Feature
Track-Testing a $4,000,000 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato
We Drive the Coolest and Most Expensive Aston Martin Ever
Aston Martin is the new Ferrari, a company that's all about performance, all about style and all about being completely cool.
You don't have to look far to see the evidence. The Aston Martin DB9 is on everyone's list of the most beautiful cars ever built, and the DBR9 has won a glowing reputation in sports car racing confirmed by a class victory at the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans. Even the value of vintage Aston Martin models has been climbing in the collectible market.
But the comparison between Aston Martin and Ferrari isn't exactly new. More than 40 years ago, the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato combined British engineering with Italian style to compete on the racetrack against the legendary Ferrari 250 GT SWB. If you see one on the auction block, be prepared to write a check for $4 million.
If you're looking for legendary speed and style, the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato is it.
The License Plate of Fame
On May 19, 1961, this Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato was registered 1 VEV and its companion was registered 2 VEV, and together they became a legendary part of Aston Martin history.
The Aston Martin DB4 had been successfully introduced in 1958 as a gentleman's car, but it didn't live up to the sporting reputation Aston Martin was winning for itself in sports car racing, especially once the DBR1 earned overall victory at the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. A DB4GT version appeared at the 1959 London Motor Show, and its 5-inch-shorter wheelbase, lighter weight and more powerful 3.7-liter inline-6 engine won some respectability. But it wasn't enough against the Ferrari 250 GT SWB.
Aston Martin turned to Zagato, an Italian coachbuilder experienced with lightweight bodywork. Under the oversight of Gianni Zagato, 23-year-old Ercole Spada created a taut, new shape for the body-on-frame DB4GT. In addition, Aston Martin made the seats from aluminum, substituted more aluminum for heavy British steel in the chassis, and formed the windows (aside from the windshield) from plexiglass.Nineteen cars were built, although one was subsequently destroyed.
The Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato car first appeared in October 1960 at the London Motor Show, but sadly it just wasn't quick enough on the racetrack. John Ogier's Essex Racing Stable fielded both 1 VEV and 2 VEV, and though Ogier employed the best British sports car drivers of the time in Jim Clark, Innes Ireland and Roy Salvadori, the two Zagatos couldn't keep pace with the Ferrari 250 GT SWB. And once Ferrari introduced the 250 GTO in 1962, the game was up.
As Ian Moss, a former racing mechanic for Essex Racing Stable recalls it, "The Ferraris were much lighter, had better traction and a much stiffer chassis. The way I saw it, Ferrari made a racing car and adapted it for the road, while Aston took a road car and converted it for racing."
An Afternoon in the Sun
For all its brief moment in the sun, the Aston Martin DB4GT still recalls a glorious moment in sports car racing when street-legal cars competed right at the pinnacle of international racing. And for another afternoon in the sun we pushed 1 VEV hard around Castle Combe, a 1.9-mile circuit near Bristol in southwest England that began in 1950 as access roads around a WWII airfield.
Fresh from its absolutely perfect, wonderfully sympathetic restoration, the car is waiting in the paddock and Adrian Beecroft, the new owner, has invited us to take him round as fast as we'd like.
There are no seatbelts but the old bucket seats are comfortable, the inline-6 engine starts instantly with a fabulous, eager roar, and we select 1st gear from the all-synchromesh four-speed box and trickle away toward the circuit. Apart from the steering, which is heavy, the Zagato is as easy to potter around as a Morris Minor. Even the clutch is fairly effortless to manage.
Old but Not Slow
Out on the circuit, the performance is utterly stunning.
On our second lap, we come up behind a gorgeous new Aston Martin DB9. It is being driven well, so we can't imagine what that bloke thought when we appeared alongside coming out of the tight right-hander at Quarry and released 1 VEV with full throttle in 2nd gear. We took off with wheelspin and a trace of opposite lock, and there was just no contest — we had gone. On the longer straights, the acceleration above 120 mph is still very strong.
