1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Vantage Convertible (DB4C/1072/R)

Open DB4s are already rare. Aston Martin built on the order of seventy DB4 convertibles — a run smaller than the DB4 GT coupe tally that collectors recite from memory. What pushes chassis DB4C/1072/R through Rare Machines’ Path B gate is the Special Series (Vantage) engine in that open body: public Bonhams catalog language for the forthcoming Goodwood Revival sale frames it as one of the very few convertibles so equipped. Engine number 370/1030/SS and the Vantage story are the specification point; the soft-top count alone is not enough if it were a standard DB4 drophead without the SS package.

Provenance is the second half of the score. First registration 15 October 1962 to R.T. Gwynn — then Managing Director of F.W. Woolworth — via Brooklands of Bond Street, with order paperwork and early John Wyer correspondence cited in public sale notes. The car stayed in family hands until a 2012 Bonhams Aston Martin Works Service sale brought it to the present (second) owner. Later restoration and maintenance narratives (including Pugsley & Lewis work and recent Sussex servicing) belong in the diligence file, not as a substitute for the factory identity. Registration 225 EXN and a thick history stack — guarantee copy, MoTs, invoices — are why G5 clears without scraping gallery captions.

Score 84. Production of the convertible body is Path-A-adjacent but the publish path is B on the Vantage convertible package; specification rarity is high for open SS cars; provenance is two-owner continuity with period factory correspondence; documentation quality looks strong on paper; market appearances of true DB4 Vantage convertibles are infrequent; condition points assume a restored high-end driver, not an unrestored survivor. Marque diversification: Aston sits cleanly apart from Ferrari/Alpina/Eagle already on the board.

Status: Live ahead of Goodwood Revival Collectors’ Motor Cars, 19 September 2026. Some Bonhams deep-links still resolve poorly until the catalog is fully live — re-verify sourceUrl before newsletter send and swap if Bonhams republishes the slug.

Watcher’s checklist

1. Confirm chassis DB4C/1072/R / engine 370/1030/SS against build records.
2. Separate factory Vantage SS identity from later 4.2 or other upgrade lore if any appears in file.
3. Read the two-owner / Gwynn continuity against title documents.
4. Inspect restoration quality vs originality goals (Pugsley & Lewis era).
5. Re-check Bonhams lot URL and sale status before you act.