One to Buy: the Kenn Rudd / Peter Sellers 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT
With its uprated short wheelbase chassis, tricked-out 302bhp engine and close-ratio four-speed gearbox, the DB4 GT was the fastest Aston Martin yet seen upon its launch at the London Motor Show in October 1959. Factor in a streamlined new body fashioned from featherweight magnesium alloy and the DB4 GT was every inch Britain’s rival to the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta.
Aston Martin had completed 75 examples of the DB4 GT by the time production was discontinued in mid 1963. Of these, 45 were right-hand drive and 30 left-hand drive. Some customers had their cars equipped for racing, but most took delivery of cars built to road trim.
Set to go under the hammer at Bonhams’ Goodwood Festival of Speed auction on July 14th is this particularly interesting DB4 GT: chassis DB4GT/0157/R.
Delivered as a demonstrator to Ruddspeed founder and Aston Martin main dealer Kenn Rudd in Worthing on March 1st 1961, chassis 0157/R was originally painted Dubonnet and upholstered with Black interior trim. Two small rear seats were also requested – only two other DB4 GTs were completed with this rarely seen option.
While still in Ken Rudd’s ownership, 0157/R was loaned to the producers of The Wrong Arm of the Law starring Peter Sellers. Sellers character famously used the DB4 as a getaway car although the driving was done by Ken Rudd.
Peter Sellers subsequently took brief ownership of 0157/R – he was a serial car owner whose white Ferrari 250 GTE also starred in The Wrong Arm of the Law.
Today chassis 0157/R is offered in superb restored condition.
Reprinted below is Bonhams’ description:
Registration no. 41 DPX
Chassis no. DB4GT/0157/R
Engine no. 400/0157/GT
One of only 45 right-hand drive examples
Unique specification
Factory-fitted in period with a 4.0-litre engine
Known ownership history
Present ownership since 2004
Professionally restored by marque specialists with no expense spared (early 2000s)
"For many Aston Martin enthusiasts the DB4 was the best of the post-war cars. Previous cars were lacking in power while the later DB5 and DB6 put on weight and were more like fast tourers than high-speed thoroughbreds – and amongst the DB4s the DB4GT was the most thorough all-round Grand Touring car of the lot..." – Mike Twite, Motors, 1967.
Launched at the London Motor Show in 1958, the Aston Martin DB4 emphatically demonstrated that a British manufacturer could better the Italians at their own game when it came to constructing the ultimate Gran Turismo. Its specification included a completely new steel platform chassis with disc brakes all round, and a race-developed twin-cam six-cylinder engine, all clothed in a perfectly proportioned aluminium body designed by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan. Overall, the DB4 was state-of-the-art for its time, a masterpiece of robust British engineering combined with exquisite Italian styling.
Engineered under the watchful eye of Harold Beech, the immensely strong platform-type chassis replaced the DB2/4's multi-tubular spaceframe, the latter being considered incompatible with Touring's Superleggera body construction that employed its own lightweight tubular structure to support the hand-formed aluminium-alloy body panels. The trailing-link independent front suspension of the DB2/4 gave way to unequal-length wishbones while at the rear the DB4 sported a live axle located by Watts linkage instead of its predecessor's Panhard rod.
The new car's competition potential had been recognised from the outset and the factory lost no time in developing a lightweight version suitable for racing, the resulting DB4GT debuting at the 1959 London Motor Show. The model had already been proven in competition earlier that year when the prototype driven by Stirling Moss ('DP/199') won its first race at Silverstone. Extensive modifications to the standard car took 5" out of the wheelbase and replaced the rear seats with a luggage platform on all but a small number of cars. Together with lighter, 18-gauge bodywork, these changes reduced the car's weight by around 200lb (91kg).
The GT used a tuned engine which, equipped with a twin-plug cylinder head and triple Weber 45DCOE carburettors, produced a claimed 302bhp at 6,000rpm, a useful increase over the standard car's claimed 240bhp. Maximum speed, of course, depended on overall gearing but 153mph was achieved during testing with a 0-60mph time of 6.1 seconds recorded. The DB4 was also one of the first cars to go from standstill to 100mph and then brake to a dead stop on under 20 seconds, a tribute, in part, to its up-rated Girling brakes as used on Aston Martin's sports racers of the era.
Viewed from the front, the GT was readily distinguishable by its faired-in headlamps with Perspex covers, a feature later made standard on the DB5 and DB6. The rear screen and quarter windows were Perspex on many examples; bumper over-riders were deleted and the wind-down windows were frame-less within the doors. Twin Monza quick-release competition fuel fillers were added atop the rear wings, leading to a large-capacity fuel tank mounted flat in the boot. GTs were fitted as standard with lightweight Borrani 42-spoke wire wheels with alloy rims and three-ear 'knock-offs'. Trimmed to full Aston Martin road car specification, the interior boasted fine Connolly leather upholstery and deep-pile Wilton carpeting, while the GT benefited from the addition of an oil temperature gauge to the standard complement.
