RE: Aston Martin DB4 GT 'Zagato': Spotted

RE: Aston Martin DB4 GT 'Zagato': Spotted

Saturday 21st October 2017

Aston Martin DB4 GT 'Zagato': Spotted

A recently Zagato-bodied DB4GT begs the question; just how much would you pay for those looks?



A genuine DB4GT Zagato is something very special indeed. Just 19 originals were produced and today they can fetch eye-watering figures on the rare occasions they go under the hammer. This though, unfortunately, is not an original Zagato. But it is an original DB4 GT, is clad in genuine Zagato coachbuilt bodywork, and has a remarkable story behind it. Oh, and it's half the price.


A quick history lesson then. The DB4GT Zagato started life, unsurprisingly, as a DB4 GT - itself a very sought after car. Only 75 - excluding the Zagatos - were built, with the aim of taking on Jaguar and Ferrari at the track. Five inches shorter, 90kgs lighter and 60hp more powerful than the standard DB4, it was an instant hit upon its launch in 1959, winning its racing debut at Silverstone in the hands of none other than Sir Stirling Moss.

There was still room for improvement though, which is where Zagato came in. They made the car smaller and lighter still, swapping the glass for Perspex and replacing many of the components with thinner aluminium ones. With the additional removal of brightwork including the front and rear bumpers, a further 45kgs was taken from the car. When an additional 12hp was coaxed from 3.7-litre aluminium straight-six too, all the signs were good.


Unfortunately, the car ended up lacking the racing pedigree of its peers - both entrants retired from the 1961 Le Mans 24 - yet the rarity and sheer beauty of the DB4 GT Zagato has still seen prices skyrocket. One example becoming the most expensive British car ever sold at auction when it went for £9.45m in 2015.

Which is why the one we have here may seem a relative bargain. According to the ad, this is a 1961 DB4GT, originally registered to Sir Max Aitken of the Beaverbrook publishing empire. In 1967 he sold it to Bobby Buchanan-Michaelson, a wealthy enthusiast who decided he wanted the car for road use, rather than as a track-focussed racer - nothing changes, eh? He returned the car to the Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell to have it re-fitted as a Grand Tourer. Built from scratch to his specifications, the 'DBGT Special' comprised the front end of a DB5 and the rear of a DB6, along with a sunroof, wider wheels, chrome coach line and two tone paintwork - as well as modifications to the interior.


It seems the car was a right dog's dinner; friend of the owner and Sports Editor Innes Ireland pulling his punches in saying, "Not everyone will agree with his ideas, but then not everyone is in a position to indulge!" when he reviewed it for the July 1969 edition of Autocar.

Fast forward three decades to 2001 though, when a new owner saw the light and took the DBGT Special to RS Williams. Here it was completely re-built once again, this time being restored to its original 1961 specification before being sent Zagato in Milan for a coach-built body to be fitted.

It now represents one lucky multi-millionnaire's chance to own a car that is equal parts beauty and history, while still saving up for his next yacht. The question remains though, bank balance allowing, would you pay such a vast sum for a non-original car, even one with such a remarkable backstory? Or is it just an overpriced continuation: a Frankenstein's Zagato that would've been better left as was? Let us know what you think in the comments below.


ASTON MARTIN DB4 GT
Engine
: 3,670cc straight-six
Transmission: four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 306@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 270@5,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1961
Recorded mileage: 7,000 miles
Yours for: £4,750,000

See the original advert here

 

 

Author
Discussion

SDB660

Original Poster:

568 posts

194 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
8 point rule re body changes? A load of aggro with DVLA potentially?

jmesgotav8

99 posts

149 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
I'd sooner own that than any of the current crop if multi million pound hypercars

Definitely on my lottery list

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

224 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
Gorgeous thing.

Bencolem

1,013 posts

238 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
I want to see pictures of that DB5 / DB6 mash-up! Oh and personally I’ve always found the standard DB4GT more attractive than the Zagato version.

964Cup

1,407 posts

236 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
10/1 that the eventual buyer will already have a DB4GT Z. They'll buy this to have one they can use without diminishing the value of the original.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
Fabulous, price is stupid for a 'fake' but still an utterly beautiful thing.

sunbeam alpine

6,936 posts

187 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
A couple of weeks back I spent a very pleasant weekend chasing one of these through Belgium and Holland in the Zoute Grand Prix -







[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/h5NpEUMp[/url]



A whole weekend of paople using these cars as they were meant to! smile

j90gta

563 posts

133 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
Bencolem said:
Oh and personally I’ve always found the standard DB4GT more attractive than the Zagato version.


I agree with you there!!

SWoll

18,206 posts

257 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
j90gta said:
Bencolem said:
Oh and personally I’ve always found the standard DB4GT more attractive than the Zagato version.


I agree with you there!!
Me too. Loses a lot of it's character for me once everything gets rounded off.

That GT is a truly lovely thing.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
sunbeam alpine said:
A whole weekend of paople using these cars as they were meant to! smile
clap

williamp

19,213 posts

272 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
Touring, Zagato or Bertone coaachwork?? My preference is the latter:


jumare

417 posts

148 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
Bencolem said:
Oh and personally I’ve always found the standard DB4GT more attractive than the Zagato version.
I prefer the original flat front DB4, fairly academic as barring a lottery win I won't get the chance to choose.

sutts

896 posts

147 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
My next-door neighbour during the 1980’s (Mr. Tom Turk) owned a red DB4 GT Zagato, which a bit of Googling states was DB4GT/0188/L-1961 and seems to have had an interesting history. He was an ‘Aston man’ and had several models, but even at the age of about 10 I realised this one was pretty special.

I’d be curious to know where it is now. I have an old picture in an album somewhere.


RichB

51,429 posts

283 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
jumare said:
Bencolem said:
Oh and personally I’ve always found the standard DB4GT more attractive than the Zagato version.
I prefer the original flat front DB4, fairly academic as barring a lottery win I won't get the chance to choose.
Listen, these are all lovely cars, as it happens I agree the purity of the DB4 is best but who is not seduced by the more aggressive lines of the DB4 GT or the rarity of the Zagato? I'd have one but I don't have room in my garage ;-)

thegreenhell

15,109 posts

218 months

Sunday 22nd October 2017
quotequote all
SDB660 said:
8 point rule re body changes? A load of aggro with DVLA potentially?
I shouldn't think so. The DB4 has a separate chassis so the bodyshell is non-structural, so it's actually quite easy to change the body panels without altering the chassis at all.