Aston Martin DB4GT: turning up the wick

By Martin Buckley

| 4 Dec 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Aston Martin DB4GT: turning up the wick

In the hierarchy of Aston Martin road cars, the DB4GT is only outshone in perceived desirability by its Zagato-bodied sibling.

Five inches shorter, 200lb lighter and 62bhp stronger than the DB4 ‘saloon’, the GT was conceived as a road car in which the well-heeled sporting gentleman might go racing on a weekend.

As a five-star collector’s piece, the ingredients to elevate it into the rarefied atmosphere of £1million-plus icons have always been there.

The mystique of the Aston Martin name and the svelte magic of this Touring shape have been parting rich folk from their cash for years, but the ‘exotic GT’ tag adds another dimension of exclusivity.

‘A practical workspace with an Edwardian sense of luxury, the Aston Martin DB4GT’s cabin offered comfort and quality but nothing frivolous’

Aston Martin charged an extra £779 for the two-seater GT, which, as far as most buyers were concerned, was simply a noisier and less accommodating car than the already adequately rapid two-plus-two DB4.

Depending on the axle ratio, it chopped 5 secs off the car’s 0-100mph time, and Reg Parnell cut Aston’s classic 0-100mph-0 figure to 24 seconds.

Even so, only 75 discerning buyers saw the attraction of a less compromised DB4.

Good for 302bhp, the GT, launched at the Earls Court show, was Britain’s fastest listed production car in 1959.

It was conceived by Aston general manager John Wyer as a way of maintaining a presence in competition after the firm retired from sports car and GP racing.

The GT’s allure has always centred on its motorsport credentials and the fact that it provided the genesis for the DB4GT Zagato and the ‘Project’ cars, David Brown’s last attempt at works racing glory.

Tadek Marek’s twin-cam ‘six’ came with triple Weber 45 carburettors in the Aston Martin DB4GT

As a prototype, the DB4GT made its debut, driven by Stirling Moss, in a GT race that opened the programme for the International Trophy Meeting at Silverstone in May ’59.

Moss won easily, but in truth the GT was always too heavy to be really competitive in the long term.

Supporting the DBR1 at Le Mans the following month, the same car was less lucky when, fitted with a 3-litre DBR3 engine, it ran its bearings and had to retire.

As well as with Moss, who drove the first production example to win the GT race at the Bahamas Speed Week, the GT will always be associated with John Ogier’s Essex Racing Stable.

Yet even his super-lightweight variants failed to consistently match the pace of the Ferrari 250GT SWBs.

The main point about the GT is its shorter wheelbase: 5in was lopped out of the massive platform chassis, but the DB4’s basic Touring outline was maintained.

The Aston Martin DB4GT got Borrani wire wheels as standard

It kept the patented Superleggera construction, but was skinned in 18-gauge magnesium alloy rather than the standard car’s more robust 16-gauge.

Other weight-saving measures included fixed Perspex quarter-windows and frameless door glasses.

Instant GT giveaways were the headlights, faired in under Perspex cowls in a style that would become a trademark of the later DB models, but with the sidelights inside the cover.

There were no overriders for the bumpers, giving a clean look to the front when combined with the close meshing of the grille on the early cars.

Standard on the GT were Borrani wires with steel spokes, polished alloy rims and three-eared spinners.

Another clue to its identity were the dual quick-release fuel fillers nestled in the rear wings.

The Aston Martin DB4GT’s truncated chassis is most obvious in profile – the wheelbase is a full 5in shorter

These fed a vast, 30-gallon tank that, along with the spare wheel strapped to its top, rendered the boot useless.

To compensate, there’s a generously sized carpeted luggage shelf behind the seats.

Under the GT’s front-hinged bonnet (later standardised on lesser models), Tadek Marek’s twin-cam straight-six kept its 3.7-litre capacity and basic architecture in R-R 50 alloy.

The extra power was teased out by a 12-plug head and dual ignition combined with three twin-choke Webers, high-lift camshafts, big valves and a higher 9:1 compression ratio.

Torque – all 270lb ft of it – peaked at 5000rpm. The GT engine also had an oil cooler and a full-flow filter.

