# Sportscar Protection detail worlds oldest surviving Aston Martin



## Sportscar Protection (Feb 17, 2006)

As a part of Sportscar Protection's future association with the Aston Martin owners club , we we're invited down to their headquarters at the Aston Martin Heritage Trust in Oxford to detail a couple of cars , the first being an Aston Martin Lagonda (Pics to follow) and the second being the Aston martin A3 .
First of all a bit of history about the car itself , taken from the heritage trust website.

More information about the restoration of this gorgeous piece of Aston Martin history can be found here
http://www.amht.org.uk/a3.htm

"The A3 was the fourth car built by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford and is the oldest surviving Aston Martin in the world, dating from 1921.
Rediscovered when offered for sale at Bonhams Aston Martin Works auction in 2002, A3 was the fourth of five prototypes built by Bamford and Martin, the first three are known to have been broken up.
This A3 first saw the light of day in 1921. It had a very active early life as a prototype, demonstrator and racer. As was common in those days it underwent, both mechanically and bodily, continuous development and modification. By the 1930s, in private hands, it seemed to be just an old car, and was hardly recognisable for what it once was. That it survived those early years is fortunate, that it remains in complete condition is even more remarkable, "

The idea with this one was to get the paintwork looking at its best and clean the rest of the car up whilst and maintaining its overall look as a vintage car.
In total it took us about 45 hours to do and what a pleasure it was:thumb:

Although the car was relatively clean on the surface with just the undersides showing a bit of dirt , A snow foam and jet wash wasn't really appropriate here  so we gave it a general clean by hand .









































































We then set about giving the metal work a clean and polish , the chromework was done with britemax , the brass with good old fashioned brasso:thumb:






















































































































We didn't want to go too overboard on the bonnet as on the original photo's that we had to work from it wasn't overly glossy , so we gave it a clean up with the britemax light cleaner/sealant























































We then set about the correction work , as you can see it was quite badly scratched , mainly down to the guys down there just giving it a wipe over with a damp cloth as and when it had been used or taken and put on show.






































































































































































































































































The woodwork was then treated with a few coats of teak oil























































All the leather including the bonnet straps was cleaned with duragloss cleaner and finished with gliptone conditioner.














































And finally a few shots of the finished car











































































































































































































































thank you for looking
Dave:thumb:


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

Thats nice, can see where all the hours went to obtain the finished job :thumb:


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## Bowler (Jan 23, 2011)

Great peice of work must be an honour to work on such a wonderful piece of history every detailors dream.


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## F. Premens (Dec 3, 2009)

Great car and great job.:thumb:


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## le bachelor (Oct 4, 2008)

very nice job, dave :thumb:


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## dazzyb (Feb 9, 2010)

amazing car, ur a lucky man to get to work on one


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Lovely work Dave:thumb: is that the mini Festool polisher that you're using?


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

Looks nice, is it in original 1921 condition or has it actually been fully restored?


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## Tim186 (Oct 18, 2009)

excellent bit of work there, nice to see something a little more unusual being detailed


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Outstanding job! I bet it was a strange feeling working on such a car!?


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## Phil1971 (Sep 3, 2007)

Fantastic. Lots of delicate features to take care of. 

Lovely job :thumb:


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## Dan Clark (Jun 25, 2007)

Beautiful. Such a rare motor. Great work.


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Top work mate.


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

What an amazing job and car!


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Superb Work :thumb:


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

That looks awesome. Nice work buddy.


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## FrazzleTC (Jul 4, 2009)

Wow! That's a wonderful car, and your work is outstanding. I do love classics like that.


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## Sportscar Protection (Feb 17, 2006)

Bowler said:


> Great peice of work must be an honour to work on such a wonderful piece of history every detailors dream.


yeah , it's nice when we get something a bit different in ,particularly when you get a car with a bit of provenence . I'm looking forward to doing the AMR1 down there as well , totally different car but just as special:thumb:



slrestoration said:


> Lovely work Dave:thumb: is that the mini Festool polisher that you're using?


