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Harold Beach joined Aston Martin as a draftsman in 1950.
Two years later, chief engineer Claude Hill gave him the
responsibility for a new wishbone front suspension and a
deDion rear to modernize the replacement for the DB2. That
project was stillborn, but the suspension ideas were carried
forward to an all-new car over a Claude Hill-designed
perimeter frame; a prototype was running by the end of
1955. David Brown wanted the new car to carry the light
and elegant coachwork of Carrozzeria Touring. Carlo Felice
Bianchi Anderloni, Managing Director of Touring, turned
down the project based on the frame’s inability to support
its patented Superleggera (super light) body structure. The
light, tubular cage covered by a thin aluminum skin required
a more rigid base and Touring suggested a new platformtype
chassis. The engineering design was done in a matter
of weeks; the contract was for two prototypes and all pro-duction equipment, from which Aston Martin would build
the bodies in Newport Pagnell.
The DB4 was said to have brought the Paris dealer to
tears. The elegant 2+2 was an immediate success. The
Aston racers were happy to have a modern car, but it was
just too big and heavy to be competitive. With the wheelbase
shortened by 5 inches, all semblance of extra seating
removed, and the original body redrawn by Touring, the
competition DB4GT went into limited production for the
new, FIA modified-production Grand Touring rules.
Ferrari’s interpretation was the slippery new GTO—sold to
the FIA as a re-bodied production 250 GT. Aston had
matched the Ferrari’s 300 hp, but had a long ways to go in
the power-to-weight war.
To Italy again, but this time for a GT racecar. Part of that
story begins on page 37 of this issue. Herbert Patthey,
Bristol agent for Switzerland, commissioned Zagato to produce
GT coachwork on a new Bristol 407 chassis for a racing
customer named John Gretener.
En route south from the 1958 Geneva Auto Salon to see
Touring about additional solutions to lighten the DB4GT,
Harold Beach encountered Elio Zagato. They traveled
together and discussed Aston’s problem. The meeting with
Touring was not fruitful and Beach took the opportunity to
visit his new friend Zagato. Upon his return to England,
Beach relayed his enthusiasm for the charming Italian racer
and coachbuilder to John Wyer, one of the great racing
managers and, by this time, managing director of Aston
Martin. Concurrently, Anthony Crook, owner of the Bristol
Aeroplane Company (soon to be Bristol Cars Ltd.) was
involved with Zagato through the new GT project of his
Swiss agent. Crook assisted in the meeting between Wyer
and Elio at the London Motor Show in October 1959.
Wyer quickly approved a prototype program—another
season without GT victories would not be acceptable. There
were no additional meetings between the two participants in
this very important contract. The approval for the design
was given based only on an envelope of sketches sent to the
Works by Ercole Spade, a self-taught car designer with a
fresh engineering degree, and recently hired by the carrozzeria.
Bepi Koelliker, Aston Martin’s Milan concessionaire,
was the corporate contact with Zagato. The result of
that show of trust made its debut on the Zagato stand of the
London Motor Show exactly one year later. Sharing that
stand with the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato was John
Gretener’s Bristol 407 GTZ.
In Autocar’s road test of the new Aston, the performance
is described as “…superior throughout the range to any others
ever recorded in an Autocar Road Test, and quite
remarkable are the very consistent time intervals for the 20
m.p.h. speed increments recorded in each of the gears indicating
a smooth power delivery almost through the engine
speed range.” The tester was able to reach 50 mph in first,
80 in second, 120 in third with a diff ratio of 3.31:1.
Options included 2.93, 3.54, 3.77 or 4.09:1, depending on
the car’s most consistent use. The differential was not silent
at any speed.
For more on this article and much more grab a copy of Auto Aficionado Magazine on newsstands nationwide!
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