THE ACCIDENTAL HERO

This 1950 Aston Martin DB2 was built for Le Mans - but missed the race. Yet that fact sells short a storied car with celebrity connections and enormous driver appeal

- Emma Woodcock

The fuel pump clanks, the starter buzzes, then the 3.0-litre straight-six erupts. It rips through a pair of megaphone pipes, rasping aspiration over oozing bass, and VMF 65 rolls into the light. Roundels and spotlights are smeared over black-green paintwork, led by a baby blue grille, and a label-maker list by the B-pillar recites previous pilots: Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, George Abecassis, Rob Walker, Eric Thompson, Tony Rolt. I'm all goosebumps, about to add my nobody to their somebodies and drive one of three prototype Aston Martin DB2s built for the 1950 24 Heures du Mans.

Last in a trio of consecutive chassis and registration numbers, LML/50/9 rounded out the works squad for that famous race. Only the fifth DB2 built - after both team-mates, a motor show star and the initial prototype - it set out for France with a message to spread. Ever since he'd bought the firm in 1946, engineering magnate David Brown had declared that Aston Martins needed something more than four-cylinder power. Purchasing Lagonda gave him just the thing, a 2.3-litre straight-six, designed under the purview of WO Bentley. The Le Mans racers heralded the next step: Aston Martin was on the cusp of selling a production six-cylinder sports car.

At this point, I'd love to tell you how the VMF trio lined up in the La Sarthe herringbone, raring to race twice around the clock. But I can't. Because it didn't quite happen that way. Yes, the firm fielded three straight-six machines in the great race and, yes, VMF 64 carried George Abecassis and Lance Macklin to fifth overall, a result that also ensured 3.0-litre class victory. Team-mate VMF 63 swept home just behind, netting sixth and second. But the third Aston was LML/49/3, an experimental machine and last-minute substitute, which stranded Eric Thompson after just eight laps. His scheduled steed - VMF 65, the car you see here - was missing in inaction.