The classic, soft shapes allow even those unfamiliar with cars to recognize an Aston Martin from the late 1950s / early 1960s. Classic fans quickly see the DB4 and the red-white-red color band that divides the green sports coupé in half without any Austrian influence shows, at least to experts, that it is one of the extremely rare Aston Martin DB4 GT. The charismatic Brit is one of the most spectacular models from Friedhelm Loh’s sensational car collection. The 76-year-old Friedhelm Loh became one of the richest Germans over the past decades with control cabinets and software solutions – and remained largely unknown. It’s not just on the side that Friedhelm Loh has been a passionate car fan since his childhood and has been a big name in the international collector scene for decades.
This summer, Friedhelm Loh made his passion for automobile collecting known and public to the world with the opening of the National Car Museum at the company headquarters in Dietzhölztal-Ewersbach. The Loh Collection can be visited every Wednesday to Sunday between 10:30 a.m. / 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. The currently around 150 exhibits are largely unique; not least because it is a multi-brand museum and Friedhelm Loh has brought numerous motorsport models into his 7,500 square meter collection for more than 35 years.
One of the most unusual models is the Aston Martin DB4 GT, with which you can go on a very entertaining trip in the central Hesse area. The GT was the particularly light sports version of the Aston Martin DB4; first presented at the London Motor Show in 1959. The athlete had already made his debut a few months earlier when the prototype of the DB4 GT – as the DP 199/1 team car – won the GT race at the Daily Express Silverstone May Meeting. At the wheel: none other than motorsport legend Sir Stirling Moss. The Aston Martin DB4 GT was based on a DB4 platform that was shortened by 5 inches – and was therefore almost 85 kilograms lighter. According to the Superleggera principle of the time, the body consisted of lightweight magnesium components. For a top speed of 260 km/h, the touring car was equipped with disc brakes all around. According to factory information, the revised 3.7 liter in-line six-cylinder should produce 222 kW / 302 hp.
But the British stated the engine performance very confidently, similar to the Italian manufacturers at the time. Aston Martin experts are assuming 270 to 280 hp, but that doesn’t detract from the joy of driving behind the spindle-thin steering wheel of the Stirling Moss car – on the contrary. The green racer with the unusual Austria stripes from the Loh collection hangs beautifully on the gas thanks to the double ignition, is extremely quick and enchants its pilot with a unique six-cylinder concert from the anything but impressive exhaust system. No wonder that this pretty boy was feared on all race tracks at the time. Friedhelm Loh probably owns the most sought-after of the 75 Aston Martin DB4 GT models produced worldwide; eight of them as lightweight versions. The 25 newly released models, which the British sports car manufacturer re-released in an exclusive small series from 2017 based on the original plans, do not change this. For Loh, only the originals count – like here, which have long been worth millions.
