Produced from 1958 until 1963, the Aston Martin DB4 was a luxurious grand touring model built during the British marque’s golden era of competition. After 20 previous attempts, Aston Martin managed to finally achieve an outright win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June of 1959 — with none other than Carroll Shelby behind the wheel. Only a few short months later, and the firm took lessons learned from its endurance race program and applied them to the creation of an all-new high-performance DB4 variant known as the DB4 GT. In total only 75 GT-spec DB4s were ever built — making this pristine for-sale 1960 DB4 GT Lightweight example an incredibly noteworthy find.
Built atop a shorter wheelbase that allowed for more nimble handling and better direction changes, the DB4 GT was substantially lighter than the regular tourer, and was powered by a modified version of the same 3.7-liter, twin-plug ignition straight-six engine that was used in Aston Martin’s DBR2 Le Mans racer. Of the 75 units built, only half a dozen were RHD models — one of which was the now for-sale example, chassis number 0124/R.
Fastidiously maintained by marque specialists Aston Engineering Limited, this particular 1960 DB4 GT Lightweight specimen was first delivered new to Tommy Sopwit in April of that year. Son of legendary industrialist, aviator, and yachtsman Sir Thomas Sopwith, Tommy purchased the Aston Martin for his race team and would opt to have his DB4 GT lightweight painted in the same navy blue and white livery used on his father’s yacht racing boats. The same month it was purchased, Sterling Moss was selected to be 0124/R’s pilot when it made its completion debut at Goodwood on Easter Monday where it achieved an outright win. From there, the car went on to be campaigned in a myriad of other races where it racked up numerous high-profile podiums and wins.
This ultra-rare 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Lightweight is currently available through RM Sotheby’s private sales where its price is available upon request.
