Le Mans is The One. Other endurance races have their highlights, from the Nürburgring’s ‘Green Hell’ to Eau Rouge at Spa. But Le Mans is the doyen; the oldest 24-hour race and the only one known to the wider public. And Aston Martin has written many chapters in the Le Mans story, recording multiple class wins and one outright victory.
At a time when most motorsport images were in black and white, these two full colour shots capture Aston Martin at Le Mans over six decades ago. The first, from 1961, shows the #4 DBR1/4 of Roy Salvadori and Tony Maggs casually parked outside the team’s base at the Hôtel de France in the town of La Chartre-sur-le-Loir.
The photographer was Noël Pasteau, who at the time was the chef at the Hôtel de France. Noël would go on to take over the running of the hotel from his parents, before passing the baton in turn to his son to maintain a proud record of 100 years in the same family’s ownership. Over the years, the Hôtel de France became as iconic a location for Le Mans devotees as the White House corner or the Mulsanne Straight.
Two years earlier, in 1959, this very DBR1, driven by Trintignant and Frère, had finished second at Le Mans behind the DBR1 of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, giving Aston Martin a 1–2 outright victory. There would be no repeat in 1961; DBR1/4 was forced to retire after 19 hours while holding fourth position.
Aston Martin withdrew its works team after its World Championship win at Goodwood in September 1959. Still, private entrants continued to campaign Aston Martins in endurance racing, setting a template for today’s Vantage teams, while David Brown returned briefly in 1962 and 1963 with the often-overlooked Project cars. One such privateer was French driver Jean Kerguen.
An experienced racer who had won his class in the 1957 Le Mans driving an Aston Martin DB3S, Kerguen entered a French Racing Blue DB4 GT Zagato, chassis number DB4GT/0193/R, in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours. It lasted 12 hours and 134 laps before a blown head gasket put him and co-driver Jacques Dewez out of the running.
Kerguen’s DB4GT/0193/R has since been restored to 1962 Le Mans specification by Aston Martin Heritage Specialists RS Williams, and in July 2023 it wowed the crowds at Aston Martin’s 110th Anniversary parade at Silverstone.
The DB4 GT Zagato was captured on film by Brian Joscelyne, an AMOC stalwart who edited the AM Quarterly for many years. Joscelyne’s passion for Aston Martin saw him own an Aston Martin 15/98, an ex-works team DB3 and then a DB3S – all before he was 30 years old. An excellent photographer, he brought his trusty Leica or Pentax cameras to every race he attended, from the late 50s through to the 70s. Sadly, Joscelyne died in 2020, but a book of his images, Racing Through Europe: The Motor Sport Photography of Brian Joscelyne by David Tremayne offers readers a nostalgic journey through motor racing’s more relaxed eras.
