The Bonhams auction at the Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, UK, on Saturday 18th May set a new world auction record price for an Aston Martin in the marque’s centenary year, with the unique 1960 DB4GT ‘Jet’ Coupe selling for £3,249,500 ($4,928,679).
The multiple-award-winning Jet was the star, attracting intense interest from bidders in the room and on the telephones, with bidding escalating at increments of £100,000 at a time.
The car was the last off the production line and is a complete ‘one-off’ with coachwork by Italian design house Bertone.
In 1960 Aston Martin commissioned Bertone to conceive and build a special Gran Turismo version of the DB4GT to be premiered at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show. The finished design – with its strikingly angular lines – was penned by a young Giorgetto Giugiaro, who would go on to become one of the most celebrated automotive designers of our time.
The final DB4GT to come off the production line, the car was named ‘The Jet’ and debuted as planned in Geneva alongside Jaguar’s new E-type.
The car was offered from a deceased estate, and came to market for the first time in over 25 years. Its late owner owned several other Aston Martins, before falling for ‘The Jet’ in 1986.
He had it restored to concours condition by the factory, since which time it has won 12 awards including ‘First in Class’ at Pebble Beach and the Hurlingham Club, and ‘Best in Show’ at Villa D’Este.
