1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT

1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT, #0159/R

• Owned and raced by David Skailes during the 1960s
• Subjected to multiple RS Williams upgrades in recent years
• One of only 75 Touring-bodied DB4GTs
• Perfectly suited to the world’s finest tours

The Aston Martin DB4GT is one of the definitive all-rounders from a golden period in which owners could drive their car to a circuit, race it competitively, then drive it home again afterwards.

Not only was this enduring model campaigned in period by the likes of Stirling Moss and Innes Ireland, it has rarity on its side as well. Only 75 Touring-bodied cars were built between 1959 and 1963, making this one of the most coveted of all ‘DB’ Aston Martins.

The DB4GT being presented here is chassis number 0159/R and was first registered on 13 June 1961. The factory data sheet shows that, three days before the car’s guarantee was issued on 23 June, a new engine (370/0169/GT) was fitted. That same engine has remained in the car to this day.

Finished in California Sage with White Gold interior, the DB4GT was sold new to Chapmans of Trowbridge Ltd, in Wiltshire. By 1964, it had been acquired by David Skailes – a well-known name in Aston Martin history. Skailes had started racing in 1963 while still an Oxford undergraduate and campaigned an ex-John Coombes, Zagato-bodied DB4GT throughout that season and into 1964.

While Skailes did race 0159/R in an Aston Martin Owners Club event at Silverstone in 1965, it served primarily as a fast road car for him and his brother Ian. Subsequent owners during the 1970s included Willoughby Michael Douglas, who was based in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, then Edward Hugh Steward, who worked for Aston Martin in the USA but kept the DB4GT in the UK.

The car went back to the Aston Martin factory in Newport Pagnell in the mid-1970s and a Webasto roof was fitted as part of a full rebuild. It then spent a short period in German ownership during the 1980s and was raced at the Nürburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix, before being acquired in 2002 by British enthusiast Geoff Dorey.

Dorey believed in enjoying his cars to the full, and soon found the DB4GT to be a little noisier at high speed than he would like. He therefore commissioned Aston Martin specialist RS Williams to boost the power of the engine and fit a taller rear-axle ratio. The front suspension was also rebuilt with Koni dampers and an uprated anti-roll bar, and more supportive Recaro seats were installed. Dorey then enthusiastically drove 0159/R on tours all over Europe before eventually deciding to sell the car in 2016. During his ownership, it was even paraded in front of Queen Elizabeth II during the AMOC Royal Review at Windsor Castle in 2005.

Having been re-registered ‘131’ with the Guernsey-based Geoff Dorey, the Aston now once again wears its original registration of ‘650 MHU’. It is also offered for sale complete with its original bumpers and front seats, plus an extensive history file that includes factory service records, period photographs, and numerous invoices from marque specialists.

When John Bolster tested a DB4GT for Autosport magazine, he said that ‘the immense performance and excellent roadholding of the Aston Martin render it an ideal car for the fast, long-distance driver,’ before concluding that it ‘must be placed high on the list of the world’s most desirable Grand Touring cars.’

Those words remain just as relevant more than 60 years later – particularly in the case of this superbly enhanced car, which has been developed to give maximum enjoyment on modern roads while still exuding the inherent charisma of these landmark Aston Martins.