1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato GT Coupe

The British sports car specialist Aston Martin was founded in 1914. Five years later, one of Italy's finest coachbuilders, Carrozzeria Zagato, was formed. John Wyer, the owner of Aston Martin, met Gianni Zagato at the London Earl's Court motor show in 1959. The two formed a partnership in which Carrozzeria Zagato would construct custom bodies for a small series of competition DB4GTs. Early the next year, the first Aston lightweight chassis arrived in Italy. Zagato, along with twenty-three year-old designer Ercole Spada designed the DB4GT and drew inspiration from Ferrari's successful 250 GT short-wheelbase Berlinetta (SWB). Many people, however, argue that the Zagato/Spada design is more aggressive, bolder, and more contemporary than the Ferrari.

Under license from Carrozzeria Touring, these Zagato bodies used the Superleggera (super-light) construction technique, meaning a thin skin of aluminum stretched over a network of small-diameter steel tubing.

This particular example was the Turin show car in 1961. It has several unique features such as bumpers, a chrome strip along the side, chrome instead of polished aluminum around the windows and headlights, and chrome wheels. It is believed to be one of only two examples that had hood scoops. of the nineteen examples built, just six were left-hand drive.

The car remained in Italy until 1968. It was shipped stateside after it was purchased by Dr. Nicolas Begovish of Fullerton, Ca. It was purchased by the current owner in 2001 and a restoration was commissioned to Steel Wings in Philadelphia.

Most Zagatos were painted red at some stage in their life, including this one, but it was originally blue with off-white leather. It appears here in traditional Aston Martin green, or California Sage, as it is sometimes known.

Since then, the car has been very busy. It has been displayed at the Aston national Meet, it also was on their magazine cover. It has appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, on a Road and track calendar, at Pebble Beach, and in museums in Atlanta and Portland. It has run the Copper State 1000 and been featured in Aston Journal of Heritage Trust.

The popularity of the original DB4 GT Zagato has resulted in two subsequent waves of cars, based on the DB4's, being rendered into Zagatos in a cooperative effort between Aston Martin Zagato.