This is quite an old car with a live rear axle with parallel trailing links and a Watts link, and since the car is set up for the road at present, the damping is a bit soft, calling for care in the fastest bends. It could get out of hand quite easily at speed, but once aimed accurately, it is very stable. With its limited-slip differential, the Zagato likes a bit of sideways style and we were surprised at how well the 16-inch Vredestein Sprint Classic tires held on.
The Girling disc brakes (no vacuum assist, remember) were suffering from mild pad knock-off, needing an occasional bit of left-foot encouragement on the straights, but that's normal enough with new brake pads.
It's New Again
Although 1 VEV had been restored previously, it was 17 years ago and time had taken its toll. Its rear fenders weren't shaped quite right and restoration standards then were not as high as they are today.
It took some time to get the car right. Once the car had been handed over to R.S. Williams for restoration, former mechanic Ian Moss and former owner William Loughran were brought in to consult. With the aid of photographs plus Zagato's own original drawings and dimensions, this bodywork was given the most painstaking attention. As all the DB4GT Zagatos were built by hand, every one is a little different. Finally 1 VEV's correct original shape was brought back into being.
The brief was to restore it as it was in 1961, and that's why it has the bucket seats, no seatbelts and no roll cage.
Performance From the Past
Back in 1962, Autocar magazine tested a new DB4GT Zagato, an extraordinary privilege when you think that car's price tag was £5,470, about $15,000 then and the equivalent of $160,000 today. A Ferrari cost even more then, but a contemporary Jaguar E-Type cost less than half that.
The 2,700-pound test car had a 3.31:1 final-drive ratio that delivered 153 mph at the engine's redline of 6,050 rpm in 4th gear. The Autocar testers were renowned for their accuracy, and they recorded zero to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds and went on to a remarkable zero to 140 mph in 32.2 seconds.
At the time, Aston Martin claimed 314 horsepower (DIN gross) at 6,000 rpm and 278 pound-feet of torque at 5,400 rpm from this DOHC 3,670cc inline-6 with three Weber 45 DCOE4 carburetors and a compression ratio of 9.7:1. But former race mechanic Moss recalls, "Despite official claims, 1 VEV never had more than 270 hp in those days. Horsepower figures sell cars, but torque wins races!"
Today 1 VEV is quicker than that. Its power is well above 314 hp and the torque figure is now 348 lb-ft. With its Vredestein tires and 3.06:1 final drive, it's geared taller than the 1961 test car and will reach 165 mph at the same 6,050 rpm.
Performance in the Past
Though Aston Martin had grown accustomed to competing with a horsepower deficit throughout the 1950s, the DB4GT Zagato failed to keep pace with the competition from Ferrari because it was heavier, not less powerful. After all the trouble to create the lightweight Zagato from the heavier DB4GT, the actual weight reduction amounted to only half a hundredweight or some 56 pounds, Ian Moss remembers. And even at that, the Zagato was 12 percent heavier than a Ferrari 250 GT SWB and 18 percent heavier than a Ferrari 250 GTO.
Perhaps 1 VEV's finest moment came in its second race, the 1961 RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood. Roy Salvadori gave chase to a gaggle of Ferrari 250 GT SWBs and after 108 laps he finished a mere 3 seconds behind the Ferrari of Mike Parkes. Behind him (and another lap down, we should note) were Jim Clark in 2 VEV and Innes Ireland in a normal DB4GT. It was a glorious result, even though Salvadori was in fact only a close 3rd, because Stirling Moss in another Ferrari 250 GT finished a lap ahead of the entire field. (That sort of performance was rather expected of Stirling then.)
Driver Roy Salvadori remembers, "Compared to a GTO or an E-Type, the Aston Zagato was much heavier to drive. You had to really thrash it to get the times down, but it was a wonderful team to be part of. We worked hard at our pit stops but somehow we always seemed to be stationary a little longer than the opposition, and that car was really hard on tires."
