Aston Martin DB4 Zagato

An Aston Martin Artwork

This original car painting depicts one of the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, Sanction III cars. This one was built in 1999, registration no. 001 V (see history section below). The artwork is acrylic on birch wood panel, and measures 40x80cm. For further details please get in touch with me.

These photos chronicle the different stages in the development of this painting:

Original car painting - progress photo — Once the shape is blocked out, in five layers of sanded white gesso, I began to add basic defining elements such as tyres, underside and interior.

Car painting - progress photo showing greyscale underpainting — Next, the body is worked up as an underpainting in tones of grey. Note that the wood panel has been fully masked to protect it from paint splashes and keep it pristine.

Aston Martin DB4 Zagato original painting (progress photo) — Washes of green overlays are added to the bodywork.

Aston Martin DB4 Zagato artwork by Darius Gilmont. Classic car painting on wood panel. — The finished artwork

This painting is now for sale via Hexagon Classics. Please contact Jonathan Ostroff for details.

DB4 Zagato: A Brief History

Following on the original 19 examples of the 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, Aston Martin created a small second edition of four cars in 1991. This was a further collaboration between Aston Martin and the Zagato works in Italy, and involved unused, original DB4 chassis. Zagato built bodies for these to Ercole Spada’s original design. These “Sanction II” cars comprised significant performance upgrades, including larger engines, while the bodywork remained identical to the original 19.

The Zagato factory still had spare body shells left. In 1999 and 2000, they used these to create two more cars (Sanction III). These final cars had an engine capacity of 4.7 litres and were the most powerful of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagatos. More recently (in 2021) Aston Martin Works began to make a “continuation” series of 19 cars.