1962 Aston Martin DB4

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys Monterey event, 15 - 16 August 2025.
Offered Without Reserve $400,000 - $600,000 USD

• One of just 97 left-hand-drive DB4s built with the uprated, 266-hp Special Series engine
• Fully restored by marque specialist Aston Martin Works of Newport Pagnell, UK, in factory-correct Caribbean Pearl over black leather upholstery
• Retains its numbers-matching 3.7-liter double-overhead-camshaft SS inline-six
• Factory options include overdrive, chrome wire wheels, power windows, Armstrong shock absorbers, an oil cooler, and a limited-slip differential with 3.77:1 gears
• Over $32,000 in service work from 2023 2025; accompanied by a copy of its original build sheet, service invoices, and British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate

In many ways, the DB4 is the model that foretold Aston Martins future. Introduced in 1958, the saloon was entirely new from the ground up, sporting a newly designed platform chassis with four-wheel disc brakes and an all-new, Tadek Marek-designed double-overhead camshaft inline-six engine. These mechanicals were then cloaked in a stunning fastback body, penned by Touring of Milan, which would come to define the marque for decades to come.

Aston Martin improved its star model as the years progressed, with marque aficionados today separating the DB4 into five distinct series defined by cosmetic and mechanical refinements. But perhaps the most notable change came for 1961, when Aston Martin allowed customers to specify the Special Series, or SS, engine. This highly tuned powerplant was fitted with triple SU HD8 carburetors, larger valves, and a 9:1 compression ratio, and was quoted as developing 266 horsepower an increase of 30 over the standard model.

The Aston Martin presented here, chassis DB4/965/L, is one of just 97 left-hand-drive DB4s factory-equipped with the revered Special Series engine. Originally finished just as it presents today, in Caribbean Pearl over black trim, DB4/965/L was built on 11 May 1962 and dispatched to dealer Societe Nouvelle du Garage Mirabeau in France before being sold to its first owner, Henri Annecorde of Paris.

A copy of the cars original build sheet details its extensive factory options, including the SS engine, overdrive, electric window lifts (power windows), chrome road wheels shod in Dunlop RS5 tires, DB4GT instrument panel with Smiths gauges, Armstrong shock absorbers, oil cooler, and limited-slip differential with 3.77:1 gears.

After Annecordes curation, much of the cars early life is unknown. Records indicate it passed to another French owner, Mr. Le Geuzec, before being sold back to the United Kingdom prior to the 1980s. By 1988 a Mr. W.F. Gilbertson-Hart owned the DB4, and he appears to have sold the car through well-known Rolls-Royce dealer P&A Wood a few years later. In 1990 the car was registered to Ms. Susie Dixon Smith, who then became the married Susannah Mary Harris.

The DB4 was then acquired by an owner in the mid-2000s who commissioned a full restoration by noted specialists Aston Martin Works of Newport Pagnell, United Kingdom. Chassis DB4/965/L was completely restored to its delivery specification, save for the installation of a factory DB4GT high-performance radiator to aid engine cooling.

After joining the collection of the current consignor, the Aston Martin was submitted to Prancing Horse of Nashville, Tennessee, for service work totaling over $32,000 carried out from 2023 2025. In addition to routine service, this included adjustments to the doors to ensure proper closure, repair of the overdrive system, correction of engine and gearbox oil leaks, service to the cooling, fueling, and braking systems, replacement of sway bar bushings, and repair to the fuel level sending unit.

Now in fully restored condition and accompanied by a build sheet confirming the car retains its matching-numbers SS engine, this 1962 Aston Martin DB4 is undoubtedly one of the finest Series IV SS examples available.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/mo25/.