Every car has a story, so here is this one. This Aston Martin Mark III Saloon was purchased new at the factory in 1959 by an American serviceman stationed at Ruislip Air Force Base in Middlesex. Upon his discharge in 1960 he moved back to his native Los Angeles and brought his Aston Martin with him. In the mid-1980's (the last sticker on the license plate is 1984) the car was laid up in his driveway for reasons that are now unknown. There it sat until his son and daughter decided to sell the car two years ago. It was purchased from them by a well known Los Angeles classic car dealer. The car had become heavily weathered and had accumulated lots of dents and dings from its 20+ years in the driveway. The dealer had his metal man massage all the dents from the skin, and at that point one of my clients purchased the car with the intent of performing a complete ground up restoration. My client has since purchased a beautiful original Mark III, so his plans for this car have changed.
This car can be viewed as the ultimate specification for a Mark III Saloon. The build sheet specifies the uprated DBD engine (matching numbers), overdrive, 4.09 rear axle, dual exhaust, chrome wheels, front disc brakes, rear Alfin drums, and wood rimmed steering wheel. These were virtually all the options that were offered on this car. The cars original color was Ice Blue, which is also known in Aston circles as Haze Blue or Elusive Blue. The interior color was black. Although the car is obviously right hand drive, it is specified as left hand drive on the build sheet. My theory is that (possibly) the car was laid down as a left hand drive but changed to right hand drive by the serviceman owner when he ordered the car. I guess my point would be that the car can be converted to left hand drive and would be "correct" as specified on the build sheet.
The car obviously needs complete and total restoration but is a very viable project as it is very complete and undamaged. It has never been restored or taken apart and that is actually what remains of the original paint on the body. The only items I see missing are the small tools from the firewall toolkit. The rust you see on the chassis is basically surface rust and not structural. There is very minor corrosion in the door bottoms and pontoon bottoms. The lower front area of the bonnet has some dents but is structurally good. The rockers appear solid.
It is getting harder and harder to find a complete and undamaged classic Aston Martin for restoration. I believe that even after a total restoration your money would be safe in this car due to its desirable specification. We would be happy to undertake any sort of partial or total restoration that you may require on this vehicle.
You can view the build sheet here. Please contact us with any questions, and thank you for looking! We can be reached at (530)241-8337 or at kevinkay@pacbell.net.
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