British Aston Martin engineering, combined with Italian Zagato body design: a powerful partnership that has given birth to many extraordinary cars since the 1960s, but none more beautiful and valuable than the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato. There is good reason for the current valuation of 1 VEV between $10 and $15 million USD. Discipline is the father of creativity, and the beautiful form of the DB4 GT Zagato was moulded and forged by the demanding brief handed to Ercole Spada to take every aspect of the already exceptional DB4 GT’s performance, and push it to a new level. With a raised top speed of 154 mph, the Zagato bodied car added three miles per hour to the top speed, with 0-60 in only 6.1 seconds. This was truly a race car made legal for the road, and anyone who has seen one of these cars up close will have experienced the impression of aircraft quality engineering they exude. In a nutshell, this car is automotive art at its most refined, and with only 19 cars created it is no surprise that the value is so very high.
This fine 1:8 scale model of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato replicates chassis DB4GT/1082/R, more commonly known as ‘1 VEV’, exactly as raced at the 1961 RAC Goodwood Tourist Trophy in the hands of Roy Salvadori for John Ogier’s Essex Race Stable. Arguably one of the car’s finest moments, Salvadori qualified third fastest after practice with a time of 1 minute 36.6 seconds, ahead of his teammates Jim Clark and Innes Ireland, but behind Stirling Moss and Mike Parkes in their Ferrari 250 GT SWBs. A slightly slower start dropped 1 VEV to fourth behind Clark at the end of the first lap, though Salvadori regained this place soon after as the trunk of Clark’s Aston had opened itself and had to pull into the pits to fix the issue. Around halfway through the race, Parkes was black-flagged when part of his undertray began to drag on the road after an off-course excursion behind the bushes at Woodcote, allowing Salvadori and 1 VEV up into second place. This was not to last, as Parkes made a tactical surprise on his fourth and final pit stop, managing to undercut both Salvadori and Ireland to regain second place. Although Salvadori tried hard in the last 15 minutes to pull back the seven second deficit, the heavier Aston Martin just did not have the steam to make up any ground and he brought the car home to claim the final podium position.
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7 июл 2022
