I can tell you firsthand that there were a number of bidders ready and
willing to drop two and a half million bucks on this car
willing to drop two and a half million bucks on this car
That ultimately became the single most important Gran Turismo in the entire history of Aston Martin was first seen at the 1960 London Motor Show. The DB4GT Zagato was designed by 23-year-old Ercole Spada under the watchful eye of Gianni Zagato. It retained a likeness to the original DB4, but with styling that Spada described as looking "like an animal having its skin tightened from a point on the middle of its back."
The tried and true methods of the Zagato Carrozzeria made the finished product a much lighter and more spartan automobile than the standard model. Everywhere weight could be saved, it was. Seats were lighter, aluminum replaced steel in sections of the chassis, Perspex was used for the windows (except for the windshield), and fittings were lightened by use of different materials.
Chassis were sent from Newport Pagnell to Italy to be bodied and then returned to the U.K. for trimming and final assembly. No two of these cars were exactly the same, with each carrying its own Zagato/Aston DNA. The true connoisseur can point out each and every chassis because of these unique and beautiful differences.
Twenty examples were originally produced, with only eight being left hand drive. One car was destroyed, leaving the remaining 19 to exist today. The history of each has been well documented over the years with few having important period race provenance.
Many cars were raced when new, but few tasted the checkered flag, as the racing career of the Aston Zagato was brief and not as distinguished as perhaps the factory had hoped. But the likes of Moss, Salvadori and Clark helped glorify the model, and the brutishly macho DB4GT Zagato would become an instant classic shortly after it went out of production.
The 1962 DB4GT Zagato on offer here was originally sold to Commander James Murray, a naval attaché residing in Paris, France. Ordered through Garage Mirabeau, chassis 0190L was successfully driven by Roy Salvadori at the May 1962 BRSCC Brands Hatch Event and finished 1st in Class and 2nd overall, outpaced only by the Ferrari GTO driven by Innes Ireland. (Curiously, this race took place prior to its June 1962 delivery to Commander Murray.)
Today, the DB4GT Zagato is appreciated as one of the most outstanding sports racers of its era, a period when the battles of the racing scene were still fought with cars that could be run on the road.
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato |
| Years Produced: | 1960-63 |
| Number Produced: | 19 |
| SCM Valuation: | $2,000,000-$3,000,000 |
| Tune Up Cost: | $1,200-$2,400 |
| Distributor Caps: | $55 |
| Chassis Number Location: | plate located in engine compartment, right hand side near firewall; stamped in chassis, left hand lower side near the bottom of the suspension wishbone |
| Engine Number Location: | on chassis plate and top of block left front, usually marked with red paint |
| Club Info: | Aston Martin Owners Club, Attn: Susan Laskey, 1301 Avenue of the Americas, 30th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10019 |
| Website: | http://www.amoc.org |
| Alternatives: | 1960-62 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, 1962-64 Ferrari 250 GTO, 1961-62 Jaguar XKE Factory Lightweight |
| Investment Grade: | A |
This 1962 DB4GT Zagato sold for $2,695,000 at the RM Phoenix sale, held January 28, 2005.
In the course of a conversation I had with Giotto Bizzarini in 1989, he described his idea of the perfect road car: “It would have an English chassis, a twelve-cylinder Ferrari motor, and a body by an Italian coachbuilder.”
Well, the Aston Zagato is missing six cylinders (although it does possess twelve spark plugs) but it’s still as close to perfection as I’ve witnessed. Bizzarini may have given the grandest of kudos to this masterpiece when he said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “The Aston Martin Zagato forced the hand of Ferrari to build the GTO.”
But not many folks in the know paid attention to this Anglo-Italian work of kinetic rolling art in the early 1960s. That this sexy beast was unloved from birth through its early teens seems like a crime today. Yet the indifference of enthusiasts to the car is simple to explain. Frankly, in period the DB4GT Zagato was a bit of a loser. It had no great race results, pitiful sales, quirky build quality, and it was overweight and overpriced. Sure, Jim Clark and Roy Salvadori drove them, and a few zipped around Le Mans, but it just didn’t click for the amount of cash it took to buy one. In modern terms, there was no buzz.
With passage of time, perceptions change, and auto aficionados really started to dig the DB4GT Zagato. By the mid-1970s the first wave of appreciation kicked in. It is worth noting that a fair percentage of the 19 Zagatos extant have been with long-time owners who have never relinquished their prize cars; these owners bought the cars for their intrinsic attractiveness and are well-heeled enough that just putting a few extra million in their pockets isn’t going to induce them to part with one.
I would guess that when the Forshaw family of Dorset, England, acquired the car pictured here in the 1970s, it must have set them back all of $15k-$20k. S/N 0190L was just a tired club race rig then, but by the time it was sold at the Brooks Goodwood Festival of Speed auction in July 1998, it brought just under $1.1m. And the appreciation curve was just beginning to steepen.
By 2002, the market price for these cars had further accelerated to $1.75m-$2.25m, and today we’ve blown past $2.5 million. The $2.6 million paid here is by far the highest price realized at auction for an Aston Martin. While this record will hold for today, it likely won’t last through tomorrow. A few examples have brought slightly more money in private-party transactions ($2.85m and $2.9m), though both of those cars had fresher restorations and a slightly better pedigree.
The point is, expect the DB4GT Zagato to break the $3m barrier soon. The interest and fascination with collecting cars at this level is at an all-time high, and there are just too many new faces with sacks of cash looking to fill their dream garages with these ultra-rare cars.
To try and buy an Alfa 8C, Ferrari 250 SWB, Jaguar E-type Lightweight or Aston Zagato these days, you have to be able to react quickly with your wallet when the right car comes up. It’s no different for us folks chasing far less expensive cars. If a great Porsche 356B coupe, Triumph TR2 or Alfa Giulietta appears, it quickly disappears, with prices ballooning in the process.
I was the agent for the seller of this car, and I also participated in the sale that brought this car to America in July 2002. I can tell you firsthand that there were a number of bidders ready and willing to drop two and a half million bucks on this car in Phoenix. They all had the desire and the disposable income, which translates into at least two, maybe three, of these rarities that could have sold that day, should they have been available.
Of course they weren’t, and who knows when the opportunity will come again. But being the underbidder on an Aston Zagato only means that you’re going to try harder, and spend more, the next time one comes to market.
(Descriptive information courtesy of the auction company.)