We had a Roaring Twenties Week last month, so it’s only normal that we should give the ‘30s a look-see as well. So we might as well start at the beginning – that would be 1930, I guess – with something a bit more sexy and sprightly than the average 95-year-old. Bring on great-grandma Aston!
Pre-war Aston Martins are pretty much terra incognita for yours truly. Devid Brown’s takeover of the marque in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War brought huge amounts of investment and clarity in the model range, but everything that came before that always seemed like a distant relation. Which it pretty much was.
The first Aston-Martin (then written with a hyphen) was created in 1914, though it only really started racing in 1919 due to the First World War. The focus of the company was decidedly racing, which they were quite successful at, but to the detriment of production and sales. By 1925, only about 60 cars had been produced and the firm was in deep financial trouble.
In 1926, Aston Martin was re-booted, as they say nowadays, as Aston Martin Motors Ltd., headed by A.C. “Bert” Bertelli and Bill Renwick. Renwick was a wealthy engineer, but the Italian-born (but British-educated) Bertelli was the true technician behind the new Astons. His brother Enrico “Harry” Bertelli had a coachbuilding shop, so naturally a large proportion of the chassis Aston Martin made during the so-called “Bertelli Era” were bodied there – as is the case for our feature car, I believe.
The heart of the Bertelli Astons, the first series of which was launched in 1927, was a brilliant 1.5 litre OHC 4-cyl. with twin SU carbs providing the rear wheels with 56hp – quite impressive for such a small displacement at the time. Called “Standard Sports”, the Aston chassis gained a super low-slung variant called International for 1929. Our feature car is a short wheelbase two-seater International, but other bodies were available.
Long wheelbase cars could receive a four-seater two-door convertible body, commonly called 2/4, but a four-door saloon and tourer were also available. Short chassis Internationals could also be ordered as a coupé, as seen above – probably the prettiest of the bunch.
These little Astons sold much better than their pre-Bertelli forebears, but we’re still talking about 40-50 cars per annum at best. It seems that was enough to keep the lights on, though.
Imagine taking this thing for a spin and flooring it to its 80mph max speed. You’d probably wonder when it was going to take off. Sports car interiors of this era – especially British ones – come closer to looking like an aircraft cockpit than anything ever made afterwards.
One of the quirks on this International’s Bertelli body is those lovely cycle fenders. Those move with the wheels – a clever trick that not many cars pulled off at the time. It certainly makes for an extremely neat and sporty look, short of going full open-wheel. By and large, the more one looks at this Aston, the better its minimal styling touches appear.
The Bertelli years also ushered the first winged Aston Martin logo, refined for 1930 to look like this. The more familiar straight-winged shape would be introduced a couple of years later, but this V-shaped one is so deliciously pre-war.
A total of about 130 International chassis were made between 1929 and 1932, when the type was replaced by the (relatively similar) 70hp Le Mans. In the mid-‘30s, Aston Martin launched a 2-litre model and gradually the cars became a little less out-and-out sporting and more grand tourer-like, prefiguring the course that the marque would become in the ‘50s and beyond.
Bertelli engineered the 2-litre cars, but they failed to find the following that the lighter 1.5 litre chassis did. The company went into receivership again in 1938 and limped on to 1940, when it switched to producing aircraft parts. When David Brown bought it in 1947, there wasn’t anything on the production line – another re-boot was necessary.
There is a reason why Aston Martin, like for instance Maserati, have overcome incredible odds and multiple near-death experiences to survive to the present: they built great cars, even way back when, which put a lot of value in the marque. That and dumb luck, because let’s face it, in a world where Aston managed to avoid closure, the likes of Duesenberg, Saab and Facel-Vega (to name but three) could have too.
Dang that’s pretty ! .
How much did it weigh ? .
-Nate
What a cool car, I continue to be amazed at the CCs you find in Tokyo!
An amazing car that looks great from all angles except maybe from the rear. Is it missing a spare wheel perhaps? Not sure if that would improve the rear view but it does look like there is a mount and space for a time.
My hats off to the owner for actually driving such a rare and valuable vehicle. I do love a pre-war sporty number like this with the friction shocks and cycle fenders.
Like it, theres a cycle fendered replica Lagonda nearby what ever he did to it it cannot get to top speed anywhere here on a racetrack, its like a big version of this Aston-Martin complete with souped up engine.
It has done the 150mph thing in Europe before it emigrated.
What a sweet delectation, though it is true that the derriere could be said to resemble a warted duckling’s. Also, it needs a bigger steering wheel, as one could almost fit a driver in under this one. (Were all old racing drivers spindle-legged shorties with huge arms, I wonder?)
Like so many vagaries of life, you’re quite correct in ascribing to dumb luck the survival of some car makes over others. Some skill, some deftness, some desirability and bloodline, but mainly, a flip of life’s coin.