1961 Aston Martin DB4

The Aston Martin DB4 made its debut in October of 1958 and was the first Aston Martin to wear Carrozzeria Touring's 'Superleggera' bodywork. It was also the first car of the David Brown era which was not powered by an engine originally designed by W.O. Bentley, nor was its chassis derived from the experimental Atom of 1939. It wore styling by Touring and its fastback coachwork was built under license at Newport Pagnell by Aston Martin. The result was a car that combined Italian styling cues with an unmistakable Aston Martin aerodynamically styled design.

Aston Martin fitted a new twin-overhead-camshaft, six-cylinder, 3.7-liter (3,670cc / 233 cubic-inch) engine designed by Tadek Marek in the DB4, previously used on the DBR2. The cylinder head and block were formed from cast R.R.50 aluminum alloy, and it was fed by twin-SU carburetors. The 240 horsepower produced by the engine was mated to a four-speed manual transmission and there were Servo-assisted disc brakes at all four corners. Initially, the 11.5-inch discs were by Dunlop but were later replaced by Girlings. The early 16-inch wheels with 600H16 Avon TurboSpeed crossply tires were also replaced later in production by 15-inch wheels with 6.70V15 Avon TurboSpeed. Optional 185VR16 Pirelli Cinturato CA67 tires were the radial option on the early examples and 185VR15 Pirelli Cinturato radials on the later models. The steering was via a rack-and-pinion setup and the suspension was independent with ball-jointed wishbones and coil springs. The live rear axle was located by a Watt's linkage. Cars destined for the United States typically had a 3.77 final-drive ratio and the British and European models used a 3.54:1 model. An optional 3.31:1 ratio was reserved for customers were preferred a higher top speed.

The Carrozzeria Touring-designed body was formed using their lightweight Superleggera tube-frame construction resting on a platform - rather than a tubular - chassis. The wheelbase measured 98 inches, had a length of 177 inches, and stood 66 inches tall.

Production of the DB4 ranged from October of 1958 through June of 1963 in no fewer than five series. The five series were subsequently suggested by the Aston Martin Owners Club to help identify the model as it evolved. The Series II models, first shown in 1960, had a front-hinged bonnet, an enlarged sump, and bigger brake calipers. Complaints about engine overheating resulted in the sump being increased from 15 pints to 17, the oil pump was uprated, and an oil cooler was added as an optional extra. The Series III examples, unlike the earlier cars which had a single-piece taillight, had three small taillamps mounted on a chrome backing plate. The Series IV had an egg-crate-styled grille and the Series V had a taller and longer body. Most of the Series V had the aerodynamically styled front fascia of the Vantage and GT models, which was later continued on the DB5 cars.

Most of the Aston Martin DB4s wore 2+2 closed coupe coachwork. 70 examples were built as dropheads (convertibles), with this body style being introduced in October 1961. Of these, 30 examples of Series IV and 40 were Series V. 32 examples received the more powerful Vantage engine.

Between 1958 and 1963, a total of 1,204 examples of the DB4 were produced including 56 as the DB4 GT and 19 as the DB4 GT Zagato.

The Vantage and Vantage GT

The Series IV models of 1961 gained a new high-performance DB4 Vantage option which added three SU carburetors and a special cylinder head resulting in output increasing to 266 hp. A total of 136 saloons and 32 convertibles received the Vantage engine and most had the enclosed headlights of the DB4 GT. A few examples of the non-GT Db4s received the GT's more-potent engine, and these are generally referred to as the Vantage GT. A total of fourteen were built in this configuration including three Series III, five Series IV, and six Series V cars.

The DB4 GT
Aston Martin built seventy-five examples of the DB4 GT with an additional nineteen by Zagato works in Italy as the DB4 GT Zagato. A single example was styled by Bertone and was known as the Bertone Jet. The Zagato-bodied examples had plain oval grilles, were devoid of the GT's tail fins, rode on Borrani wire wheels, and had a clean, smoothed-out rear end.

All of the Aston Martin DB4 GT examples were designed as high-performance versions of the DB4 enhanced via engine modifications and lightweight construction. They were introduced in September of 1959 and wore thinner aluminum coachwork over a shorter wheelbase platform. Due to the smaller footprint, most examples did not have rear seats.

The 3.7-liter and 3.8-liter engines had higher compression, three twin-choke Weber carburetors, and two sparkplugs per cylinder with two distributors. Producing approximately 300 horsepower, the GT was capable of sprinting from zero-to-sixty mph in 6.1 seconds and had a top speed of around 151 mph. They were the fastest road legal production car at the time.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2018