This Pre-Production Aston Martin DB4 Is A Classic British Unicorn

There are no Aston Martins you could exactly call common, but some are definitely rarer than others. This is one of those unicorns.

This is a pre-production DB4 from 1959, just the third right-hand drive DB4 ever built at the Newport Pagnell site, to which the company has just returned. Eventually owned by well-known Aston Martin enthusiast Richard Williams for 37 years, it was originally Aston Martin’s demonstrator for the London area.

It was upgraded in various ways over its life as it was used to compete in classic hill-climb events. The race-prepped car has a re-trimmed leather interior and has been adapted to use the triple-Weber carburettor setup from a later Vantage.

The straight-six engine has recently been rebuilt from its original 3.7 litres to the later, more powerful 4.2-litre spec. The five-speed manual gearbox is also a change from the standard equipment, while under modified wheel arches sit larger-offset wire wheels.

Classic car specialist Hexagon acquired it and carried out a hefty restoration to bring it back to ‘near-concours’ condition inside and out, including the rather lovely Blu Scozia paint. The cost of the recommissioning work was all of £222,000, so you know this car isn’t going to go cheap.

They’re now calling it one of the finest DB4s in the world. As well as the stand-out condition it wears its original registration number of WLC 433. It’s a super-rare find given how few pre-production DB4s were made in the first place.

It’s available to view in the company’s north London showroom. We don’t have a price for it and the car doesn’t seem to be listed on the firm’s website at the time of writing, but expect it to have many zeroes.