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1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone)

Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953 - Кабриолет на базе Aston Martin DB2/4 был построен фирмой Bertone специально для Чарльза А. Уорда, дизайн автомобиля разработал Джованни Микелотти.
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953 - Кабриолет на базе Aston Martin DB2/4 был построен фирмой Bertone специально для Чарльза А. Уорда, дизайн автомобиля разработал Джованни Микелотти.
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe  (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954 - Second of two DB2/4s known to have been bodied in this style by Bertone, previously owned by Grand Prix and sports-racing driver Innes Ireland.
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954 - Second of two DB2/4s known to have been bodied in this style by Bertone, previously owned by Grand Prix and sports-racing driver Innes Ireland.
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone), 1955
Images: Bertone; Bonhams; RM Sotheby’s
Rating:  15    -1    +16
1953-54 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupé (Bertone)
1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Cabriolet (Bertone)
In total, eight rolling chassis were supplied to Bertone, Two became drophead coupes, one or two were fixed-head coupes and four (or five) were spiders.


A unique model for the Bertone output of 1953 was the cabriolet based on the mechanics of the Aston Martin DB2/4. The car was commissioned and given as a gift to the president of a large American company by a group of business partners. The styling encapsulates some of the classic elements of the American car, like the long streamlined bonnet, smooth wings and the lowered asset typical of the sporty cabriolets of the day.


A PRESENT TO THE CHIEF

At one time, the Brown & Bigelow Company, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was the United States’ leading manufacturer of promotional calendars and products, distributing some 50 million calendars a year at a time when there were only about 160 million Americans, which meant that there was roughly one B&B calendar in circulation for every three people in the U.S.! The company was most famous for its pinup calendars, for which they employed a lineup of such genre-defining artists as Gil Elvgren, Earl Moran, and Rolf Armstrong, and they could be found on the walls of garages, packing sheds, workshops, and loading docks across America.

Brown & Bigelow was unusual in more ways than one. Its president and general sales manager was Charles A. Ward, who had been befriended by Herbert Huse Bigelow under the most unusual of circumstances, while both were serving time in the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, with Ward there for narcotics possession and Bigelow there for income tax evasion.

The two men struck up a friendship, and Bigelow hired Ward to work at his company. When Bigelow drowned during a 1933 fishing trip, his young protégé was elected to replace him as the head of the company. By the time of his death in 1959, Ward had built Brown & Bigelow from annual losses of $250,000 in 1933 to total sales of $55 million annually. He was a generous philanthropist who took pride in employing reformed convicts and giving back to his community, but he was also a flamboyant and decadent sort—the kind of man who would be seen behind the wheel of a bespoke, Italian-bodied Aston Martin covered in his initials.

Brown & Bigelow’s 60 regional sales managers realized this, and for Christmas 1953, they got together, pooled their funds, and ordered, through Chicago importer and Bertone board member S.H. Arnolt, one of the two Bertone-bodied DB2/4 Drophead Coupes produced.

These cars were brilliantly designed by Giovanni Michelotti to feature a combination of unmistakable Aston Martin design cues, including the distinctive radiator grille and curved windshield, both of which had been lightly “tweaked” to smooth their edges. Delicate Italianate features found on the car include thin and shapely bumpers, a gently curved roof line, and a subtle hood scoop. Little else about Ward’s car was subtle, as the sales managers specified a monogramed CAW hood button; a fine-quality two-piece fitted luggage set (also monogrammed), complete with china and picnic accessories; a custom picnic hamper that fit next to the single rear seat and bore a lode of barware; and a set of chrome-plated tools in a varnished wooden box.

The car arrived in St. Paul bearing a large commemorative brass plaque under the hood, which had been engraved with the names of all 60 sales managers—lest Mr. Ward forget their names when it came time to assign bonuses?—as well as another plaque on the dashboard, which stated, “This motor car was especially designed and created for Charles A. Ward by S.H. Arnolt, Chicago and Carrozzeria Bertone, Torino, Italy.” The gift attracted attention even in Europe, where a brief article, “A Present to the Chief,” appeared in the November 25, 1953, issue of The Motor.

In the halls of Brown & Bigelow, during those days of three-martini lunches, it was a merry Christmas.


