Aston Martin DB2

Aston Martin DB2
1950 Aston Martin DB2 Vantage Coupé
Overview
Manufacturer	Aston Martin
Production	1950–1953 411 produced
Body and chassis
Class	Sports car (S)
Body style	2-seat coupé 2-seat drophead
Layout	FR layout
Related	Aston Martin DB3
Powertrain
Engine	2.6 L Lagonda I6
Dimensions
Wheelbase	99 in (2,500 mm)
Length	162.5 in (4,130 mm)
Width	65 in (1,700 mm)
Height	53.5 in (1,360 mm)
Chronology
Predecessor	2-Litre Sports "DB1"
Successor	Aston Martin DB2/4

The Aston Martin DB2 is a sports car that was sold by Aston Martin from May 1950 through to April 1953. The successor to the 2-Litre Sports model, it had a comparatively advanced dual overhead cam 2.6 L straight-6 engine in place of the previous pushrod straight-4. It was available as a closed, 2-door, 2-seater coupé which Aston Martin called a sports saloon, and later also as a drophead coupé, which accounted for a quarter of the model's total sales. The closed version had some success in racing.

In 1947 David Brown bought the Aston Martin and Lagonda companies and incorporated them as Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.. Lagonda's 2.6 L (2580 cc/157 in³), dual overhead cam, straight-six engine, more powerful than the pushrod 2.0 L unit in the Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports, was the main objective in Brown's acquisition of the company. W. O. Bentley had supervised the engine's design, which was largely by William (Willie) Watson, an engineer with the pre-war Invicta company who had collaborated on Lagonda's pre-war V12 and also designed the short-lived post-war version.

In its original form the Lagonda straight-6 had an 78 mm (3.07 in) bore and 90 mm (3.543 in) stroke, and produced about 105 hp (78 kW) with dual SU carburettors. The DB2 utilized it in a shortened version of the tube-frame chassis designed by Claude Hill for the Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports, with a fastback coupé body designed by Frank Feeley.