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By
DAVID PIKE
At the end of World War II Aston Martin was taken over by tractor
magnate, David Brown. He learned that Lagonda was also having trouble
raising sufficient capital to recommence operations after the war so
promptly bought them also. With the purchase of Aston Martin he acquired
one of their principal assets which was an excellent multi-tube space
frame, coil-sprung chassis and a 2.0-litre engine intended for a planned
sports car. This new design, now called the DB1 after the new owner,
went on sale in 1948.
However, few DB1s were sold. One of Lagonda's
assets included an excellent twin overhead cam power unit, of
2850cc, and it was decided to match this to a new version of the
sports car chassis which eventually went on sale in 1950 as the
DB2, and is now an all-time classic. A redesign of the rear end to
incorporate two tiny rear seats and a top-hinged tailgate produced
the DB2/4 the world's first hatchback.
The DB4 of 1958 had a lengthy and luxurious body
and set new standards for both appearance of grand touring cars
but also handling. It had a mighty 180kw engine and disk brakes
which together allowed it to go from rest to 160km/h and back to
rest in the incredibly short time of 30 seconds. It also featured
rack and pinion steering which made it a delightful road car but
in this form it was too heavy for track work.
Fitting a 12-plug racing head and Weber
carburettors, however, produced more than 224kw. Taking 125mm off
the wheelbase to help lower the weight to only 1270kg produced the
two seater variant, the DB4GT. Only 75 of this machine were
produced initially as most customers preferred the tamer DB4. But
with the advent of the DB4GT it was realised that with a little
more work here was a British car which could take on the Ferrari
in GT racing.
Aston Martin sent a number of DB4GT chassis to the
Italian body builder Zagato from 1960 on and these were fitted
with ultra-light bodies, every one built by hand and differing in
detail from the next. With a 242kw high compression competition
engine, four forward ratios in the gearbox and the lightweight low
drag body, top speed increased from 225km/h to 245km/h. In this
form the two-seater Aston Martin road car reached its zenith as a
dual-purpose racing car.
With spartan seats, plastic windows, hardly any
upholstery and not a trace of insulation to deaden the scream of
an all-alloy engine or the savage rasp of open-trumpeted
carburettors, the Zagato was loud enough to wake the dead. Even so
the Zagato was a very fine car and paved the way for the DB5 and
DB6 and in 1969 the DBS. Sir David Brown sold Aston Martin to
another concern in 1972.
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