VIN: the Tony Gaze Aston Martin DB3 chassis 9
History of chassis DB3/9
Chassis DB3/9 was one of ten DB3s constructed, the first five of which were reserved for works use.
Aston Martin later produced the second batch of five cars for customers, all of whom took their new machines racing.
Four of the customer DB3s received standard Spider coachwork and the fifth was completed as a Coupe.
Aston Martin delivered chassis 9 to Australian amateur driver, Frederick Anthony Owen Gaze.
Better known as Tony, Gaze had joined the RAF in 1940 and served as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. With 12.5 confirmed victories between 1941 and 1945, he was ranked a flying ace.
After the hostilities, Gaze took up motor racing. He initially drove single seaters before the DB3 was acquired in spring 1953.
Tony Gaze only drove his Aston Martin in three events.
The first was a 17 lap race for Production Sports Cars that supported the International Trophy at Silverstone on May 9th 1953. Gaze qualified 22nd and rose to 14th overall by the end. He placed fourth in the under three-litre class.
Gaze then took chassis 9 to France’s Cote d’Azur for the Hyeres 12 Hour race on June 7th. The event took place on the 7km Iles d’Or road course and Gaze was co-driven by fellow DB3 owner, Graham Whitehead.
The race began at 6am in pouring rain. Whitehead ran fifth in the opening stages but, shortly before 8am, he retired with a broken timing chain.
Two weeks later, Tony Gaze entered his DB3 for the 60 lap Portuguese Grand Prix around the 7.4km Boa Vista street circuit.
However, the race ended in disaster. On the second lap, Gaze was forced to swerve to avoid a Ferrari and crashed the Aston into a tree. Gaze was thrown 25ft but, miraculously, escaped without serious injury.
By contrast, the wrecked DB3 caught fire and was quickly reduced to a smouldering pile of bits.
Notable History
Sold to Tony Gaze
09/05/1953 IND Silverstone International (T. Gaze) 14th oa, 4th S3.0 class (#25)
07/06/1953 IND Hyeres 12 Hours (G. Whitehead / T. Gaze) DNF (#14)
21/06/1953 IND Portuguese GP, Circuito do Porto, Boa Vista (T. Gaze) DNF (#15)
Destroyed after it crashed and caught fire in the Portuguese GP
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Duarte Pinto Coelho
