Aston Martin DBR4/2

In Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, the tragi-comical Mr. Wilkins Micawber, despite his predicament, always had the most impeccable words of guidance and wisdom. In one part he takes his young and inexperienced tenant, Copperfield, aside and counsels him against being dilatory. Micawber says, “My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!” It’s a shame those in charge of Aston Martin’s Grand Prix car project hadn’t noted Micawber’s words. They were diametrically opposed to Micawber and more along the lines of the 1947 Peggy Lee song, “Mañana is soon enough for me,” for it was in the early 1950s when an Aston Martin F1, or rather F2 (Formula One ran to F2 regulations in 1952 and 1953) was first mooted, but the DBR4 wasn’t ready to race until the 1959 season. In their defense—if one were needed—at that time, sports car racing, with the Le Mans 24 Hours as its pinnacle, was eminently more significant in relation to car sales than Grand Prix racing. The new Formula One World Championship was very much in an embryonic stage with the inaugural race of the then seven-round series being at Silverstone in May 1950 and unusually including the Indianapolis 500.

Aston Martin