Power went via a beefed-up twin-plate 9in clutch to a close-ratio David Brown four-speed gearbox and a Salisbury axle with a Powr-Lok differential as standard.

There’s little space left in the Aston Martin DB4GT’s boot for luggage

Aston Martin DB4GTs have long since been beyond the financial grasp of the merely wealthy.

This car was restored by RS Williams for the American director of a major multinational who had it shipped back from Switzerland for its first service.

Apart from a modern clutch and a few tweaks to improve drivability and smoothness, the car is standard, which RS Williams believes is important on cars that have attained such huge value.

Sliding down into the cockpit, the A-pillar seems to be in the way, accounted for by the short chassis.

Untangle your legs and you sense that the floor-hinged pedals – too closely spaced for big feet – don’t quite line-up with the 16in wood-rimmed wheel.

The seats look as if they lack side support and you wonder why something more embracing couldn’t have been contrived.

‘The numbers rise relentlessly amid a primal, gravelly howl that encapsulates what a straight-six should sound like’

This car comes with a set of harnesses, which is just as well because the lap belts aren’t worth wearing.

The handsome, clearly instrumented dash echoes the outline of the grille.

It furthered Aston Martin’s reputation for superbly finished and unpretentious interiors that served as a practical workspace for those with an Edwardian sense of luxury, while offering comfort and quality but nothing frivolous.

It is peppered with familiar friends from the BMC parts bin, such as the Wolseley 6/110 switchgear and purple-tinted sunvisors.

The engine, all handsome cam chests and elegant castings, is already warmed through.

It fires on the first twist of the tiny key and we burble out into post-school-run Cobham traffic in search of the open vistas of Salisbury Plain, a few junctions down the M3, on a warm and bright autumn morning.

The Aston Martin DB4GT is no stripped-out race special, with a beautifully appointed cabin

Initial impressions are that the clutch is only modestly heavy and, more importantly, progressive.

The steering is similarly hefty and centres nicely, while the unassisted Girling disc brakes need quite a shove, particularly when cold.

The engine idles sweetly but the Webers stumble when you want to trickle away quietly.

In town it’s natural to go into third at 40mph and it will pull from 1000rpm in top if you must.

At these speeds the ride is busy and you can clearly hear the petrol surging and slopping around in the vast tank.

For once, we are under instruction to run the car as near to dry as possible in readiness for the return trip to its owner in the USA as air cargo.

The Aston Martin DB4GT’s luggage shelf, with harnesses hidden in cubbyholes

Guiding the twin bullet-shaped wings through the M3 traffic, the GT is docile as it scythes around the commuting blobs, an authoritative presence that sweeps naturally into the outside lane as it limbers into its muscular stride.

The oil temperature has hardly registered, but the oil pressure is reassuringly healthy and the Peony Aston runs absolutely straight as it finds its pace.

The deep and urgent hum of the ‘six’ fights for supremacy with increasing hiss around the frameless door glasses and a hint of whine from the differential, which, in the GT, is not muffled by a rear seat.

Touring’s slender roof pillars and svelte glasshouse afford you wonderful views across the aluminium bonnet.

Traffic coming up from behind has nowhere to hide with such narrow C-posts.

Five different final-drive ratios were available for the GT, the highest giving a theoretical 170mph at 6000rpm.

The DB4GT’s rear side windows are fixed Perspex

The standard 3.54:1, allowing 22mph per 1000rpm in top gear, gives the best compromise between maximum speed (140mph) and acceleration, although you still find yourself looking for a fifth gear when you want to cruise.

The sharper, 302bhp engine pulls strongly and cleanly to its redline in a sustained rush that maintains smoothness all the way.

Where the standard car would start running out of steam at 5000rpm, the GT motor, with more sparks and an extra distributor to maintain the accuracy of the camshaft timing over a wider range of engine revs, is yet to achieve peak power and has 1000rpm in hand.

Off the line, the clutch and limited-slip diff bite hard for a raw lunge of acceleration that presses you deep into your seat.

As the nose lifts, you can almost see the bonnet twist slightly with the torque.

Second gear gives more than 70mph, the ratios quite closely stacked to keep momentum flowing.

The Aston Martin DB4GT has twin fuel-filler caps for its 30-gallon tank

The numbers rise relentlessly amid the induction roar of big Weber chokes and a primal, gravelly howl that encapsulates the essence of what a straight-six should sound like.

