1963 Aston Martin DB4

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

Not only was this Aston Martin DB4 owned by Victor Gauntlett during the period in which he owned Aston Martin itself, it’s a particularly rare example because it features the ‘open headlamp’ styling of the earlier DB4. Most Series 5 cars had the faired-in headlamps that would be carried over to the DB5.

Chassis number 1045/R was completed at the factory on 25 April 1963 and first registered on 8 May. A letter from the factory clearly states the car was upgraded by the factory to Vantage specification.  It was supplied via Brooklands of Bond Street to its London-based first owner – a Mr BC Reid – in Midnight Blue with Fawn leather. 

Victor Gauntlett – who owned Aston Martin in partnership with the Livanos shipping family – bought the DB4 in 1980. In a letter written to a subsequent custodian, he said: ‘The most significant occurrence in my hands was that it took part in a race for Aston Martins as part of the Dubai Grand Prix in December 1981, and much fun that outing gave me and other members of the AMOC.’ 

Gauntlett sold 1045/R in 1983 but clearly missed his old DB4 because he twice tried to buy it back, sadly without success. By the following decade, the car had been acquired by a Mr Lewis and it appeared in the 1997 book Aston Martin: The Legend, written by Michael Bowler. 

There are numerous invoices from renowned specialist RS Williams before, during and after Lewis’s ownership, including one for converting the engine to 4.2-litre, lead-free specification. Lewis kept the car until 2006, after which it was owned by British diplomat Lord Renwick between 2008 and 2013. 

Having been treated to a bare-metal respray and a retrim in 2013-14, the DB4 was entered in the Aston Martin Owners Club Spring Concours at Woburn Abbey in 2015, and again at Duxford in 2016. The following year, it was sold via Aston Martin Works to a Frankfurt-based owner, but the car remained in the UK and was bought back by its previous owner in 2020. 

Now being offered for sale at the Classic Motor Hub, this Aston Martin DB4 comes with an extensive history file that’s full of invoices from the likes of RS Williams and Aston Martin Works – testament to how well it’s been looked after. It was also awarded Silver Certification by Aston Martin and has an Assured Provenance folder, and is a beautifully presented example of this coveted Grand Tourer.  

MODEL HISTORY  

When the Aston Martin DB4 was launched in 1958, it marked the beginning of a new era for the British marque. Having not been satisfied with the styling of a proposed ‘next generation’ model, John Wyer insisted that the company should turn to an Italian design house.

A deal was therefore done with Touring of Milan – from which Aston Martin also licensed the Superleggera method of lightweight construction, which involved using a framework of small tubes on a rigid platform chassis. 

Tadek Marek designed a new 3.7-litre, six-cylinder engine that produced 240bhp in standard form. Suspension was via coil springs and wishbones at the front, with a live axle at the rear plus coil springs and lever-arm dampers. Rack-and-pinion steering was fitted in place of the steering box used on the earlier DB2 series, while Dunlop disc brakes were used all round.

The DB4 was regularly updated throughout its production run, from the 1958 Series 1 to the Series 5 of late 1962. From 1961 onwards, there were also the options of a convertible body style and the more powerful Vantage model, which featured a triple-carburettor engine.

The Series 5 DB4 featured a slightly longer body to give more room for rear-seat passengers, and 15in wheels were fitted in place of the previous 16s. The Series 5 Vantage, meanwhile, used the faired-in headlamps that had been seen on the competition-focused DB4 GT and which would also be carried over to the DB5.When The Motor road-tested a DB4 in 1960, it concluded that: ‘Performance, controllability and comfort have combined … to make it a highly desirable car; one in which long journeys can be completed very quickly indeed with the minimum of risk or discomfort and the maximum of pleasure.’