Is that an old DB4 GT Zagato?
Yes and no. You're looking at a new Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, called a Continuation car. In fact, you're looking at the first completed body of just 19 to be made. If you were paying attention earlier in the year, you may remember that, to celebrate 100 years of Zagato (and Aston's relationship with the Italian design house), Aston Martin launched the DBZ Centenary Collection. This DB4 GT Zagato Continuation is part of that.
Refresh my memory if you will...
The original Aston DB4 GT Zagato, a pucker lightweight racer, was made in extremely low numbers - just 19 were produced officially. So, Aston used that number as the limit on its new version. However, as a special treat for those with the means, it's paired with a spanking new car, called the DBS GT Zagato, the duo making up the Centenary Collection - i.e. you can't buy the cars individually. The price? Oh, a trifling £6 million plus taxes. And the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation can't even be used on the pubic road.
How can that figure be justified, so?
Well, the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation cars are being built by Aston Martin Works in Buckinghamshire, using traditional craftsmanship techniques to stay true to the original, so it's a painstaking process. For example, flat sheets of 1.2mm-thick aluminium is hand-worked over hundreds of hours to make the bodies (though Aston also employs a digital body buck to ensure consistency) and while the tubular chassis is supposedly optimised for track work, there's an evocative powertrain underneath. Power comes from a version of the Tadek Marek-designed straight-six, making about 380hp. A four-speed manual gearbox is bolted to the engine and a limited slip differential divvies output up between the rear wheels.
When will the lucky owners get to try the DB4 out?
Aston is targeting the third quarter of 2019 for first deliveries, though the 19 buyers will have to wait over a year longer for the DBS GT Zagato.
Shane O' Donoghue - 10 Apr 2019