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| 1954 AstonMartin BD2/4 Bertone Spider - chassis 502 (from the authors collection) |
I took this picture while reviewing a private collection of fantastic sports cars and this 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Spider caught my eye. One of three Aston Martin DB2/4 chassis commissioned by Stanley Arnolt from Bertone.
Stanley Harold Arnolt made a fortune selling equipment to the government for the war effort during WWII. After the war, he set up shop in Chicago to distribute MGs and other imports. Arnolt attended the 1952 Turin Salon where he came across a couple special bodied MGs on the Bertone stand. It was this encounter that moved Arnolt to order 200 MGs from Bertone (Arnolt-MG). Arnolt would later invest in the Bertone company, becoming a director of the firm.
When the Aston Martin DB2/4 chassis was introduced, Arnolt ordered 3 and sent them to Bertone to be bodied. Bertone's new head of design, Franco Scaglione, would create 3 striking convertible sports cars (spiders). Chassis 502, the first of the three to be bodied and the car seen above, was kept by Stanley Arnolt for his personal use for most of his life. Chassis 505 was displayed at the 1954 Chicago Motor Show and then sold to Phil Stewart - one of the Arnolt factory racing drivers. Chassis 507 was actually raced and has since been kept in largely original condition.
Arnolt's fascination with Aston Martin would soon fade, but he would go back to Franco Scaglione to adapt this same look to 200 Bristol series 404 chassis - the Arnolt-Bristol.
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| Aston Martin BD2/4 Bertone Spider - Chassis 505 (photo credit: supercars.net) |
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| Aston Martin BD2/4 Bertone Spider - Chassis 507 (photo credit: supercars.net) |
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| 1956 Arnolt-Bristol DLX (photo credit: jamesedition.com) |
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