1963 Aston Martin DB4 Auto

David Brown revitalised the Aston Martin marque in the 1950s. The introduction of the DB4 in 1958 was the culmination of a program of continuous improvement. It had an elegant Touring aluminium body and a new 3,670cc twin cam engine giving 240bhp. The classic design evolved into the DB5 and DB6 through the 1960s, models made famous in various James Bond films. This example dates from 1963, the last year of production and is unusual in having an automatic gearbox, not an option available on the DB4. The factory made 2 test cars prior to offering the auto box on the DB5 and this is one of them. It came to us as a partially completed restoration with much of bodywork restored and a large number of boxes containing the rest of it!

The engine needs a full rebuild. It's a straight six twin cam all aluminium design that is quite light, very smooth and very powerful.

Here the engine is fully restored and ready to go back into the car. Carburation is by 2 very large SUs. The timing chest containing the drive chains for the cam shafts can be clearly seen.

The body is painted an attractive metallic Burgundy colour and here the engine bay is being fitted out. Astons of this period always had black engine bays, underbody areas and boot areas, in common with contemporary Rolls-Royces and Bentleys.

Now the engine and gearbox are installed. It's a very impressive engine, somewhat reminiscent of Jaguar's twin cam but also very different in many details. It certainly fills the engine bay well.

Here the new wiring loom is being installed in the dashboard. The automatic gearbox can be clearly seen.

The interior carpet and trim are being installed here. We designed and installed electric windows at the owner's request (something that DB4s never had originally) and an electric motor unit can be seen in the driver's door. We also mocked up a new central console at the owner's request but, in the end, he never asked us to install it. The auto gearbox selector is on the steering column, so the usual DB4 gear lever is absent from the central tunnel.

The seats are trimmed in new Biscuit leather and look very handsome. Front and rear seat belts are another owner's request that we fitted.

And here's the finished car. The owner prefers not to have the bumpers fitted and this certainly makes the lines of the Touring body cleaner and more purposeful.

The Biscuit leather interior and Burgundy carpets match the exterior colour very well. One other extra we installed at the owner's request is air conditioning. The unit is hidden behind the dash board although you'd never really know just by looking inside.

The finished car!