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Bertone's Aston Martin DB2-4 creations for the crazy Arnolt

Name: Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider 1954
Brand: Aston Martin

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Created on June 24, 2016

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Daniel Reinhard / Archiv

Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Sotheby's

Michael Furman (RM Auctions)

Mike Maez - Courtesy Gooding & Company

Bruno von Rotz

Simon Clay - Courtesy Bonhams

Archiv Aston Martin Heritage

Courtesy Bonhams

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Daniel Reinhard / Archiv

Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Sotheby's

Michael Furman (RM Auctions)

Mike Maez - Courtesy Gooding & Company

Bruno von Rotz

Simon Clay - Courtesy Bonhams

Archiv Aston Martin Heritage

Courtesy Bonhams

Archiv

Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - offered by Gooding & Company at the Pebble Beach Auction 2016

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - Scaglione design, built by Bertone on behalf of Arnolt, chassis LML 505, offered by Gooding in Pebble Beach 2016

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - Interior of chassis LML 505

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - the inline six-cylinder, installed in chassis LML 505, offered by Gooding in Pebble Beach 2016

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - built on behalf of Arnolt, chassis LML 505, offered by Gooding in Pebble Beach 2016

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - beautiful sports car - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - side view - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - Side rear view - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Competition Spider 1954 - front view - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - rear view - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Competition Spider 1954 - interior - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - Fittings - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - Details hood - offered at the RM auction Villa d'Este 2011

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1953) - Arosa ClassicCar Hill Climb 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1953) - this is probably chassis LML 504, the lines were designed by Giovanni Michelotti

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1954) - convertible with body designed by Michelotti, built by Bertone, probably chassis LML 504

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - Design Giovanni Michelotti, chassis LML 504, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - chassis LML 504, design Giovanni Michelotti, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - silhouette of chassis LML 504, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - radiator grille, pre-dating, Michelotti design, chassis LML 504, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - interior of chassis LML 504, note the monogram of the first owner Ward on the horn button, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - chassis LML 504, engine, design Giovanni Michelotti, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - Chassis badge from chassis LML 504, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Convertible (1954) - Arnolt badge on the body of chassis LML 504, offered by RM/Sotheby's in 2015

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1954) - with the Michelotti body line, chassis number 506

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1954) - shown at Pebble Beach in 1955

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1954) - a Michelotti convertible, probably chassis LML 506

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1956) - shown in bright color scheme in Turin in 1957

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone (1956) - the coupé with chassis LML 765, exhibited in Turin in the fall of 1958

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Aston Martin DB 2 (1954) - elegantly restrained - Geneva Motor Show 1954

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Aston Martin DB 2 4 - Ken Carter's Aston Martin at the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally

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Aston Martin DB 2 (1953) - sporty austerity - at the Geneva Motor Show in 1953

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1955) - Mark II Sports Saloon - a so-called Notchback Coupé - very rare

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Aston Martin DB 2-4 (1954) - as a four-seater variant

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1953) - elegant drophead coupé

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1955) - the "Mark II Drophead Coupé" continued the tradition of the open Aston

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1953) - at a classic car event in the eighties

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1957) - Driver and passenger seat in the Mark III

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1953) - the rear seats, seen at the Paris Motor Show in 1953

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1955) - Rear seats of the four-seater saloon version

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1953) - Folding rear seat of the Drophead Coupé

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1957) - the Drophead Coupé Mark III

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 (1953) - at the Mille Miglia 2016

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Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - Scaglione-Design, im Auftrag von Arnolt bei Bertone gebaut, Chassis LML 505, angeboten durch Gooding in Pebble Beach 2016

Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - Interieur von Chassis LML 505

Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - der Reihen-Sechszylinder, eingebaut in Chassis LML 505, angeboten durch Gooding in Pebble Beach 2016

Aston Martin DB 2/4 Bertone Deluxe Competition Spider (1954) - im Auftrag von Arnolt gebaut, Chassis LML 505, angeboten durch Gooding in Pebble Beach 2016

Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - wunderschöner Sportwagen - angeboten an der RM-Versteigerung Villa d'Este 2011

Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Competition Spider 1954 - Seitenansicht - angeboten an der RM-Versteigerung Villa d'Este 2011

Summary

From 1953 to 1955, Aston Martin built the Type DB 2/4 as the successor to the two-seater DB 2. Twelve chassis were sold without bodywork, eight of which were given bodies by Bertone, drawn by two of the most talented designers of all time, Franco Scaglione and Giovanni Michelotti. Today, they achieve high prices and are candidates for concours victories worldwide. This article portrays the Bertone Astons of the fifties and shows most of the vehicles in photographs, some of which have never been published before.

This article contains the following chapters

Entrepreneurial spirit
Sense for beautiful and special cars
The Aston Martin DB 2/4 as a basis
Eight cars
Four shapes, two designers
Wanted and coveted

Estimated reading time: 8min

Preview (beginning of the article)

He was called "Wacky" Arnolt and the American was perhaps a little crazy when he combined the English technology of Aston Martin with the Italian bodywork creations of Nuccio Bertone. The result was special automobiles that are sought-after today. Stanley Harold Arnold was an entrepreneur and a successful one at that. He made a fortune with boat engines. He became interested in British sports cars at an early age. And because he liked them, he began to import and sell them. The BMC brands, including MG, were just as much a part of his portfolio as Bristol, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin. "Wacky", as his friends were allowed to call him, had a good feeling for what could be sold and he also knew his customers, who were blessed with money, well. He soon began to look for his own ways.

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