DB4 GT Zagato

[ASTON20100]

Je ne connaissais pas ce modèle de Zagato n° de châssis : DB4GT/0188/L

[Franck_Lyon]

Quelle ligne !!


J'adore !!

[CARAIBAM]

un des 19 chassis originaux?

[ASTON20100]

[ASTON20100]

un des 19 chassis originaux?

Yep, do you want the history ?

[StephVan]

On retrouve bien la patte ZAGATO

[Superleggera]

sublime

[ASTON20100]

Désolé, seulement dans la langue de Shakespeare :


Vehicle History

Not just rare, but unique.


THE KNOWN HISTORY

and possibly a little bit of motor trade myth.


These terrific pictures were taken by Neill Bruce shortly after dawn on a glorious morning in the timeless setting of Bodiam Castle on the border of East Sussex and Kent, by kind permission of The National Trust.


Of the original nineteen DB4 GT's constructed by Aston Martin Lagonda and Carrozzeria Zagato of Milan, Italy, this particular car is easily distinguished by it's upright or protuberant headlamps as opposed to the cowled type fitted to the other eighteen. One assumption is that as the first owner was Italian, he desired an Aston that looked very like a Ferrari 250 GT S.W.B. Another feature, which I think is unique to this car, is glass, as opposed to Perspex, windows to the side and rear.


Once the body had been fitted by Zagato, the majority of the nineteen cars were returned to Aston Martin for finishing. However, it is possible that up to five were completed by Zagato themselves, and this car is thought to be one of them. It has also been suggested, although not verified, that when new it was a show car for The Belgium Motor Show.


According to A.M.L. records, it was originally finished in Auteuil Silver (also used by Lancia), and although no mention is made of the interior colour, subsequent U.K. owners have indicated it as black.


The first owner was Signor Antonio Mocchetti whose son Alberto has told me that his father sold the car to his brother Guiseppe in the late sixties. The next known owner was Signor Giulio Dubbini, who owned the coffee business Diemme in Padova, Italy. He also sponsored the Coppa D'Italia historic rally in the late eighties until he died. In 1973 dealer Peter Van Rossem arranged the purchase of this car for the late Nigel Moores of the Littlewoods pools family, and subsequently it was imported to the U.K. in the same year. He confirms the colour at that time was a very light Silver.


Nigel Moores was tragically killed whilst a passenger in a vehicle involved in a road accident on the outskirts of Marseille, France in 1977. However, his personal racing mechanic, Paul Kelly, told me that Richard Williams converted the car from left to right hand drive and installed a DB6 engine as the car was wanted for road use and not racing. He also confirms an exterior colour change to either Dark Blue or Black. Nigel Moores had quite a collection of racing cars and is fondly remembered as 'Willy Eckerslyke', a name chosen with a typical north of England sense of humour to avoid attracting too much family attention.


Dealer John Harper purchased the car together with the original engine from Nigel Moores and sold it to AMOC member Steve O�Rourke, who organised a campaign for the car in various European AMOC events.


In 1983, ownership passed to Malcolm Paris, head of Bovis, a major U.K. construction company. As a continuing Aston Martin supporter and enthusiast, his company's sponsorship helped Aston Martin to return to the 24 Hour Le Mans with the Nimrod in the eighties.


During the restoration carried out by Richard Williams in 1983/4, the original engine was rebuilt and refitted, and the exterior was finished in Bright Red. Still right-hand drive, it was well featured by Supercar Classics Magazine. I believe there are a number of errors in this article, which states that the original owner was Swedish and that the original colour was white, a direct contradiction of the AML build sheet.


The mystical Scandinavian was given further credence in the book Great Classic Cars published by Octopus Books in 1986, which dressed it up even further by stating that the protuberant headlamps were to aid driving in the land of the midnight sun. Alas, I must confess to making the same mistake in my sales presentation albeit with the addition of the word 'allegedly'. However, now that I have taken the opportunity to trace as many former owners as possible, together with some of the dealers involved, I can only conclude that the mystery Swede was a little bit of motor trade myth.


The car was advertised by two dealers in - Michael Fisher Ltd, London and Sytner of Nottingham Ltd - in 1985. It was the latter company, which sold the car to Mike Tuck from Northern California, USA in July of that year. Before being shipped to the United States Richard Williams, who originally converted the car to right hand drive, returned it to its original left hand drive configuration. He also had the interior re-trimmed in beige light tan Connolly leather and Wilton carpets.


Mike Tuck never registered the car in the USA and claims to have covered fewer than five hundred miles in it, including a trip to Pebble Beach. I flew to San Francisco in June 1992 to complete a purchase on behalf of the new owner, Tom Turk of Iden Green, Kent, and the car was flown back to London Heathrow from Los Angeles by Air Canada.


As the car had covered so few miles since Richard Williams's restoration, it was mechanically in very good condition except for a few minor service items. However, an extensive and detailed cosmetic restoration was carried out during the winter of 1992/3 and the car was then refinished in Royal Blue metallic. A set of chromium-plated tubular bumpers was also made to measure and fitted, and the car acquired the registration number 29 ALY. During that work it became evident that the battery had, in common with other DB4GT Zagato�s, been housed inside the car and that the occasional rear seats, as detailed in the Club Register, were a modification. It was therefore decided to return the battery to its original location and reinstate the large rear shelf/luggage platform.

[Aston Dreamer]

J'ai pas lu (pas besoin de préciser pourquoi) mais les images parlent d'elles-mêmes : magnifique !

[Riviera]

J'adore



et je suis resté aussi très amoureux de la réplique Eventa en septembre dernier...



http://www.motorlegend.com/actualite-automobile/replique-db4-gt-zagato/photo1,6778.html