1960 Aston Martin DB4GT

Tractor and gear manufacturer David Brown took over the Aston Martin and Lagonda companies in 1947. His first DB2 series and variants sold well from 1949 to 1958, and served to re-establish the marque as a builder of soundly engineered, quali­ty motor cars. In 1959 the much-improved DB4 model made its debut. Chief designer Tadek Merak’s new 3.7-litre alloy straight six featured twin overhead cams and hemispherical combus­tion chambers. This engine was installed in a steel platform chassis and clothed in seductive alloy body panels by Touring of Milan. Independent front suspension and a well-located live axle delivered race-worthy road holding while four-wheel disc brakes provided effective retardation. Over 1,200 DB4 coupes were sold from 1958 to 1963. Despite this success, a performance version was still sorely required to compete on the circuit and in the sales room with Ferrari’s 250 GT models. Thus, in 1959 Aston’s John Wyer specified...