Crashed DB4 makes triumphant return

April 27, 2020

The car was almost new when Swahn ended up in a ditch during the tulip rally in 1960 the previous year. That crash probably helped cause the crash the year after. The impact in '61' was very heavy. Its a miracle that the two in the car survived.

The crash made the headlines and the article also mentioned passenger Stephen Proctor who later in 1971 became MD for the Britax group.

The preliminary police report " …constables lars Gustaf Brauer and Bengt Christer Hök mentioned that during patrolling on Djurgårdsvägen at 04.10 the passenger car aa 46864 found standing across the roadway opposite the Listonhill property". They also noted that the right wing of the vehicle had crashed into a large tree and that the car after that spun around 180 degrees. furthermore, two men were in the car, sitting behind the wheel Oscar Swahn was unconscious and the English-speaking passenger was severely injured but conscious. Swahn had apparently taken his business acquaintance for a spin to show what his Aston Martin was good for.

Thomas Hedberg, who among other things run the independent Aston Martin workshop aston hill in Lidingö, has collected old clippings and in Svensk motor tidning from September 1, 1962, just over a year after the crash, we are told what may have been the cause of the accident. The reason that it took so long was the fact that four KAK (Swedish royal automobile club) technicians did at least 150 working hours in order to determine the cause of the crash. the car was pulled to pieces and every detail was analysed. among other things, it was concluded that third gear was engaged and that the bell housing broke the moment Swahn tried to press down the clutch. When the cover cracked, the engine fell slightly downwards at the rear and the construction of the accelerator linkage meant that the throttle opened... with the throttles open the car accelerated towards the crest, Swahn locked the wheels and steered to the left but it was too late and the speed too high. The collision was unavoidable, and that conclusion eventually resulted in the indictment for reckless driving being dropped. That he might have been speeding before the accident was quietly forgotten.

The car was left as it was for a while. The first note in history is that that car was rebuilt by Hans Swedberg and he in 1967 took his family on a vacation trip in it. Then it lived a varied life for a number of years before Thomas Hedberg got hold of it.

– I think I spent twelve years trying to persuade Hans-Erik Johansson, best known for competing in historical racing with his low-drag e-type, before I got to buy it, Thomas says. – it was partially dismantled, and the body was in a hopeless condition. the aluminium panels were so banged about and stretched that in places they were only 0.2 millimetres thick. The chassis frame was in better condition, the front half of it, from where the front seats are and forwards, had been replaced after the crash. The restoration had begun, but when Thomas bought the car, Charlie Frisk started work on the body and made a new front wing and parts for the front and prepared the car for being painted.

When Thomas started Aston Hill the small crew, workshop manager Dutchman Olaf Jochems, Brit Tom Harriss and junior mechanic Erik Svedberg continued the rebuild. It was tiring but interesting work. Typically, some small parts were missing, that usually happens when you buy a car in boxes. But fortunately, Aston Martin used many standard details from contemporary suppliers, and everything was available. with his extensive experience with Aston Martin cars, Olaf also had ideas on how to improve the car without compromising the originality.

After many years of complicated restoration work, the beast has come alive again and in the resurrected car after it met its fate on Monday, July the 3rd in 1961.

The car is now equipped with our ever popular rear sections which have been meticulously recreated to excact standards inside and out to ensure the correct look and sound. Our systems are an improvement over stock though as made from 304 Stainless Steel so last considerably longer.

Thomas Hedberg now runs the car without bumpers. He feels that makes the DB4 look a lot sportier.