Holy Grail DB4GT
There are a few cars that can be considered “Holy Grail” machines. The Ferrari 250 Short wheelbase, the1973 Porsche RS the, 8C Alfa Romeo and the subject of this story, the Aston Martin DB4 GT.
Of the 75 “standard” DB4GTs five are known (AMOC register) to have full factory lightweight construction.taking an additional 175 lbs off the car.
After a day of driving around Eastern L.I. from Bridgehampton to Shelter island and all the way out to Montauk point for photography, I feel as good as when we started the day. This car does not beat you up, I’m not just taking into consideration that it is a 50 year old car with some race preparation, it’s a comfortable car period. The GT is not a stripped out shell,it has that wonderful Aston Martin interior made up of leather ,wood and wool carpet. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon.The suspension is firm, but not at the expense of your back.The only time you notice is if the road gets really bad.
Aston Martin debuted the DB4 at the 1958 Paris Salon,it was a totally new car from the ground up. The chassis designed by Harold Beech was clothed in the Superleggera body work of premier Carrozzeria Touring of Milan. An alloy twin cam 3.7 straight 6 engine, 4 wheel disc brakes, independent front suspension and a live rear axel located by trailing arms and a Watt’s linkage completed the package.
The competition version the DB4 GT, came into the public eye at the London Motor Show in September of 1959.
Making it shorter by 5 inches and lighter by 178 LBS increased overall performance.
The engine highly modified from DB4 trim had a high compression (9:1) twin plug head and triple 45 DCOE Weber carburetors, good for 302 bhp at 6000 rpm. That was an increase of 62 bhp over the DB4. This made the DB4GT the most powerful car of the day. Girling four wheel disc brakes were standard equipment to help bring the DB4 GT to a halt.
Outwardly the differences to the DB4 were the shorter wheelbase,enclosed headlights that would later be standard on the DB5 and the use of plexiglass in the side and rear windows for extra weight savings. The rear fenders sported quick release fillers going to a 36 gallon fuel tank in the trunk, taking up most of the space save for a spare tire.Something you can’t see was the use of 18 gauge aluminum to help in weight savings.
DB4GT #0175/L Was the last built and sold by the Newport Pagnell factory the last 19 chassis after were given Zagato designed bodies.
After leaving the factory the Aston started it’s world tour. It spent the first few years of it’s life in Switzerland, in the hands of A. G. Medawar. In the late 60s it moved on to Beirut,Lebanon to a Mr. R.S. Simpson who later shipped the car back to Holland and then in 1976 sold it on to Charlie Turner of Atlanta,Georgia.
#0175/L then moved to California into the ownership of Lt. Col. Boone Crow. who
entered the Aston in a number of vintage racing events including the Monterey Historics
At his last visit to Laguna Seca he had a nasty shunt and did damage to the nose of the car,after that the Aston was then put into storage. With the death of Lt. Col. Crowe, his widow sent the car to a shop in Utah for restoration, but the job was never completed.
Now in pieces the car was sold to Jack Boxstrom who entrusted a complete restoration and race prep to Robert and John Clerk of Pompano Beach Florida. To the Clerks credit the Aston went on to win events at Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta and Lime Rock Park. In 1997 the car again changed hands, Richard Sirota was the new caretaker of #0175/L. Sirota took the car on several road rallies in Colorado and New England, two years later it was sold to a Mr. J.Cordner who kept it until 2006 selling it on to Alex Papakriakau of Scottsdale, AZ.
Andy Greenberg was a car fanatic from the get go. Moving in the early 60s at the age of ten with his family to a new neighborhood on Long Island, he remembers putting his nose to the window when he heard his buddy’s father driving home in an Aston Martin DB4. This was his first exposure to British cars, it was love at first sight! Later when the neighbor moved on to a DB6, young Andy’s affection moved to the DB6 too.
In 1969 one of Andy’s dreams became a reality, he was able to buy a brand new Series 2 XKE coupe.Everything about the car enchanted him the look, the smell, the sound.Another car from his childhood that he had lusted after, it was the updated version of the original E-Type, but it handled better it had an improved gearbox better cooling and brakes and it still had that purity of line of the series one. Other British cars came and went an MGA, a Plus 4 Morgan, a Triumph TR3, but the E-Type stayed with him and now 200,000 miles later it is still with him taking him on trips all over the US plus time on various race tracks and hill climbs and even a trip back to England.
