The Legendary 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Lightweight

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Winning Le Mans 24 Hours is vital to securing the World Championship for Sports Cars. 1959 was the most critical year in Aston Martin’s history. They won the coveted Le Mans 24 Hours race on their twentieth attempt.

A month before this historic win, Stirling Moss was behind the wheel of a striking new prototype GT. The car was the DP199/1, which was identified as the DB4 GT. Moss drove it to victory on its race debut at Silverstone.

The DB4 GT was publicly unveiled at the London Motor Show in September 1959. The car had a shorter wheelbase and was a significantly lighter DB4 model. The car was powered by a 3.7-liter straight-six engine with twin-plug ignition. This setup reminded those in the know of the DBR2. Only 75 Touring- and 19 Zagato-bodied DB4GTs were constructed. - Aston Martin

The buyer of this legendary car would face rather exciting decisions. Which spec was more in line? A road machine or a racing specification car? A driver needed to specify between a left or right-hand drive car.

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Tommy Sopwith for his racing team, Equipe Endeavor. DB4GT was initially ordered through Brooklands of Bond Street, knowing that this, the third DB4GT, was earmarked for the race track. Tommy Sopwith was the only son of yachtsman Sir Thomas Sopwith, the legendary industrialist and aviator.

The car was immaculately presented in Sir Thomas’ distinguished yacht racing colors of Navy Blue and White.

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At the helm of the J-class yacht Endeavor, the elder Sopwith nearly won the America’s Cup in 1934. Sopwith tapped his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day, with a steel hull and mast.

The car was driven to victory by Stirling Moss on Easter Monday, April 1960, at Goodwood. Later the same year, four critical wins came to Aston Martin with Jack Sears behind the wheel.

This example was fastidiously maintained by marque specialists Aston Engineering for the present owner and is eligible for historic events, including the Goodwood Revival, Le Mans Classic, and Monterey Historics. - Sotheby"s

Sopwith’s Aston Martin was delivered in Sopwith’s preferred hue of Jaguar Indigo Blue. It was only one of six cars equipped in the lightweight race-specification.

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Aston Martin factory records indicate the car was registered as LGL 400, continuing the Endeavour tradition of “400” license plate designations. The car did not display any such reference until later.

Ron Fry purchased the car from Equipe Endeavour by the Hillclimb and Club Racing specialist. Fry would later pilot the Ferrari 250 SWB, 250 GTO, 250 LM, and Ford GT40.

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The car’s first recorded event after being sold to Fry was a third place at the Dryham Park Hillclimb in Wiltshire, which yielded a third in class—the same year included a class win in the Castle Combe and first place at the Long Marston Speed Trials.

Fastidiously maintained throughout the current ownership by leading marque specialists, Aston Engineering Limited of Derby, the 0124/R is presented in immaculate and fully FIA-compliant condition. It is ready to resume its varied and itinerant racing career immediately.

Aston Martin's legendary competitions manager John Wyer said the DB4 GT was a car where everything was just a little closer to the edge. He thought it wasn't as stable as the DB4 from which it was chopped. On narrow L-section racing tires, skilled drivers could powerslide the short-wheelbase GT around such airfield tracks as Goodwood, Silverstone, or Snetterton. Dancing almost 1.3 tons of British muscle in pursuit of the lead Ferrari (always a Ferrari), Innes Ireland, Roy Salvadori, Jim Clark, or Stirling Moss four-wheel-drifting through Beckett's or Madgwick provided the images from which this car's reputation was hewn.

Indeed, its eligibility for prestigious events such as Goodwood, Le Mans Classic, the Tour Auto, and Modena Cento Ore renders it a car of unparalleled versatility and virtually guaranteed acceptance.

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Furthermore, its fascinating association with one of the most illustrious of all privateer racing teams, race-winning pedigree - courtesy of “Moss the Maestro” and Jack Sears - and unimpeachable, entirely UK-domiciled provenance undoubtedly renders 0124/R one of the most significant Aston Martins to be offered for sale in recent times.

As such, it would represent a dramatic and historically considerable centerpiece to any suitably discerning car collection.

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Douglas Pilarski is an award-winning writer & journalist based on the West Coast. He writes about luxury goods, exotic cars, horology, tech, food, lifestyle, equestrian and rodeo, magazine features, and millionaire travel. 

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