are original.

1937 Peugeot 402 Eclipse
Peugeot marketed retractable metal-top cars in the late '30s.

Surprise Cygnet Sighting in Mayfair

A week and a half ago I was strolling along Curzon Street in London's posh Mayfair area on my way to visit the Duke of Wellington's Apsley House.

Mayfair is a great place for spotting expensive, exotic cars, so one would expect to spot a few Aston Martins.  But the one I spotted came as a total surprise.  Here is the photo I took (click to enlarge):

It happened to be an Aston Martin Cygnet from around 2012, a car that never got on my radar because they were not sold in the USA.

According to this Wikipedia entry (scroll down towards the bottom), Aston Martin wanted to lessen fuel efficiency penalties, so badge-engineered Toyota iQs (the main link subject).  The plan was to sell about 4,000 Cygnets a year, priority given to owners of Astons.  As it happened, only about 300 were made, half of which were sold in Britain.  So that car pictured above is a very rare young swan -- almost a black one ("black swan" reference here).