The DB4GT offered a strong challenge to the prevailing Ferrari dominance in GT racing, with examples entered by the works and John Ogier's Essex Racing Stable enjoying numerous victories. Driven by the likes of Roy Salvadori, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark and Innes Ireland, the DB4GT earned its stripes every weekend on the racing circuit. In December 1959, at the Bahamas Speed Week, Stirling Moss won driving a standard customer DB4GT 'borrowed' by the works team following the demise of Moss's intended DBR2! The DB4GT was indeed a true dual-purpose car, equally at ease on both the racetrack and Grand Tour.
Only 76 production DB4GTs (plus 19 Zagato-bodied cars) were made in period (chassis numbers '0101'-'0201' minus '0192' and '0194'-'0198'). Chassis number 'DB4GT/0157/R', also known by the registration numbers 'KR 3' and 'KM 2' as well as '41 DPX', was delivered new to Aston Martin's then largest dealership, K N Rudd Ltd of Worthing, on 1st March 1961 for use as a demonstrator. The copy guarantee form on file records that the original colour scheme was Dubonnet with black interior trim, and that '0157' was ordered new with two occasional rear seats, making it one of only three DB4GTs so equipped.
Less than a year after delivery, '0157' was recruited to feature in a comedy movie entitled The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963), starring none other than Peter Sellers as criminal mastermind 'Pearly' Gates, the plot of which revolved around a gang of thieves impersonating policemen. In the film Sellers is also seen driving another of his cars, a Ferrari 250 GTE. The DB4GT served as Sellers' getaway car, most famously leading a high-speed chase, vainly pursued by a Wolseley police car, although most of the fast driving was actually done by Ken Rudd (see above), who also acted as a gang-member extra.
Having been damaged during filming, the cylinder block was replaced by the Aston Martin Factory with one of the new 4.0-litre units (intended for a Lagonda Rapide) in March 1963 (see service notes). Stamped by the factory as '400/0157/GT', the new block was fitted some four months before the first 4.0-litre DB5 engine was built. As a result, '0157' stands out as the only DB4GT that received a 4.0-litre engine directly from the factory during that period and was officially marked as such.
It is believed that Sellers owned '0157' for a period after filming, although, well known for never owning any one car for very long, he is likely to have kept it but briefly. Stephen Archer and Richard A Candee's definitive book, The Aston Martin DB4GT, published by Palawan Press, lists 13 owners but omits Sellers, possibly because he never got around to registering the car in his name. However, he is acknowledged as owning it for a short time. Quoted in Octane magazine's October 2018 edition, Aston Martin guru, the late Richard Williams, who worked for Sellers at the time, recalled being asked by him to sell the DB4GT. Sellers' ownership was also confirmed by his PA, Hattie Proudfoot. "I remember the car," she said, "but not much about it. He had so many cars. But I do remember he was upset about the film. He felt that Lionel Jeffries had upstaged him."
Factory records show that '0157' returned to the works on 26th March 1965 where the wheelarches were flared and the car repainted in Fiesta Red. According to the AMOC Register, by 1966 the DB4GT was owned by a Mr J Melville-Smith, who finished 1st in class with it at the 1967 Curborough Sprint. The Register lists three more competitive outings between 1972 and 1974, all at Wiscombe, the driver being recorded as 'Keane'.
In 1975 the Aston was acquired by Ken Moses, who exported it to New Zealand in 1981, at which time the odometer reading was 53,000 miles. By 1983 it had travelled only a further 600 miles. While in New Zealand the Aston had three further owners, the last of whom was collector of vintage aircraft, Stephen Grey. When '0157' returned to the UK in 1999, the total recorded mileage had risen to only 58,000.
The DB4GT's next known owner was a Mr Kevin Regan, who purchased the car in 1999 and commenced a complete body-off restoration. Refurbishment of the chassis and bodywork was entrusted to renowned marque specialists Bodylines, while the reassembly and repainting was completed by their equally skilful colleagues at Spray Tec Restorations. During the rebuild the exterior colour was changed to factory Goodwood Green. Lasting some four years, the restoration cost in excess of £100,000. On the mechanical side, Aston Martin specialists Rex J Woodgate rebuilt the engine and gearbox to ensure that '0157' was in tiptop condition at an additional cost of £26,000. Kevin Regan sold '0157' to the current owner – a noted Aston Martin collector and race driver – in 2004, since when it has been seen at several events in the UK and is always beautifully displayed.
In 2018 Octane magazine published a multi-page feature on the ex-Sellers DB4GT: "The car looked terrific in the film and was clearly being driven hard. Sellers and the film-makers were having fun with it, and it's easy to see why. It's amazing just how different the GT is from the standard DB4 given the relatively minor changes. Astons have a reputation for weightiness but this one feels light and nimble. It's a proper GT and a sports car at the same time."
A unique example of one of the rarest and most desirable Aston Martins, and thus worthy of inclusion in any important private collection, 'DB4GT/0157/R' has a fascinating history that includes its intimate association with one of Britain's most iconic movie actors.
For more information visit the Bonhams Motoring website at: https://cars.bonhams.com/