Andy’s next dream was realized in 1993 with the help of Lance Evans of “Steel Wings.” It was time for an Aston Martin of his own. Lance told Andy to drive the DB 4,5, and 6 to see which one he liked the most. After driving the trio of cars it was decided that the DB6 checked all the right boxes, so Lance went in search of the proper car.
He came back with an early DB6 that had belonged to one Salvatore (Sonny) Bono. The car was given a thorough going over and prep by Lance and it was ready for the road and like the E-Type the Aston found it’s way to the track and hill climbs. Sometimes when a dream becomes reality it can be a let down, not with the DB6 it was everything Andy wished for and more! That was helped along with the caring service and friendship of Lance Evans
who made sure the car was set up right and was always available by phone if something cropped up on the road.
Fast forward to January 2010, the DB6 is in the shop for restoration after a mishap during an Aston Martin club rally in upstate NY and Andy is at home recovering from some restoration of his own. He is catching up on his reading, when something catches his eye in the RM Scottsdale auction catalog. A matching numbers 1963 DB4GT and not just any DB4GT, but the last standard bodied GT produced, it’s also a factory left hand drive 1 of 30 and on further reading it is believed to be an undocumented Aston Martin factory built “lightweight.”
Being at home in New York and the auction in progress in Arizona Andy starts burning up the phone lines To a previous owner who is at the auction, Specialist Don Rose and John Clerk. He knew the car had been prepared for Jack Boxstrom a well know Aston racer by one of the top shops specializing in the marque, Jon & Robert Clerk That was a winning formula for Andy, but was it still the same, had the car be messed with. After getting positive reports back from all the specialists, it was time to make the leap. He contacted RM and got himself into the game.
He was told the auction house would set it up so he could bid on-line,that was not how Andy wanted to play it. He told RM “ Here is the price I am comfortable paying,have someone be my proxy,call and wake me if I’m the winning bid, I’m going to sleep.” The phone call came, the car was his. The next day another call came. Do you want to sell the car,we have someone willing to pay you $100,000.00 over your final bid. Andy only had to think for a moment. The answer was no.
0175/L may be one but is not known or indicated in the register, but close expert examination of the factory features on the car like additional use of Aluminum alloy and non standard holes drilled in the chassis leave little doubt in the mind as to the genesis of this DB4GT.
The registry lists “at least five 0124/R,0125/R, 0151/R, 0167/R and 0167/L as lightweight cars.” They clearly consider additional, non-documented, lightweights a very real possibility.
Early 2012, after some paint work and adjustment to the boot lid by Scott Moyer of Dublin,PA the Aston was ready to follow it’s stable mates out to the road and track.
There is something about the interior of a British car it has a special personality all it’s own the smell and feel are very unique, but that doesn’t mean take off your shoes before you get in. Andy and I enjoyed our turkey sandwiches in the GT on the ferry ride over to Shelter island, not to many owners would allow an impromptu picnic in there million dollar plus car. So you can tell this is not some trailer queen this car gets used.
Driving the backroads of Long Island the GT is very well behaved it drives along at slow speeds like any modern road-going car no lumpy cam no harsh clutch and the water temperature never gave any cause for concern , the car never misses a beat!
Now in the drivers seat and getting used to my surroundings. Three spoke wood rimmed steering wheel falls right to hand. Tach to the left speedometer to the right with the oil temperature between them. Gauges for oil pressure, amps and water temperature are spread out around them. Bring your right hand off the wheel and the shift lever for the David Brown gearbox is in your hand. The most disconcerting thing about this car is, it has no side mirrors. Andy was told “you don’t want to cut into that beautiful metal.” Luckily the rear view mirror is of a good size. So with a careful look over my left shoulder I find first and head off. As I said the Aston is happy to lope around at low speeds with no problem, but push on the accelerator and it leaps forward with a snap the tach looks like it wants to go around again. There is plenty of torque that pushes you into your seat, but the Aston is not high strung or twitchy it goes right where you point it, with no fuss that has a lot to do with the stiffer springs and thicker front sway bar and it instills a great deal of confidence in the driver, even when running on bias ply Dunlop Ls. The DB4GT can be driven to the track flogged around in competition and then quietly driven home, it’s happy doing both, but I am sure the driver would rather be pushing a bit harder. It’s a lucky person to have a dynamic machine like this in there collection it sure has given me something to dream about.
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