1931 Aston Martin International 2/4 1½-Litre Sports Tourer

• Known ownership history dating back to 1950
• Long-term enthusiast ownership 1960-2020
• Stored in a heated garage from 2004
• Present ownership since 2020
• Requires recommissioning

Manufactured by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, the first Aston-Martins (the hyphen is correct for the period) rapidly established a reputation for high performance and sporting prowess in the immediate post-WWI years. Unfortunately, the management's concentration on motor sport, while accruing invaluable publicity, distracted it from the business of manufacturing cars for sale, the result being just 50-or-so sold by 1925 when the company underwent the first of what would be many changes of ownership.

The foundations were laid for the commencement of proper series production with the formation of Aston Martin Motors Ltd in 1926 under the stewardship of Augustus Bertelli and William Renwick. Built at the firm's new Feltham works, the first 'new generation' Aston Martins were displayed at the 1927 London Motor Show at Olympia. Like his predecessors, 'Bert' Bertelli understood the effect of competition success on Aston Martin sales and sanctioned the construction of two works racers for the 1928 season. Based on the 1.5-litre, overhead-camshaft road car, the duo featured dry-sump lubrication, and this feature was carried over to the International sports model, newly introduced for 1929. Built in two wheelbase lengths (102" and 118"), only 81 Internationals were manufactured between 1929 and 1932, mostly with bodies by Augustus's brother Enrico 'Harry' Bertelli.

The accompanying history file contains a list of all owners in order going back to Derek Randall Esq of Luton in 1950. There is also service paperwork from Reg Hickman, 'Automobile and Electrical Engineer (Luton)' and British Jaeger Instruments Ltd.

The second owner listed (from 1952) is Flt Lt Reece (or Preece) of RAF Leconfield; there are bills on file dating from his ownership. In 1954 the Aston passed to F/O Shepherd, RAF Tangmere. Bills from The Rural Garage in Westhampnett totalled circa £150 in 1955. From 1956 to 1960 the car belonged to Mr K J Margerrison (Kent/London), as evidenced by bills from The Winter Garden Garages Ltd, Shepherds Bush and Enterprise Garage, Arundel.

In 1960 'AUV 984' passed into the ownership of Mr Ken Legg, who would remain its custodian until his death in 2020. During his period of ownership Mr Legg himself undertook a great deal of work on the car, which, when viewed at VSCC Prescott recently was deemed 'very original and proper' by AMOC pre-war specialists.

Acquired by the current vendor in 2020, the car was last MoT'd in 2004 and has been stored in a heated garage since then. The engine is running, otherwise the car's mechanical condition is not known (the interior remains original). As well as the aforementioned list of owners, the file contains old V5 documents, two buff logbooks, bills from Ewell-Smith, various MoTs, an original instruction book, and old tax discs.

Eligible for all VSCC and AMOC events, this well documented, fast and highly desirable Vintage-era Aston Martin is one of the nicest examples of the much sought-after International, widely acknowledged as one of the outstanding designs of its era.