Engines
DB4 GT Zagato A BRITISH LEGEND
Over the decades its market value has reached head-turning heights and nowadays it is not only one of the rarest and most sought-after cars ever made, but also one of the most beautiful. The Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato is one of the very few and fortunate cars to have become a legend in the world of the automobile.
Its origins lie in Aston Martin’s need to produce a lighter and higher-performance version of the DB4 GT. That is why, at the end of the 1950s, the car manufacturer turned to the well-known Milanese coachbuilder Zagato.
By pure chance Zagato had just taken on a talented young designer named Ercole Spada, who was given the task of redesigning the famous DB4 GT.
Starting with the chassis, Spada created the DB4 GT Zagato, regarded by many as his masterpiece and indeed that of Zagato itself.
From 1960 onwards – the year in which it was presented at the London Motor Show – it enjoyed great success. It weighed some 50kg less than the original vehicle, was more aerodynamic and had a 314HP engine.
Many of the vehicles produced by Zagato had distinctive bumps on the roof, but in the case of this vehicle they were located on the bonnet. They became one of the distinctive features of this legendary Zagato car.
Only 19 of these vehicles were produced, in the period between 1960 and 1963. This is one of the main reasons why their market value has risen so much. In 1992, following an agreement between Gaydon and Zagato, some unutilised chassis were used to make four models, called Sanction II, and then two more in 1992, called Sanction III.
The wonderful 1962 DB4 GT Zagato shown in the photo gallery was sold by RM Sotheby’s in the ‘Driven by Disruption’ auction held in New York in 2015.
Gaydon - Milan, September 2017