1963 | Aston Martin DB 4

• Rare open-headlamp Series 5

• Previously owned by Aston Martin chairman Victor Gauntlett

• 4.2-litre engine conversion by RS Williams

• Awarded Silver Certification by Aston Martin

• Overdrive Gearbox   

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

Not only was this Aston Martin DB4 owned by Victor Gauntlett during the period in which he owned Aston Martin itself, it’s a particularly rare example because it features the ‘open headlamp’ styling of the earlier DB4. Most Series 5 cars had the faired-in headlamps that would be carried over to the DB5.

Chassis number 1045/R was completed at the factory on 25 April 1963 and first registered on 8 May. A letter from the factory clearly states the car was upgraded by the factory to Vantage specification.  It was supplied via Brooklands of Bond Street to its London-based first owner – a Mr BC Reid – in Midnight Blue with Fawn leather. 

Victor Gauntlett – who owned Aston Martin in partnership with the Livanos shipping family – bought the DB4 in 1980. In a letter written to a subsequent custodian, he said: ‘The most significant occurrence in my hands was that it took part in a race for Aston Martins as part of the Dubai Grand Prix in December 1981, and much fun that outing gave me and other members of the AMOC.’ 

Gauntlett sold 1045/R in 1983 but clearly missed his old DB4 because he twice tried to buy it back, sadly without success. By the following decade, the car had been acquired by a Mr Lewis and it appeared in the 1997 book Aston Martin: The Legend, written by Michael Bowler. 

There are numerous invoices from renowned specialist RS Williams before, during and after Lewis’s ownership, including one for converting the engine to 4.2-litre, lead-free specification. Lewis kept the car until 2006, after which it was owned by British diplomat Lord Renwick between 2008 and 2013. 

Having been treated to a bare-metal respray and a retrim in 2013-14, the DB4 was entered in the Aston Martin Owners Club Spring Concours at Woburn Abbey in 2015, and again at Duxford in 2016. The following year, it was sold via Aston Martin Works to a Frankfurt-based owner, but the car remained in the UK and was bought back by its previous owner in 2020. 

Now being offered for sale at the Classic Motor Hub, this Aston Martin DB4 comes with an extensive history file that’s full of invoices from the likes of RS Williams and Aston Martin Works – testament to how well it’s been looked after. It was also awarded Silver Certification by Aston Martin and has an Assured Provenance folder, and is a beautifully presented example of this coveted Grand Tourer.