There’s a light sizzle through the gearlever, but it moves positively and seems to give your palm a direct connection with the meshing cogs.

The synchromesh is powerful but unobtrusive, all the ratios relatively quiet.

Only occasionally do you lose your place going quickly across from second to third, but you learn to let the lever find its own way.

The brakes are better once warm, when there’s plenty of feel to the pedal, but the nose dives noticeably when you want to pull up in a hurry.

As you find top at smack-on 100mph, the GT is just getting interested.

Squeeze the organ pedal down again – it has a delightfully smooth action against a firm return spring – and the thrust keeps on coming as modern traffic is swept disdainfully aside.

On the road in Aston Martin’s thinly disguised racer, the DB4GT

In a world of bumbling early 1960s saloons, the Aston’s dominance must have left other motorists slack-jawed: a blur of deep, flawless paint, a brief impression of taut alloy and flashing Borranis, then a throaty hum that said everything about its huge price and epic urge.

The warm wooden wheel writhes gently in my hands as we spear along the A303.

Heavy and ponderous at standstill, it is meatily sharp once under way. Overall the DB4GT handles impressively but is not really dainty or balletic.

It is led by its nose and wants to run wide, but there is every opportunity to set it up to be driven through corners, gauging the general direction with rewardingly muscular and accurate steering and dialling in the angle of turn with the throttle.

The pedals are conducive to heeling-and-toeing, so you can get your braking and gearchanges sorted seamlessly enough, but the seats offer little in the way of location.

As the car loads up on its Avon radials, you tend to hang on to the wheel ever harder to keep your place.

Through fast, open sweepers, you are much less conscious of body roll and can tune the attitude with the throttle between understeer through neutrality – with both ends gripping equally – or squeeze harder to make the rear wheels start to slide.

The intake rises from the Aston Martin DB4GT’s aluminium bonnet

Slower corners mean less fluid progress; suddenly the steering feels lower geared than the 2.5 turns from lock to lock suggests, and you have to work hard to keep pace through a succession of hairpins linked by short straights.

It always puts its power down tidily – the rear axle is located for every eventuality – and telegraphs its intentions nicely.

Yet, even if it wasn’t insured for £1.4m, it’s not a car that you routinely throw around.

It is not out to flatter your abilities, but rather imposes its will on you and makes you drive quickly though not flamboyantly. I enjoyed this Aston.

Despite the fact that its body was designed by Italians and its engine by a Pole, it carries a huge weight of British cultural significance – and a price-tag it can never quite live up to.

It is one of the marque’s all-time-great road cars, but, within a few minutes of slipping behind that familiar wood-rimmed wheel, I forgot how much it was worth.

Our encounter was a simple matter of a wholesomely powerful, achingly handsome car that was beautifully made and fast in an elemental way that allows you to believe you are handling something that is rather more than just a means of transport.

So I hope the person who owns this Aston Martin DB4GT uses, enjoys and appreciates it.

Its value could condemn it to a sterile existence typical of many trophy cars, gathering dust in some underground storage area or heated motor house; fawned over, occasionally admired but more boasted of than driven.

And that would be a shame.

Images: Tony Baker

Thanks to: Richard Stuart Williams Ltd

This was first in our February 2009 magazine; all information was correct at the date of original publication

Factfile

Aston Martin DB4GT

Sold/number built 1959-’63/75
Construction steel platform chassis with alloy panels over Superleggera tubing
Engine all-alloy, dohc, 3670cc straight-six, dual plugs, dual ignition, triple Weber 45DCOE9 carburettors
Max power 302bhp @ 6000rpm
Max torque 270Ib ft @ 5000rpm
Suspension: front double wishbones, telescopic dampers rear live axle, parallel trailing links, Watt linkage, double-acting Armstrong lever-arm dampers; coil springs f/r
Steering rack and pinion
Brakes Girling discs
Length 14ft 3¾in (4362mm)
Width 5ft 6in (1676mm)
Height 4ft 4in (1321mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 9in (2362mm)
Weight 2706Ib (1227kg)
Mpg 12-19
0-60mph 6.4 secs
Top speed 152mph
Price new £4534