It is mate , very usefull bit of kit that:thumb:



PootleFlump said:


> Looks nice, is it in original 1921 condition or has it actually been fully restored?


It was fully restored a few years back (see link in OP ) excellent job considering they only had a few old photo's to go on , no original drawings or anything:thumb:



Nanolex said:


> Outstanding job! I bet it was a strange feeling working on such a car!?


I was nursing a semi for a while 



FrazzleTC said:


> Wow! That's a wonderful car, and your work is outstanding. I do love classics like that.


Cheers mate :thumb: i do have a bit of a soft spot for the classics and vintage cars , the oldest car i'd worked on up to that point was a 1930/40's bugatti , we've also got to do the ulster down there as well , a slightly newer car at 1934 but actually worth more than the A3 as it is totally original.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2011)

Awesome fella:thumb:

Dave -Without a doubt you've got the recognition/client base as the most successful detailer in the country and you deserve that with all the hard work you put into your bussiness.And being able to detail cars such as this prove that all day long and is an inspiration for any present (including me )or up and coming detailer, well done dude:thumb:


Anthony :thumb:

OH and i'm looking forward to the lagonda pics too


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## FlawlessDetailing (Mar 13, 2010)

An Honour to do this car id have to say.

Amazing Work there Dave. 

And done to a standard Mr.Martin himself would be happy with :thumb:


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

Very nice... well done Dave:thumb:


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Proper job fella:thumb:

A few rolls of masking tape used on that old girl I bet!


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

read this on the train earlier! Stunning car, and very nice work fella


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## iowa (Dec 12, 2010)

Nice work for old man


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## JoeAVS1 (Jul 8, 2008)

Nice work  Saw this over at Ecurie Bertelli in Olney just after it had been restored. Its shocking when you find out what these old astons are worth especially the one you worked on. Almost priceless I imagine


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## TCD (Jan 27, 2009)

Very very veyr good job mate!


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2011)

Not everyone is aloud to machine correct such rare car(s).

Shows how much regard you have with aston.

Nice :thumb:


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

So how many hours of the 45 on the job did you spend pinching yourself to check the job was real and not a dream come true?
Reminds me of when I was asked to demo products on Mrs Bugattis Bugatti. Scary.


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

what a car and what a detail


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## Wardy (Jan 16, 2006)

What an honour and responsibility!

A truly lovely piece of automotive history - well done.


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

Simply stunning! That is a beautiful piece of art that car, you treated the old girl well!


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## o0damo0o (Feb 15, 2011)

great transformation


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## Sportscar Protection (Feb 17, 2006)

Thank you for all the positive comments guys , it was a real pleasure to work on :thumb:


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## Alphamen (Feb 3, 2011)

Wow, that really is something quite special, and now looking better than it would have done straight out of the factory all those years ago! Excellent :thumb:


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## AlexTsinos (Oct 10, 2010)

very nice job, dave


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## Jochen (May 21, 2007)

This is very very cool! Nice job done :thumb:
Can't wait to see some more Astons


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## Brooklands (Jun 12, 2010)

This is fabulous! It soooo makes a change to see something of that age, and for me sooo much more interesting than the usual hot hatches.......no offence!


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## uzi-blue (Mar 16, 2011)

Wow, must have been great to work on that, and what an amazing turnaround.


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2011)

top work! i'd some of that was rather fiddley


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## Luan Cordeiro (Mar 24, 2011)

Fantastic job!


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Impressive, most impressive. You certainly dont see one of those every week thats for sure. 

Beautiful work gentlemen, absolutely stunning :thumb: Thanks for posting it was an absolute pleasure following the detail and now its on my list of things to see this year.

Ultimate Respect !!


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## ADW (Aug 8, 2010)

Like it alot :thumb:


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Exceptional work! Quiet a challenge too on something so usual.


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## DSK (Jan 6, 2010)

Simply stunning results making that vehicle shine in the glory it deserves :thumb:


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Simply amazing...


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