A rare Aston Martin that may have been used as an unmarked police car in the sixties has been found after half a century hidden in a garage. The DB24, built in 1955, was discovered at a property in Gloucestershire and is believed to be worth over $3000,000 when fully restored. The classic car, which became famous as the model driven by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s novels, was bought by a car enthusiast who intended to work on the engine when he retired. Instead it was covered by a sheet and forgotten by its owner, and was forgotten.
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MotorTranscript
00:0007.5 million pounds, incredibly this Aston Martin hasn't been seen for almost 50 years.
00:13Discovered in a Gloucestershire barn, this is just one of the exciting projects currently
00:18being undertaken by Jonathan Wills and his company, Cotswold Classic Car Restorations.
00:24As a company we're really excited and just it's a privilege to be involved with this.
00:3007.5 million pounds, Jonathan started restoring classic cars while he was still at school in
00:35the 1990s and set up Cotswold Classic Car Restorations around four years ago with the aim of working
00:42on mainly British models such as Aston Martins and Jaguars. The company currently has a full
00:48workload and Jonathan shows us some of their current restoration projects.
00:53It's a three litre, six cylinder engine. Its stored conditions were perfect. It was in
01:01a dry, open, airy building that was heated during the winter. So the amount of corrosion that's
01:07occurred within the car is remarkable.
01:11What marks this car as absolutely unique is it's an Aston Martin DB2 for which the build
01:19numbers are only in a few hundreds anyway. The few that are left are absolutely cherished,
01:26command considerable values ever rising and for the Aston Collector you're not going to
01:32find this again. Potentially that restoration typically is about a year's worth of work.
01:38Here we have the Maserati Quattro Quattro, 1970. This is one of only two in the world and this
01:45particular car was a special commission by the Aga Khan. The other one was a special commission
01:49by the King of Spain. It took three years to build this car, Maserati themselves. This car features
01:55one of the most opulent interiors you'll ever see. The super soft calf leather that the seats are
02:00trimmed in, the deep Wilson style carpet interior you will not find on many many cars at all. Lovely wooden
02:07dashboard with a very full complement of dials. This car would be apparently a discreet saloon.
02:14Discreet isn't a word I would use with it. And propelling this beautiful saloon car is a
02:20Codcam V8. Five litre in excess of 350 horsepower. It's a variation of Maserati's race engines. The design
02:28criteria from the Aga Khan is a car that we do not 60 under six seconds at 170 miles an hour. It's really ahead of its time.
02:36It's in absolutely beautiful and original condition pretty much as it left the factory all those years ago.
02:42Restoration projects are very time consuming and incredibly detailed.
02:47We actually break the car down into all its component pieces. We mark out any repairs that are required as well.
02:54We can either build the car as completely original or we may be able to modify it slightly to make the car actually more up to current speed of traffic.
03:03The chassis and body would be acid dipped. It's where the actual body and chassis are put into an acid tank and left there for 48 hours.
03:10And that removes all paint, it removes all the rust, all the sealers and corrosion. And when the body is removed it is then put into a neutralizing tank.
03:18Then a car will come back to us and we'll inspect it for any cracks or, you know, perforation or where the panels have become thin through corrosion.
03:27Then we go through the various processes of the restoration which include body paint, chassis rebuild and the re-trimming of the leather in the high.
03:35And even down to the glass, if the glass is marked or damaged, we'll be looking at replacing the glass if the customer requires.
03:42The main challenges in a restoration of a vehicle is getting the originality correct and working closely with the customer to ensure that the refinish article is exactly what he wants.
03:54Despite all the beautiful vehicles Jonathan has worked on, he still has a wish list.
03:59A car we're yet to restore that we would absolutely love to be commissioned to restore would be an ex-Formula 1 car owned by Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, James Hunt.
04:11The history with those cars and the battles that they were involved with is just second to none and it would be an absolute privilege if one of those projects comes our way one day.
04:21It would be a dream of mine to restore one of those cars owned by one of those fantastic drivers.
04:26And it seems Jonathan has no plans to stop working on these classic cars any time soon.
04:32Working on a classic car is an absolute joy.
04:34It's something that I see me doing to the day I die and being involved with them.
04:38When the cars are actually completed and leaving your workshop and you've seen them progress over one or two years,
04:43it's good to see them out there being used again and the customer is enjoying them.
04:47That's a great idea, I'm so excited for you.
04:49That's a great idea.
04:51I'm so excited to be here.
04:53Precious chances are for women of all in time.
04:55I think you're going to be the one that you've seen.
04:57You go to the same place where I want to get in front to see them and the other people of you.
04:59I think it's too much fun.
05:01I'm so excited to be here to start with a happy hour and then.
05:03I'm so excited to be here to do what I really want to do with.
05:05And I'm so excited to be here to go.
05:07That's probably a good day.
05:09I'm so excited to be here to be here.
05:11I'm so excited to be here.