The DB Mark III — properly the DB2/4 Mark III, but normally called simply 'DB Mark III' even at introduction — is the last road-going Aston Martin built at Feltham, and the last with the Bentley-era Lagonda straight-six. It is not to be confused with the DB3, a sports-racing car.
A total of 551 cars were built across all bodies between 1957 and 1959: 462 2+2 hatchback saloons, 84 Tickford drophead coupés, and 5 fixed-head coupés. A further 14 chassis were designated DBR for racing and are counted separately from the 551 road cars. The engine is Tadek Marek's redesign of the 2.9-litre Lagonda six — stiffer block, stronger crank, new head with bigger valves — offered as the 162 bhp single-pipe DBA (178 bhp with the optional twin-pipe exhaust), the triple-SU 180 hp DBD (fitted to 47 cars) and the ten-car DBB. Girling front disc brakes became standard after the first 100 cars; a single competition example received a 214 hp racing engine.
Bert Thickpenny at Tickford adapted the grille shape first seen on the DB3S; that shape carried through to the DB4, DB5, DB6 and the V8 cars, and remains recognisable on Aston Martins today. The Mark III is also the Aston Martin Ian Fleming put James Bond in, in the original Goldfinger novel, before the film changed it to a DB5.
The DB Mark III is a pivotal transition car. It is the last Feltham road car and the last powered by the Bentley-era Lagonda six; it is the first Aston with Marek's revised head and (after chassis 100) with front disc brakes; and it introduced the DB3S-derived grille shape that has defined every road-going Aston Martin since. It is also the Bond car of the original Goldfinger novel — the true 'original Bond Aston' before the DB5 took the role on screen.
