After a couple of auctions and a bit of
horse-trading, A3 was secured by the Aston Martin Heritage Trust and given a
six figure, three-year restoration (all funded by an enthusiast benefactor).
Since then, it has been a halo car for the Trust.
This year it will visit and be fêted in –
all four corners of the globe, but it seems appropriate that its first stop is
the hill climb that bestowed half its name, on a wet, dull winter’s day for me
to become only the fourth person to take the wheel of this precious machine
since that rebuild.
For a car of its era and in many respects
it is as much a veteran as a vintage machine – it looks quite sophisticated:
electric starting, four-speed ’box, even a floor-mounted footbrake to share the
burden with the handbrake outside the cockpit.
For
a car of its era and in many respects it is as much a veteran as a vintage
machine
Nor does it tally with a car that
reportedly ‘tore up the hill in streaks of smoke, throwing a hail of stones
from the wheels’ during its first public outing, at nearby Kop Hill in 1922,
but the gradient at the bottom of this hill is challenging. Yet, with 3000rpm a
reality rather than the 5000rpm advertised on the dial, if you keep the very
short-travel pedal to the floor it slugs away happily enough. It steers
incredibly directly via the Marles cam-and-roller system topped by a flexible
four-spoke wheel and, thanks to its short 8ft wheelbase, handles surprisingly
well for a car of its age.
The drive is smooth despite the extra prop
shaft – one from engine to ’box, the other from the transmission to the
floating rear axle housed in a torque tube. The ride via the ‘Sankey’ wheels
and semi-elliptic springs with Hartford friction dampers on the front and
hydraulics on the back is far more forgiving than you would expect.
More evocatively, from the driver’s seat
you are always glimpsing the top of that nickel-plated radiator, which, while
different to those on the cars that put this marque on the map, unmistakably
set the template for them. You are always reminded that you are in a very
special, very pretty and historically important machine.
The
drive is smooth despite the extra prop shaft – one from engine to ’box, the
other from the transmission to the floating rear axle housed in a torque tube
Which says it all, really? Bamford and
Martin were certainly on to something with their crusade to build high-quality
light sporting cars, but it took a certain alchemist called Augustus ‘Bert’
Bertelli to turn that something into gold.
Rebuild of an icon
The restoration of A3 is testament to the
vast pool of skills in the UK. It was masterminded by Andy Bell at Ecurie
Bertelli (www.ecuriebertelli.com),
and the specialist is proud that virtually everything was done by craftsmen
based within a few miles of his workshop.
The project started in early ’07 and had
moral issues to overcome, chief among them being what body it should wear, A3
having had several since 1921. The Trust went for a tourer, which was
beautifully recreated from old photos without even a buck. The main technical
hurdle was the wheels. When acquired, A3 wore spoked rims but the correct
‘Sankey’ items were specially cast from scratch in aluminum.
The engine was rebuilt by Tim Abbot for Jim
Young, Bertelli rebuilt the chassis and a seasoned English ash frame was built
to carry all-new panels by Bodylines in Olney.
The
restoration of A3 is testament to the vast pool of skills in the UK.
Aston Martin history part 1
From foundation to Feltham
1912 Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin go
into partnership as Singer agents on Callow Road, London. Martin competes on
Aston Hill in a Singer special
1913 The two form Bamford & Martin Ltd
in Henniker Place, London on 15 January
1914 First Aston- Martin built, with 1389cc
Coventry- Simplex power. Christened ‘Coal Scuttle’ (above), it is registered in
March 1915
1918 Move to Abingdon Rd, Kensington
1920 Second prototype developed, with
1487cc engine and front-wheel brakes. Count Louis Zborowski begins to invest in
the company and Bamford steps away
1921 A3, the third prototype, completed
1922 Prototype ‘Bunny’ breaks 10 World
Records at Brooklands. AM fields two cars at the French Grand Prix on 16 July
1925 Company goes into receivership but is
rescued by Lady Charnwood, John Benson, Augustus Cesare ‘Bert’ Bertelli and
Bill Renwick. Renamed Aston Martin Motors, relocates to Feltham, Middx. Lionel
Martin leaves the firm
1926 Renwick & Bertelli moves to Feltham;
11/2-litre is created by ‘Bert’ and Claude Hill (announced at the 1927 Motor
Show), later developed into the International and Le Mans
1932 Bertelli wins the Biennial Cup at Le
Mans with Pat Driscol. Sir Arthur Sutherland becomes the owner of AM
1934 MkII chassis is introduced, and Astons
win the Ards TT team prize, leading to the 100mph Ulster of 1935
1935 The Aston Martin Owners’ Club is
founded at The Grafton Hotel, London
1938 Factory turned over to produce parts
for Wellingtons and Mosquitos
1939 Atom prototype takes shape, with space
frame chassis, IFS, four-speed Cotal gearbox and aerodynamic body
1944 Works hit by a flying bomb and badly
damaged
1946 AM goes on sale in The Times
In Aston we trust
In 1998, the 5000-strong Aston Martin Owners’
Club took a step to safeguard its unique collection of marque artifacts for
future generations by setting up an independent charitable trust. The Aston
Martin Heritage Trust is dedicated to ‘preserving and enhancing the history of
Aston Martin’. Its HQ is a magnificent 15th-century barn in Oxfordshire that
houses more than 100,000 documents, images, trophies and artworks. It has a
full-time curator and its own car collection comprising the A3, a 1933 Ulster,
an ’89 Lagonda and the Le Mans prototype AMR1/01.
