WINNING WAY

It all came together at Le Mans for Aston Martin in 1959, with the DBR1

- Matthew Hayward

DAVID BROWN'S DREAM of winning Le Mans finally came true in 1959, with Carroll Shelby crossing the line to achieve Aston Martin's first and only outright triumph there. The DB3S had been a worthy warm-up act, but the DBR1 finally toppled Ferrari. Work on this ultimate Aston started in 1955, to keep in line with the changing regulations following that year's Le Mans disaster. Designed and engineered almost entirely by Ted Cutting - Aston's chief racing car designer from 1955 - the DBR1 was a radical change in direction from its predecessor.

Based around a new strong and lightweight perimeter spaceframe, the DBR1 weighed in at just over 800kg. It was powered by a 3.0-litre evolution of the DB3S's straight-six, but with a new 95° twin-plug cylinder head and dry-sump lubrication to keep centre of gravity low. Cutting designed the elegant bodywork, too, with some refinement by John Wyer.