1960 Aston Martin DB4GT

1960 Aston Martin DB4GT
Sold for $2,090,000 Including Commission
RM Auction, Monterey, CA. 2014
Chassis no. DB4/GT/0119/L
Engine no. 370/0275/GT
302 bhp, 3,670 cc DOHC twin-plug alloy inline six-cylinder engine with triple Weber carburetors, four-speed synchromesh alloy-cased manual transmission with overdrive, four-wheel coil-spring suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes. Wheelbase: 95 in.
•The ultimate “race and road” car; Aston Martin’s “250 GT TdF”
•An original U.S.-delivery, left-hand-drive example
•Purchased new by Chicago sportsman Edward Gaylord
•Known U.S. history from new
THE ASTON MARTIN DB4GT
The 1959 year was a happy one in Newport Pagnell. Aston Martin achieved outright victory at Le Mans, scoring 1st and 2nd overall, with drivers Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori at the front, followed by Maurice Trintignant and Paul Frere in second. Aston Martin also took the World Sportscar Championship title, and they were the smallest manufacturer to ever do so, before or since. One of the first cars away at the 24-hour race that year was also an Aston Martin that was painted the same light green as the victorious DBR1s. It was a prototype for a competition-oriented version of the company’s newly introduced grand tourer, the DB4.
In September 1959, the production version of that car, dubbed the DB4GT, debuted at the London Motor Show. It had been developed from the production DB4 for increased performance, and it was shorter, lighter, and more powerful.
The bodywork was of incredibly thin 18-gauge aluminum alloy, the wheelbase was reduced by approximately five inches, and the rear seats were deleted on all but three special-ordered cars, all in order to reduce its weight by some 200 pounds. The engine was extensively modified, with a higher 9:1 compression, a twin-plug dual-ignition cylinder head, and triple dual-throat Weber 45 DCOE carburetors, and it could produce an outstanding 302 brake horsepower at 6,000 rpm. This was a useful increase from the claimed 240 brake horsepower of the standard DB4, and it qualified the DB4GT as the most powerful British automobile of its era. Maximum speeds during testing reached 153 mph, with a 0–60 time of 6.1 seconds. This was also one of the first cars that could go from standstill to 100 mph and then brake to a dead stop in under 20 seconds, which was a tribute, in part, to its uprated Girling braking system, which was used on Aston Martin’s competition sports racers of the era.
Outwardly, the DB4GT was distinguished by faired-in headlamps with Perspex covers, which was a popular feature that was soon adopted for the DB4 Vantage and later the DB5 and DB6 models. The backlight and rear quarter windows were also of Perspex on many examples, but the bumper overriders were deleted and the roll-down windows were frameless within the doors. Twin competition-style, quick-release Monza fuel fillers were added atop each of the rear wings, leading to a high-capacity fuel tank mounted flat in the trunk. Special lightweight Borrani wire wheels, usually with 42 spokes, light alloy rims, and distinctive three-eared knock-offs, completed this potent package.
The interior was trimmed to full Aston Martin road car specification and featured fine Connolly leather upholstery and deep pile Wilton carpet. The evocative dash binnacle on the GT cars benefited from the addition of an oil temperature gauge in addition to the standard array.
DB4GTs represented a strong challenge to the dominance of Ferrari in GT racing, and they enjoyed considerable victories. Starting in 1959, the GT was raced by the Works team and John Ogiar’s Essex Racing Stable and was driven by the likes of Roy Salvadori, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, and Innes Ireland, earning its stripes every weekend on the racing circuit. In December 1959, at the Bahamas Speed Week, when another driver rolled the DBR2 intended for Moss, the Works “borrowed” back a DB4GT just delivered to a Caribbean customer, and Stirling handily won the next race in an Aston was plucked from the parking lot! Indeed, the GT was a dual-purpose car, equally at ease on the track as it was on a Grand Tour.
As noted by Aston Martin historian Nick Candee, “Rivalry was intense, as Aston broke Ferrari’s winning streak. The short-wheelbase DB4GT was Aston’s response to the Ferrari 250 GT ‘Tour de France.’ Ferrari retaliated late in 1960 with the great 250 GT SWB. Aston then countered with the extremely lightweight DB4GT Zagato in 1961. Ferrari then launched its ne plus ultra GTO in February 1962.” The Cobra-Ferrari wars may be more famous, but the Aston-Ferrari wars were no less fierce.