Apparently so, because the record shows that Salvadori used some 14 tires that day at Goodwood. That's some serious sideways motoring.
You don't have to look far to see the evidence. The Aston Martin DB9 is on everyone's list of the most beautiful cars ever built, and the DBR9 has won a glowing reputation in sports car racing confirmed by a class victory at the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans. Even the value of vintage Aston Martin models has been climbing in the collectible market.
But the comparison between Aston Martin and Ferrari isn't exactly new. More than 40 years ago, the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato combined British engineering with Italian style to compete on the racetrack against the legendary Ferrari 250 GT SWB. If you see one on the auction block, be prepared to write a check for $4 million.
If you're looking for legendary speed and style, the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato is it.
The License Plate of Fame
On May 19, 1961, this Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato was registered 1 VEV and its companion was registered 2 VEV, and together they became a legendary part of Aston Martin history.
The Aston Martin DB4 had been successfully introduced in 1958 as a gentleman's car, but it didn't live up to the sporting reputation Aston Martin was winning for itself in sports car racing, especially once the DBR1 earned overall victory at the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. A DB4GT version appeared at the 1959 London Motor Show, and its 5-inch-shorter wheelbase, lighter weight and more powerful 3.7-liter inline-6 engine won some respectability. But it wasn't enough against the Ferrari 250 GT SWB.
Aston Martin turned to Zagato, an Italian coachbuilder experienced with lightweight bodywork. Under the oversight of Gianni Zagato, 23-year-old Ercole Spada created a taut, new shape for the body-on-frame DB4GT. In addition, Aston Martin made the seats from aluminum, substituted more aluminum for heavy British steel in the chassis, and formed the windows (aside from the windshield) from plexiglass.Nineteen cars were built, although one was subsequently destroyed.
The Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato car first appeared in October 1960 at the London Motor Show, but sadly it just wasn't quick enough on the racetrack. John Ogier's Essex Racing Stable fielded both 1 VEV and 2 VEV, and though Ogier employed the best British sports car drivers of the time in Jim Clark, Innes Ireland and Roy Salvadori, the two Zagatos couldn't keep pace with the Ferrari 250 GT SWB. And once Ferrari introduced the 250 GTO in 1962, the game was up.
As Ian Moss, a former racing mechanic for Essex Racing Stable recalls it, "The Ferraris were much lighter, had better traction and a much stiffer chassis. The way I saw it, Ferrari made a racing car and adapted it for the road, while Aston took a road car and converted it for racing."
An Afternoon in the Sun
For all its brief moment in the sun, the Aston Martin DB4GT still recalls a glorious moment in sports car racing when street-legal cars competed right at the pinnacle of international racing. And for another afternoon in the sun we pushed 1 VEV hard around Castle Combe, a 1.9-mile circuit near Bristol in southwest England that began in 1950 as access roads around a WWII airfield.
Fresh from its absolutely perfect, wonderfully sympathetic restoration, the car is waiting in the paddock and Adrian Beecroft, the new owner, has invited us to take him round as fast as we'd like.
There are no seatbelts but the old bucket seats are comfortable, the inline-6 engine starts instantly with a fabulous, eager roar, and we select 1st gear from the all-synchromesh four-speed box and trickle away toward the circuit. Apart from the steering, which is heavy, the Zagato is as easy to potter around as a Morris Minor. Even the clutch is fairly effortless to manage.
Old but Not Slow
Out on the circuit, the performance is utterly stunning.
On our second lap, we come up behind a gorgeous new Aston Martin DB9. It is being driven well, so we can't imagine what that bloke thought when we appeared alongside coming out of the tight right-hander at Quarry and released 1 VEV with full throttle in 2nd gear. We took off with wheelspin and a trace of opposite lock, and there was just no contest — we had gone. On the longer straights, the acceleration above 120 mph is still very strong.