Эта уникальная для "Bertone" модель 1953 года была построена на основе автомобиля "Астон Мартин" DB2/4. Она была задумана и изготовлена как подарок президенту одной крупной американской компании от деловых партнеров. Поэтому ее стиль включает в себя такие классические элементы американских спорткаров, как длинный обтекаемый капот, лишенные рельефа крылья и низко посаженное шасси.


Всего в Италию отправили восемь шасси, одно или два из которых стали закрытыми купе, еще два - купе со съемным верхом и четыре или пять были спайдерами.
Source: www.astonmartins.com; www.bertone.it; www.rmsothebys.com; Перевод на русский язык - Антон Надеев
Coachbuilder: Bertone
1942 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Coupe (Bertone), 1952 Abarth 1500 Coupe Biposto (Bertone), 1953 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 5 (Bertone), 1953 Arnolt Bristol (Bertone), 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 (Bertone), 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1953 Dodge Zeder (Bertone), 1953 Fiat Siata 8V (Bertone), 1954 Alfa Romeo 2000 Sportiva (Bertone), 1954 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 7 (Bertone), 1954 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint (Bertone), 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Spider (Bertone), 1955 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9 (Bertone), 1955 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider (Bertone), 1956 Abarth 750 (Bertone), 1956 Abarth Record (Bertone), 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale (Bertone), 1957 Fiat Stanguellini 1200 Spider (Bertone), 1957 Jaguar XK150 (Bertone), 1958 Abarth Alfa Romeo 1000 (Bertone), 1958 NSU Sport Prinz (Bertone), 1959 Maserati 3500 GT Coupe (Bertone), 1959 OSCA 1500 (Bertone), 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Prototype EW (Bertone), 1960 Gordon-Keeble GT (Bertone), 1961 ASA 1000 GT (Bertone), 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Jet (Bertone), 1961 BMW 3200 CS (Bertone), 1961 Ferrari 250GT (Bertone), 1961 Maserati 5000 GT Coupe (Bertone), 1962 Iso Rivolta GT (Bertone), 1962 Simca 1000/1200S Coupe (Bertone), 1963 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint HS (Bertone), 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Testudo (Bertone), 1963 Iso Grifo (Bertone), 1964 Alfa Romeo Canguro (Bertone), 1965 Fiat 850 Spider (Bertone), 1965 Ford Mustang (Bertone), 1966 Jaguar FT (Bertone), 1966 Lamborghini Miura (Bertone), 1966 Porsche 911 Roadster (Bertone), 1967 Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo Prototipo (Bertone), 1967 Fiat 125 Executive (Bertone), 1967 Jaguar Pirana (Bertone), 1967 Lamborghini Marzal (Bertone), 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo (Bertone), 1968 Bertone Panther, 1968 Lamborghini Espada (Bertone), 1968 Lamborghini Miura Roadster (Bertone), 1969 Autobianchi Runabout (Bertone), 1969 BMW 2800 Spicup (Bertone), 1969 Fiat 128 Coupe (Bertone), 1969 Iso Lele (Bertone), 1970 Bertone Shake, 1970 BMW 2200 TI Garmisch (Bertone), 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero (Bertone), 1971 Lamborghini Countach (Bertone), 1971 Lamborghini Urraco (Bertone), 1971 Lancia Stratos HF (Bertone), 1972 Citroen Camargue (Bertone), 1972 Fiat X1/9 (Bertone), 1972 Maserati Khamsin (Bertone), 1972 Suzuki Go (Bertone), 1973 NSU Trapeze (Bertone), 1974 Fiat 127 Village (Bertone), 1974 Lamborghini Bravo (Bertone), 1974 Maserati Quattroporte II (Bertone), 1975 Fiat 131 Abarth (Bertone), 1975 Fiat Visitors Bus (Bertone), 1975 Fiat X1/9 Dallara (Bertone), 1976 Alfa Romeo Navajo (Bertone), 1976 Ferrari Rainbow (Bertone), 1977 Jaguar Ascot (Bertone), 1978 Lancia Sibilo (Bertone), 1979 Volvo Tundra (Bertone), 1980 Lamborghini Athon (Bertone), 1981 Mazda MX-81 Aria (Bertone), 1982 Citroen BX (Bertone), 1983 Alfa Romeo Delfino (Bertone), 1984 Chevrolet Ramarro (Bertone), 1986 Citroen Zabrus (Bertone), 1988 Lamborghini Genesis (Bertone), 1989 Bugatti EB 110 Proposal (Bertone), 1990 Chevrolet Corvette Nivola (Bertone), 1991 Lotus Emotion (Bertone), 1992 Bertone Blitz, 1992 Fiat Cinquecento RUSH (Bertone), 1994 Bertone ZER (Zero Emission Record), 1994 Fiat Punto Racer (Bertone), 1994 Porsche Karisma (Bertone), 1995 Lancia Kayak (Bertone), 1995 Opel Maxx (Bertone), 1996 Citroen Berlingo Coupe de Plage (Bertone), 1996 Fiat Enduro (Bertone), 1996 Opel Slalom (Bertone), 1997 Alfa Romeo Sportut (Bertone), 1998 Bertone Pickster, 1999 Alfa Romeo Bella (Bertone), 1999 Mazda Neospace (Bertone), 2000 Bertone Slim, 2001 Oldsmobile O4 (Bertone), 2001 Opel Filo (Bertone), 2001 Saab 9X (Bertone), 2002 Bertone Novanta, 2003 Alfa Romeo GT Coupe (Bertone), 2003 Bertone Birusa, 2003 Opel Insignia (Bertone), 2004 Aston Martin Jet2 (Bertone), 2005 Cadillac Villa Design Study (Bertone), 2006 Bertone Suagna, 2007 Chery A6CC Coupe (B23) (Bertone), 2007 Fiat Barchetta (Bertone), 2008 Bertone B.A.T. 11, 2009 Bertone Mantide, 2010 Alfa Romeo Pandion (Bertone), 2011 Jaguar B99 (Bertone), 2011 Jaguar B99 GT (Bertone), 2012 Bertone Nuccio, 2013 Aston Martin Jet 2+2 (Bertone), 2022 Bertone GB110
Other Aston Martin
1939 Aston Martin Atom, 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 (Bertone), 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Drophead Coupe (Bertone), 1954 Aston Martin DB 2/4 (Vignale), 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Spider (Bertone), 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk II Supersonic (Ghia), 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 Spyder (Touring), 1959 Aston Martin DB4 / DB5 / DB6, 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Jet (Bertone), 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GTZ (Zagato), 1961 Aston Martin Lagonda Rapide (Touring), 1966 Aston Martin DBSC (Touring), 1972 Aston Martin DBS V8 'Sotheby Special' (Ogle), 1980 Aston Martin Bulldog, 1986 Aston Martin Vantage (Zagato), 1993 Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale (Ghia), 1994 Aston Martin DB7, 1998 Aston Martin Project Vantage, 2001 Aston Martin 2020 (ItalDesign), 2002 Aston Martin DB7 (Zagato), 2003 Aston Martin AMV8, 2003 Aston Martin DB AR1 (Zagato), 2004 Aston Martin DB9 , 2004 Aston Martin Jet2 (Bertone), 2004 Aston Martin Vanquish Roadster (Zagato), 2006 Aston Martin Rapide, 2009 Aston Martin Cygnet, 2009 Aston Martin Lagonda, 2011 Aston Martin V12 (Zagato), 2013 Aston Martin CC100 Speedster, 2013 Aston Martin DB9 Spyder Centennial (Zagato), 2013 Aston Martin DBS Coupe Centennial (Zagato), 2013 Aston Martin Jet 2+2 (Bertone), 2014 Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake (Zagato), 2015 Aston Martin DBX, 2016 Aston Martin Vanquish (Zagato), 2016 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante (Zagato), 2017 Aston Martin Vanquish Shooting Brake (Zagato), 2017 Aston Martin Vanquish Speedster (Zagato), 2018 Aston Martin Lagonda Vision, 2019 Aston Martin Lagonda All-Terrain, 2019 Aston Martin Vanquish Vision, 2020 Aston Martin DBS GT (Zagato), 2022 Aston Martin DBR22
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