How appropriate that this car should make its first public appearance in the UK for 50 years at the Aston Martin Owners Club St John Horsfall meeting last saturday (1 July). The original chassis, SPA/48/1 carried 'Jock' St John Horsfall and Leslie Johnson to victory in those far off days. It only did this one race, so has a 100% winning record! Afterwards, it undertook a demonstration run at Shesley and then clothed in a new body was displayed at the 1948 Motor Show (carrying chassis no LMA/48/1 - I'm assuming this was just a redesignation, or refurbishment, of SPA/48/1) intending it to be the first in a line of 'Spa Replicas'! Aston Martin received no orders and the car was then used by David Brown Jnr until 1950 when, apparently, it went to Jersey. It was severely assaulted by a bus in 1952, as a result of which it was rechassised using SPA/48/8. Returned to England in 1970, it then seems to have gone out of sight until 1993, when it appeared at The AMOC stand at Ghent, and in 1999, the AMOC Register tells us it was in the Dutch National Motor Museum.
The current owner, Bill Cakebread bought the car at auction a couple of years ago and has restored it, completing it only recently. Without opportunity to drive it over any distance, check and fettle it, he wisely trailered it up to Silverstone from East Sussex. Here it is seen among the V8s. Bill and his Wife, Val, appear in the second photo standing to the left and behind of this wonderful piece of motor racing history.
3 Jul 2006, 09:54 (Ref:1647156)
Race Official
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