This is quite an old car with a live rear axle with parallel trailing links and a Watts link, and since the car is set up for the road at present, the damping is a bit soft, calling for care in the fastest bends. It could get out of hand quite easily at speed, but once aimed accurately, it is very stable. With its limited-slip differential, the Zagato likes a bit of sideways style and we were surprised at how well the 16-inch Vredestein Sprint Classic tires held on.
The Girling disc brakes (no vacuum assist, remember) were suffering from mild pad knock-off, needing an occasional bit of left-foot encouragement on the straights, but that's normal enough with new brake pads.
It's New Again
Although 1 VEV had been restored previously, it was 17 years ago and time had taken its toll. Its rear fenders weren't shaped quite right and restoration standards then were not as high as they are today.
It took some time to get the car right. Once the car had been handed over to R.S. Williams for restoration, former mechanic Ian Moss and former owner William Loughran were brought in to consult. With the aid of photographs plus Zagato's own original drawings and dimensions, this bodywork was given the most painstaking attention. As all the DB4GT Zagatos were built by hand, every one is a little different. Finally 1 VEV's correct original shape was brought back into being.
The brief was to restore it as it was in 1961, and that's why it has the bucket seats, no seatbelts and no roll cage.
Performance From the Past
Back in 1962, Autocar magazine tested a new DB4GT Zagato, an extraordinary privilege when you think that car's price tag was £5,470, about $15,000 then and the equivalent of $160,000 today. A Ferrari cost even more then, but a contemporary Jaguar E-Type cost less than half that.
The 2,700-pound test car had a 3.31:1 final-drive ratio that delivered 153 mph at the engine's redline of 6,050 rpm in 4th gear. The Autocar testers were renowned for their accuracy, and they recorded zero to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds and went on to a remarkable zero to 140 mph in 32.2 seconds.
At the time, Aston Martin claimed 314 horsepower (DIN gross) at 6,000 rpm and 278 pound-feet of torque at 5,400 rpm from this DOHC 3,670cc inline-6 with three Weber 45 DCOE4 carburetors and a compression ratio of 9.7:1. But former race mechanic Moss recalls, "Despite official claims, 1 VEV never had more than 270 hp in those days. Horsepower figures sell cars, but torque wins races!"
Today 1 VEV is quicker than that. Its power is well above 314 hp and the torque figure is now 348 lb-ft. With its Vredestein tires and 3.06:1 final drive, it's geared taller than the 1961 test car and will reach 165 mph at the same 6,050 rpm.
Performance in the Past
Though Aston Martin had grown accustomed to competing with a horsepower deficit throughout the 1950s, the DB4GT Zagato failed to keep pace with the competition from Ferrari because it was heavier, not less powerful. After all the trouble to create the lightweight Zagato from the heavier DB4GT, the actual weight reduction amounted to only half a hundredweight or some 56 pounds, Ian Moss remembers. And even at that, the Zagato was 12 percent heavier than a Ferrari 250 GT SWB and 18 percent heavier than a Ferrari 250 GTO.
Perhaps 1 VEV's finest moment came in its second race, the 1961 RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood. Roy Salvadori gave chase to a gaggle of Ferrari 250 GT SWBs and after 108 laps he finished a mere 3 seconds behind the Ferrari of Mike Parkes. Behind him (and another lap down, we should note) were Jim Clark in 2 VEV and Innes Ireland in a normal DB4GT. It was a glorious result, even though Salvadori was in fact only a close 3rd, because Stirling Moss in another Ferrari 250 GT finished a lap ahead of the entire field. (That sort of performance was rather expected of Stirling then.)
Driver Roy Salvadori remembers, "Compared to a GTO or an E-Type, the Aston Zagato was much heavier to drive. You had to really thrash it to get the times down, but it was a wonderful team to be part of. We worked hard at our pit stops but somehow we always seemed to be stationary a little longer than the opposition, and that car was really hard on tires."
Apparently so, because the record shows that Salvadori used some 14 tires that day at Goodwood. That's some serious sideways motoring.
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