Aston Martin DB4, first owned by David Brown, up for grabs

A 1960 Aston Martin DB4, first owned by then Aston Martin owner David Brown, is up for sale in Australia in ‘Barn Find’ condition.

Aston Martin seems always to have needed a ‘White Knight’ to keep it going in troubled times, and one of the first was David Brown who took control of Aston Martin in 1947, introducing the ‘DB’ (for David Brown) badge which still adorns Aston’s cars.

That started with the DB2, followed by the DB2/4, DB III and, in 1958, the DB4, perhaps the first Aston DB that’s still instantly recognisable as an Aston Martin.

So an Aston Martin DB4 first owned by owner David Brown is a bit of a big deal, and just such as car has turned up for sale in Australia.

The 1960 Aston Martin DB4 is not in the greatest condition, having not been used for 30 years, but it has had just one owner for the last 40 years, and just two others in Australia since it was exported there in 1962.

In a condition commensurate with its 30 years in a lock-up/barn, the DB4 has done 90,000 miles and is pretty tatty, but it is complete and has extras added by David Brown including heated rear window, Motorola radio and electric windows.

Australian magazine Octane has it up for sale (and they’ve also listed it on Facebook!), so if you feel like grabbing a piece of Aston Martin history it can be yours for £550,000.

That’s quite a lot for a tatty DB4 (you can get a pretty decent one for that money), so the question is: how much is the previous ownership worth?