Hey everyone,

Scanned today some pictures in the photo-albums about Spa 1948 and the Aston Martin of Pilette & Rolt:


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Copyrights Pilette archives

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Copyrights Pilette archives

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Copyrights Pilette archives

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Copyrights Pilette archives

I believe those pictures haven't been published yet and they might have been taken by my grand-mother Nelly.

EDIT Thread title is wrong, it's 1948, not 1949

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Two questions if I may :

- what is the strange radiator cover on the first photo ? Was it put for road use ?
- do you know what car is on the last photo ?

The Aston in the first photo is not the car featured in all the others. The car in the first photo is the special DB1 built for St John "Jock" Horsfall and Leslie Johnson who won the 1948 Spa 24 Hours.
The other Aston featured is a pre war 2 litre Speed Model.

Somewhat confusingly the car we know as the "Spa Special" was another car entirely, being Horsfall's own pre war 2 litre Speed Model which he drove single handedly to 4th place in the following year's (1949) Spa 24 Hours

The Speed Model is - as Antoine says - the Pilette/Rolt car. Rolt is the chap in the shades in the sixth picture.

Is the chap in the second one your grandfather, Antoine?

Yes, the car number 54 is the one Dutchy is talking about but I have no idea why the front is like that compared to other Astons.

Thank you Vitesse for identifying Rolt ib the sixth picture. Andre is the person in the second picture, correct.

Here are more scans of newspaper clips and pictures taken by others.

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The chassis is the post war independently sprung type and the radiator grille is that of the then new "2 litre Sports" which we now refer to as the DB1