EXCESS VERBOSITY? NO, JUST VERACITY

“AUTOMOBILE BROCHURES,” R&T CLAIMED, “ARE ALMOST AS WELL ENDOWED WITH SUPERLATIVES as is the publicity for a Hollywood movie production, and about as accurate.” 

This and following images from R&T April 1962.

“The brochure for the David Brown Aston Martin DB-4,” R&T continued, “follows the well-established pattern with copy that is calculated to make the automobile enthusiast drool with anticipation: “What manner of car is this, which brings to Great Britain the Sports Car World Championship…. it is docile and will present no difficulties to the novice…. it is quite something to slow down to 120 mph to take a corner.” 

Excess verbosity? Consult the following tidbits gleaned from this R&T report and learn, “This car lives up to its advance publicity.”

Two Major Drawbacks. R&T addressed these early on:“There are two fairly major drawbacks: high first cost and the distinct probability that parts and service would be difficult to obtain all over the country. Initial cost is, naturally, something that poses a problem only once—you either have the money to buy the car or you don’t.”

“Service is another matter,” R&T continued, “and in the major metropolitan areas it is probably as good as it would be on any of the more exotic limited-sale vehicles, but woe be unto the owner who’s confined to the nether regions of the U.S.” 

“Speaking for our test crew, however” [the ‘born-again Californian’ almost audible], “we wouldn’t let this stop us if we had the $10,000 to spend [the CPI Inflation Calculator equates this to $105,893.71 today]—we’d buy one in a trice—but enough of the dreams, back to reality.” 

“A Driver’s Car.” R&T confirmed, “The Aston Martin is a car that qualifies in that category and the proof is immediate and obvious. The seating/control layout could only have been developed by people who do a lot of high speed motoring themselves, and know what is required.” 

“The wood-rimmed racing-type steering wheel can be positioned in two locations (about an inch apart) for reach, and the angle of the column can be adjusted, so it should be possible to suit almost any driver. We favor the Italian ‘almost straight arm’ approach… and it is significant that the majority of cars designed for rapid motoring have the driver’s compartment laid out so this is almost mandatory.”

A Proper Cabin. “Vision is excellent in all directions, due to slim window posts, and both headroom and elbow room seem adequate. Entry is a little difficult because the doors open only 45º.”

“The rear seat can accommodate two adults, as we proved to our satisfaction, although at a sacrifice of leg room for both front and rear passengers, and there is almost no headroom for the back seat occupant if he is any larger than average size. This is then, in essence, a roomy 2-passenger or a cramped 4-passenger model. Entry into the back seat is somewhat awkward as it is in all vehicles of this type.”

Geez. Why not just call it a 2+2?

An adequate trunk for touring. 

A New-Car Quandary. “On picking up the test car from British Motor Car Distributors, Ltd. in San Francisco,” R&T recounted, “we noticed that the odometer registered just a shade over 100 miles. We were advised, ‘Don’t worry about it—the car is ready to go.’ We felt that these people should know what they were talking about, but our regard for this superb machine wouldn’t let us thrash it about just because someone said it was okay to do so.”

“Consequently,” R&T said, “we used shift points just over the 5000 mark, when we could have gone to 5800 in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Later we discovered that Aston Martin odometers are set at 99,000 miles at the factory, driven 1000 miles to be ‘checked out’ (until 000,000 appears), and are thus delivered already broken in.” 

“So,” R&T noted, “the car will perform somewhat better than our test results indicate, and these figures could be easily duplicated by any Aston Martin owner and surpassed by most.”

Aston Martin’s 3670-cc dohc six-cylinder engine develops 263 hp at 5700 rpm and 240 lb-ft of torque at 4250, and looks aesthetically pleasing whilst doing so.    

Performance Without Compromise. R&T summarized, “Performance (and we define performance as acceleration, top speed, braking and road holding) can be described as without compromise. Any car that can actually be driven at better than two miles per minute, and yet can accelerate smoothly up a San Francisco hill from a dead stop (thanks to the engine’s good torque characteristics and the new twin-plate clutch) is a car anyone can drive.”

I especially like its accompanying paragraph: “Initial acceleration is not breathtaking, but is exhilarating and very steady up to well over the 100-mph mark. At 90 mph in either 3rd or 4th gear one still has the feeling of being forced back into the seat, and right now we can’t think of a seat we’d rather be forced back into.”

Me neither. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025