1963 | Aston Martin DB 4

Such a pleasure to have this rather delightful DB4 series V with us for sale after having looked after her over the last few years

The series V, the ultimate DB4, is also the rarest of all DB4 saloon models with only a 10 month production period starting in September 1962. Customers knew that the new DB5 was on the way and so only 55 series V's were ever produced, that against:

149 series 1 - launch 1958 - Feb 1960
349 series 2 - Jan 1960 - Apr 1961
165 series 3 - Apr 1961 - Sep 1961
230 series 4 - Sept 1961 - Oct 1962
145 series 5 - Sept 1962 - June 1963

All series of DB4s represent an incremental development from the last, this largely as a result of the series 1 going into production with very little to no testing and therefore customer feedback dictated the direction the manufacture took next

The changes one finds on the series V that are unique to the 55 cars were conceived largely with passenger comfort in mind

The body was extended by 9cm allowing for extra leg room and more luggage space, the height of the roof was raised slightly to allow more head room however the overall height of the car did not change (132cm) as a result of using 15inch wheels. The 15 inch wheels also meant the brake pads were reduced in physical size but not braking capacity

Under the bonnet the addition of a thermostatically controlled fan added reliability in hot weather and kept the noise down too

One can imagine in the period how impressive a sports saloon such as this would have been, in fact the DB4 was so impressive in period, in all its guises, that it was the most successful Aston Martin ever produced surpassing the DB2

When new our car was Fiesta Red with all Black interior however she has been the beneficiary of a full nut & bolt restoration into the now much better specification of California Sage with Caramel interior and green carpets to match her exterior

Moreover she was fitted with green sundym glass to the front windscreen which not only serves a practical purpose but does look marvellous too, an automatic aerial and modern stereo

Now however, the 'Ace up our sleeve' is in fact what breathes under the bonnet as this is not only a fully restored tri carb series V for she has been done by marque experts R.S. Williams who have increased the engine capacity to 4.7litres and she now produces a staggering 325bhp, considerably more than the 240bhp quoted for the 'standard' cars and 266bhp on the 'vantage' cars when new

In fact when new the quoted power figures were at one stage or another politely disputed which encouraged engine designer Tadek Marek to perform some testing on American engines which produced a mean discrepancy of 32%!! It is reported that fellow Aston engineer at the time, John Wyer, remarked that was unacceptable "We can't lie that much, we can only lie 15%"

Happily an engine read out within the history folder of this car confirms exactly her superior power

The team at R.S.W have very kindly assured us that there is no more to be had out of these engines and we certainly concur. The quality of their work shines through in ever facet of this car

The paint is simply immaculate, the brightwork is all mirror fresh, the trim is supple and the carpets are perfectly bound & laid

To drive she is a simple joy, firing up on the first turn of the engine every time and when stored indoors (as she always has been) she barely even needs the assistance of choke

Once firing along the extra power of the engine really does shine through and she is considerably more fast than other DB4's we've had

As mentioned at the top we have looked after this car for a few years now and have known her to be a fabulously reliable car never having caused any problems and always performing as required

One or two additions have been made further to normal serving, a power steering system has been fitted which weights up very nicely at speed, the rear hinges on the boot lid have been changed so she now doesn't drop with a thud as some lesser DB4 boot lids do and a special dynamat insulation has been fitted under the carpets which further insulates the cabin from the heat of the exhaust and engine - making a huge improvement to her characteristics in the summer months

Overall we think she's quite nice really