Aston Martin DB2-4 Touring Spyder

DB2/4 Touring Spyder at a glance

Why Aston Martin sent chassis to Milan

In 1955 Aston Martin introduced the DB2/4 Mark II, the last version of the DB2 family. The factory body was a 2+2 saloon with a tailgate, a drophead coupé or a two-seat fixed-head coupé, and only 199 Mark IIs were made in all. David Brown's company was looking for a more dramatic open car and for a coachbuilder that could help with the next generation.

Early in 1956 three Mark II chassis went to Carrozzeria Touring in Milan. Touring was known for its Superleggera method, in which thin aluminium panels were attached to a framework of small steel tubes, and for open cars such as the Ferrari 166 MM barchetta. By our calculation, the three Spyders amount to about 1.5 % of all DB2/4 Mark II production.

The DB2/4 as a whole, with its engines and body styles, is described on its own page; this page covers only the Touring roadsters.

Design by Touring's Federico Formenti

Federico Formenti, Touring's stylist, gave the car a clean, flowing two-seat body that recalls Touring's own Ferrari barchetta of the late 1940s. It has a long bonnet with two air scoops, a low windscreen, an interpretation of Aston Martin's grille, special bumpers and two air intakes on top of the rear wings, ahead of the wheel arches. The cabin had stitched leather trim.

The Spyder is often described as the first Aston Martin with Superleggera bodywork, although some sources prefer to say the project prepared the ground for the DB4's Superleggera body. The old version of this page described the factory Mark II's changes (grille, bumper and door trim) rather than the Touring car; those details belong on the DB2/4 page.

Engine and chassis

Under the Italian body the car is a DB2/4 Mark II. The engine is the 2,922 cc straight-six designed for Lagonda under W. O. Bentley, with a cast-iron block, two overhead camshafts and two valves per cylinder; bore and stroke are 83 x 90 mm. In standard form it gave 104 kW (140 hp), and the Mark II's optional engine with larger valves and 8.6:1 compression gave 123 kW (165 hp). Power went to the rear wheels through a four-speed manual gearbox.

The weight and dimensions come from one enthusiast source and should be read as approximate. If the 862 kg is right, the Spyder was very light for a 2.9-litre car: with the 123 kW engine it carried about 7.0 kg per kW, by our calculation; try other classics in our power-to-weight calculator. One source also quotes 178 bhp and triple Weber carburettors, figures that match the later engine upgrade on one car (see below) rather than the original specification.

Debut, prizes and the end of the project

The first car was shown at the 1956 Turin motor show, next to the last of the Bertone-bodied spiders on the DB2/4. In the same year a Touring Spyder won its category at the Concorso d'Eleganza at Campione d'Italia. A second car was first shown at the Paris motor show.

The show cars did not bring enough orders to justify a series, and Aston Martin did not continue the Spyder. The contact, however, was decisive: two years later, in 1958, the Aston Martin DB4 arrived with a Touring-designed Superleggera body, and Touring went on to work on the DB5 and DB6 generation as well.

The three cars and their histories

The winner of the newspaper competition was Alexander Smith, whose slogan was "who said a spyder couldn't fly". The 1162 car was offered for 6,000 dollars after its first American restoration and was restored again after it was rediscovered. These histories come from a single collector-car source, and auction dates are not always given, so treat the details as indicative.

Touring Spyder compared with the factory DB2/4 Mark II

The Spyder's mechanical parts are standard Aston Martin, which makes engine and chassis work easier than the body. The body is unique to each car and needs a specialist familiar with Touring construction. You can convert the power figures with our power converter, compare the Spyder's relatives with our comparison tool, and find other cars of the period in our classic cars section.

Value and collecting

With only three cars made, the Touring Spyder almost never appears for sale, and each car's value depends on its history. The published Coys sale of 1161 for 195,000 pounds is old and undated, so it says little about current prices. Points that matter for any of the three:

• documented chassis number and continuity of the Touring body;
• whether the engine is original or upgraded, as on 1162;
• concours history, such as the 1997 Pebble Beach appearance of 1162.

The old version of this page quoted an undated price of 485,517 dollars; we found no source for it and have removed it.