One of the rarest Aston Martins ever is up for grabs... for £15.4m

You’ve been here before, haven’t you?

Yes, this Aston Martin DBR1 fulfils all those criteria, and then some. In fact, RM Sotheby’s is calling it “the most important Aston Martin ever produced”, and that’s saying something.

True, but this time, we’re inclined to agree with them – even in spite of the exceptionally strong competition for the ‘most important Aston’ crown, such as the DB4GT Zagato and DB5.

Is the DBR1 as pretty as the DB4GT or as iconic as the DB5? Perhaps not. But judge a car by what it did, more than what it is, and you’ll start to see what the Sotheby’s lot are on about.

Easy, tiger, we’re getting to that. Let’s – very briefly – go over what the DBR1 is before we get down to the hero-worship / nostalgia portion of the article. It’s coming, don’t you worry.

Put simply, the DBR1 is Aston’s version of the Ferrari 250 GTO or Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR – made to race, made to win and made to make a name for its creators.

And win it did – the five DBR1s that Aston built won at Le Mans, Goodwood, the Nurburgring and Spa, taking the 1959 Constructor’s Championship in the process. With a lightweight spaceframe chassis paired with a 300bhp, 3.0-litre inline six, five-speed transaxle and Girling disc brakes, it was one of the most advanced cars on the grid.

This particular DBR1, the DBR1/1 is – funnily enough – the very first ever built. It’s had some rather famous names behind the wheel, too, such as Carroll Shelby, Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss.

It’s with Moss that the DBR1/1 unleashed its coup de grace – an overall win at the Nurburgring 1000. So, you might say that the DBR1/2’s victory at Le Mans – with Carroll Shelby at the wheel – was the DBR1’s defining moment, 1000 kilometres’ worth of Nurburgring at the hands of Sir Stirling is surely just as worthy.

Ha! Unlikely, mon frère. This is an ultra-rare racing Aston with more pedigree than a dog food warehouse – y’think it’ll ever be anything less than an acquisition for hard-hearted speculators and completionist collectors?

As such, it’ll come as almost no surprise that the DBR1/1 is expected to fetch 20 million American dollars – somewhere in the order of £15.4m. And that’s enough to mist your eyes up, isn’t it?