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It is a very, very beautiful Aston Martin
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Probably one of the best DB Mark 3s in the world. My name's Nigel Woodward
0:17
I'm Manchin Director here at Classic Motor Cars and I'm sitting in front of this Aston Martin DB Mark 3
0:23
This car is a fantastic car. It was bought at auction in 2015
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for way over its estimate at the time, which was 30 to 40,000 pounds
0:32
and actually it sold for a little over 100,000. The car was in barn find condition
0:37
It was clearly in need of a total restoration. That comes as no surprise to us
0:41
We've restored a lot of cars over the years. 4,500 hours of work have gone into it
0:46
We have a very fixed process for restoring cars. There's the sort of historical research part
0:51
right at the beginning of the process. Then we strip the car down to its component form
0:55
every last nut bolt and washer. The body and the chassis are separated
1:00
They're cleansed of old paint work and corrosion and we work out how we would best go ahead with the restoration
1:06
It was in such poor condition that we've had to effectively make a new body for the car
1:13
The body was the hardest part of the car to restore because of the nature of the clamshell bonnet
1:19
There are a coach-built car handmade from aluminium and we've had to replicate much of that original coachwork
1:25
It's the last of an era. It's the last of a coach-built separate chassis Aston Martin
1:31
Aston Martin built 551 of these cars in the late 1950s. It has a W.O. Bentley designed engine
1:37
It a wonderful thing to drive Here we are in the cockpit It feels like I sitting back in the late 1950s The cars equipped with an umbrella handbrake as they known So a bit of a throwback there to the pre years We included a radio in the restoration
1:51
The car was actually supplied with a HMV radio when it was new, which would have been quite an unusual, luxurious addition to the car in today
1:58
This is slightly later radio that we've put some modern internals into. Let's have a look under the bonnet of this Astin Martin at the heart of the car
2:05
To get there, we need to open this rather substantial bonnet counter
2:09
This has had a complete engine rebuild. Smooth running, sweet idle, gives good performance
2:17
It had a cast iron cylinder head originally. They were prone to cracking. This car's got a replacement
2:23
There's a number of things which are really satisfying points in the restoration of the car
2:28
I think the first time the engine starts. We do about 400, 500 miles of testing in a car that we fully do
2:39
restore. Definitely one of the perks of the job having the privilege of driving these
2:44
lovely cars. He's a nice tight roundabout. There's a power out of there. Oh what a lovely thing
2:58
I think you can call the engine response musty. It falls away lovely
3:04
His value today I would put it something in excess of 400,000 pounds
3:09
It absolutely feels like a 400,000 pounds car. This car is recently completed
3:13
I'm looking forward to handing it over to the customer. He's going to end up with a very, very beautiful Aston Martin and probably one of the best
3:21
D.B. Mark 3s in the world
