East Sussex body shop gives 1967 Aston Martin DB6 a ‘Barbie’ pink makeover after dramatic crash in Mexico

The team at DPM Autobody in Berwick started repairing the classic car in 2023 after it crashed at the 2022 Carrera Panamericana in Mexico. Visit www.dpmautobody.co.uk.

Director David Pearce-Martin, 31, said: “I think it rolled over two or three times and then the car was shipped back to us.”

Dave said work included building a whole new door from scratch, as well as repairs to the roof.

He said: “The front end of the car had all been squashed and where it had been rolled over it had all been smashed in. It’s an aluminium bodied car as well so it doesn’t take much to damage it.”

He added: “Every panel of the car was severely damaged except the fuel flaps.”

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As the client was considering a colour for the repaint, Dave jokingly suggested pink to make the formerly green vehicle stand out. To his surprise, the client went along with it.

The car is owned by Apparently Racing from Sussex who aim to race it again in Mexico in 2025 and Dave said the client ‘absolutely loves’ its new look. He said: “It’s brought the image he had in his mind into reality.”

DPM Autobody is set to airbursh some Day of the Dead imagery onto it as well to fit in with its Mexican racing setting.

Dave said it took about 900 hours of labor to get the Aston Martin into its current condition. He said: “We always love a challenge. We had to make bits from scratch, because you can’t buy parts of the shelf. It’s a hand-made car. So having to make a door from just bits of sheet metal is hugely satisfying. It’s an iconic car and it’s always been a dream car for me to do. It was certainly a challenge to get one in that state but extremely rewarding once it was done.”

The vehicle will go on display at the NEC Classic Car Show in Birmingham from Friday to Saturday, November 8-10. Dave said: “We’re still relatively small in the classic car restoration world so we’re getting our name out there and showing the standard of work we can do.”