The Aston Martin DP214, an incredible line - Photo : Hipwell Photography

To lead the charge against the Scuderia Ferrari, dominator in La Sarthe since 1960, Aston Martin designed and developeda  sportscar prototype derived from the DB4 GT, insufficiently powerful to achieved an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thus was born the Aston Martin DP212 which demonstrated as of its first participation at Le Mans promissing performances against the Ferrari 330 TR and 250 GTO. Profiting from an exceptional top speed, nearly 300km/h in the Mulsanne Straight, Graham Hill even became leader in the beginning of the race before enduring a series of mechanical issues resulting in retirement after 78 laps. Despite this, the tone was set...

Galvanized by this thunderous premiere, the Aston Martin engineers worked for a year to optimize the aerodynamic performances of the DP212 whose high speed stability was not perfect. After a stint in the Motor Industry Research Association's wind tunnel, the Kammback back-end characteristic of the car would be modified to increase support in a straight. Several private test sessions were carried out in preparation for the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, without ever really convincing the official drivers, and at the evening preliminaries in April, the decision was made to present two DP214 chassis to the ACO marshals. The cars were assigned to Innes Ireland, Bruce McLaren, William Kimberley and Jo Schlesser.

After encouraging tests (best lap in 3:58:7), the race plan established by David Brown for his two DP214s was 4:15 per lap. At the wheel of the 0195 chassis, Bruce McLaren achieved a convincing first stint by occupying 10th place overall (1st GT) before letting Innes Ireland continue the race. For the BRP driver in Formula 1, advancement would take him to sixth place overall before a piston would explosde going into the Mulsanne curve after 60 race laps. The disappointment could be felt in the pits, the fastest of the DP214s entered having failed to go any futher than the DP212 of the driver line-up Graham Hill/Richie Ginther in 1962...

As to the 0194 chassis of William Kimberley and Jo Schlesser, the scenario was clearer. Other than an unexpected stop in the third lap for an obstructed nozzle, the Franco-American duo was ranked fifth at the eight hour of the race. The excitement reached its peak when Jo Schlesser reached the third step on the provisional podium at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. The Aston Martin's performance finally seemed to demonstrate a level of reliability. Unfortunately for David Brown and his drivers, a defective piston forced the No. 7 DP214 to retire in the same manner as its sister had a few hours earlier… the disillusionment was immense!

The DP214 reached 300km/h at the Mulsanne Straight - Photo : Hipwell Photography

John Wyer, Aston Martin team manager, indicated after this double retirement that the DP214s had the potential to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The consequences of insufficient preparation did not allow for the placement of forged pistons instead of standard pistons in the 3.7 liter 6 cylinder cars. This was the last appearance of the cars entered by the factory (until the official return in 2005). The rest of the 1963 season included some nice performances by the DP214s at the Guard’s Trophy of Brands Hatch (Innes Ireland), at the Inter-Europa Cup at Monza (Roy Salvadori) and at Montlhéry where Claude Le Guezec and Jo Schlesser won the two organized races. 

The end of the Aston Martin DP214's career would be as a private title entry in sprint races, notably with the outfit of John Dawnay, in 1964. Two cars were entered at the Daytona 500 for the driver line-ups of Brian Hetreed/Chris Kerrison (0195 chassis) and Mike Salmon/Roy Salvadori (0194 chassis). The two cars were forced to retire without really ever threatening the winners Pedro Rodriguez and Phil Hill in a Ferrari 250 GTO (NART). At the 500km of Spa-Francorchamps, Mike Salmon and Brian Hetreed retired with mechanical issues before tragedy snuffed out the career of a car whose potential was never fully realized. At the practice for the 1,000km of Nürburgring, Brian Hetreed, owner and driver of the 0195 chassis, lost control of his car in the Bergwerk curve and was killed in the accident. Lastly, Michael Salmon entered a car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans along with Peter Sutcliffe. After 17 hours and 45 minutes of a respectable race, the No. 18 Aston Martin DP214 driver line-up was disqualified for an unauthorized oil fill-up.

The 0195 chassis in the accident at the Ring would eventually be cut up and destroyed. Its engine found itself in a Zagato DB4GT. The 0194 chassis is therefore the sole existing example of the Aston Martin DP214 and is owned by Simon Draper who will drive it in many historic races all over the world. The oppotunity for the public to admire one of the most emblatic GTs of the 1960s and whose worth is practically inestimable!

Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO