Not long after featuring an Aston Martin DB5 barn find, another beautiful Aston Martin survivor surfaced. This 1959 Aston Martin DB4 Series 1 was discovered parked in this garage. The same family has owned it since 1970 and it was purchased under the advice of their banker, who upon learning that they were looking to buy a Reliant Scimitar recommended they buy a “real motor car”. Thankfully they went with the Aston and they have kept it in the garage ever since. It was being offered by Mark Donaldson’s dealership in Hampshire, United Kingdom, but sadly it sold quickly.
This DB4 has been well documented for its entire life and still retains all its paperwork all the way back to the factory. When the previous owner purchased it, they used it as the family’s primary car. If you take a look at the back of the car you will notice that a hitch was installed. When the previous owner was questioned about it, he quickly responded “that was for the boat!” In 1980, the family purchased a Jaguar Saloon, which took the place of the Aston, leaving it parked in the garage.
As you can see, the interior is completely original, but is starting to show some age and wear. Within the first two years of life, it saw close to 40,000 miles, so it was definitely driven as it was meant to be. The first owner had it repainted from its original Elusive Blue to its current Dubonnet Red. Other than the paint and the transmission, which was replaced under warranty after a year of use, everything else is original including 3.7 liter inline six is still in the car and is running, but the fuel system is going to need a complete overhaul.
It’s amazing how well this Aston cleaned up and it goes to show was a little cleaning and a careful buffing can do. We are sure this family is glad that they took their banker’s advice and purchased a “real motor car”. They are also probably glad they kept it in the garage for all these years, as they likely received a decent sum of money for it, especially considering they paid £950 for it. Seeing another rare exotic like this one surface makes us wonder what else is still out there hiding in someone’s barn. Special thanks to Scott H for tipping us off to this one.
Image Courtesy of: Classic & Sports Car
that’s a heck of a find
What a great story. The best part was the TWO sales of this as simply a nice used car back then—as an alternative to a Reliant Scimitar—both sales at under 1000 GBP.
I still have a personal letter and two color snapshots of a very nice LHD DB4 that I was interested in many years ago from a small-time exotic car dealer in England. Unfortunately I didn’t pull the trigger. The price was around $4000, not trivial money at that time, but definitely worth it for the car.
The leather has seen better days, but the car looks like it could be driven as-is once the fuel system has been flushed/cleaned, maybe with no problems given that the engine runs and sounds good. The biggest question might be the effects of time on the unused drivetrain and systems. But don’t forget…included with the car is a Sgt Pepper’s tape. I guess that would be in 8-track format.
I wish we could know how much this one sold for. Anyone see the price before it was sold?
~ i do like the blue of the previous Aston Martin but prefer this shade of red. really elegant. i’ve probably missed my chance to ever own one, also.
~ missed this first time through; ‘Just one incident occurred during ownership and that was in 1972 when an intoxicated off-duty Police Officer grazed the DB4 (with his car) whilst it was parked.’
wow 2 solid originals in one week.
The transmission probably went out due to that crazy trailer hitch! I don’t think AM ever thought an owner would use this car to pull boats.
That’s a 1963 UK license plate, though – was it previously registered elsewhere?
who’s the old geezer hiding behind the kid? that chic looks like a gold digger. Nice bell bottom pants. Those kids are probably retired now, or dead.