In the first round of heats, the 18 teams were divided into 9 pairs. Placing in the heats was not used to advance; rather, the 8 fastest teams from across the heats advanced to the quarterfinals.
Heat 1
1.
Lothar Claesges , Karl Link , Karl-Heinz Henrichs , and Ernst Streng (EUA )
4:42.28
QQ
2.
Trevor Bull , Hugh Porter , Harry Jackson , and Brian Sandy (GBR )
4:47:67
Heat 2
1.
Luigi Roncaglia , Carlo Rancati , Vincenzo Mantovani , and Franco Testa (ITA )
4:39.06
QQ
2.
Carlos Alberto Álvarez , Juan Alberto Merlos , Ernesto Contreras , and Alberto Trillo (ARG )
4:44.66
QQ
Heat 3
1.
Dzintars Lācis , Stanislav Moskvin , Leonid Kolumbet , and Sergey Tereshchenkov (URS )
4:43.76
QQ
2.
Robert Varga , Joseph Pare , Christian Cuch , and Jacques Suire (FRA )
4:50.62
Heat 4
1.
Bent Hansen , Jan Ingstrup-Mikkelsen , Preben Isaksson , and Kurt vid Stein (DEN )
4:46.97
QQ
2.
Jiri Daller , Jiří Pecka , Antonín Kříž , and Frantisek Rezak (TCH )
4:47.04
QQ
Heat 5
1.
Kevin Brislin , Victor Browne , Robert Baird , and Hendrikus Vogels (AUS )
4:44.90
QQ
2.
Gerard Koel , Jaap Oudkerk , Henk Cornelisse , and Cor Schuuring (NED )
4:45.33
QQ
Heat 6
1.
Hans Wolf , Donald Nelsen , Oliver Martin , and Arnold Uhrlass (USA )
5:01.41
2.
Leopold Heuvelmans , Roland van de Rijse , Roland de Neve , and Albert Van Vlierberghe (BEL )
5:04.25
Heat 7
1.
Preeda Chullamondhol , Smaisuk Krisansuwan , and Somchai Chantarasamrit (THA )
5:31.52
2.
Muhammad Ashiq , Muhammad Hafeez , Lal Bakhsh , and Muhammad Shafi (PAK )
5:38.77
Heat 8
1.
Norio Hotogi , Kosaku Takahashi , Fujio Ito , and Hiromi Yamafuji (JPN )
4:55.04
2.
Amar Singh Billing , Chetan Singh Hari , Dalbir Singh Gill , and Amar Singh Sokhi (IND )
Elim.
Heat 9
1.
Oscar Almada , Elio Juárez , Ruben Etchebarne , and Juan Timon (URU )
DNF
2.
Ng Joo Pong , Arulraj Rosli , Choy Mow Thim , and Kamsari Salam (MAS )
DNF
The quarterfinals paired off the 8 remaining teams into 4 heats. Winners advanced, losers were eliminated.
Quarterfinal 1
1.
Luigi Roncaglia , Carlo Rancati , Vincenzo Mantovani , and Franco Testa (ITA )
4:37.58
QS
2.
Jiri Daller , Jiří Pecka , Antonín Kříž , and Frantisek Rezak (TCH )
4:45.68
Quarterfinal 2
1.
Lothar Claesges , Karl Link , Karl-Heinz Henrichs , and Ernst Streng (EUA )
4:36.98
QS
2.
Bent Hansen , Jan Ingstrup-Mikkelsen , Preben Isaksson , and Kurt vid Stein (DEN )
4:43.58
Quarterfinal 3
1.
Gerard Koel , Jaap Oudkerk , Henk Cornelisse , and Cor Schuuring (NED )
4:40.41
QS
2.
Dzintars Lācis , Stanislav Moskvin , Leonid Kolumbet , and Sergey Tereshchenkov (URS )
4:41.70
Quarterfinal 4
1.
Kevin Brislin , Victor Browne , Robert Baird , and Hendrikus Vogels (AUS )
4:41.58
QS
2.
Carlos Alvarez , Juan Merlos , Ernesto Contreras , and Alberto Trillo (ARG )
4:45.74
The winner of each semifinal advanced to the gold medal match, while the loser was sent to the bronze medal match.
Semifinal 1
1.
Lothar Claesges , Karl Link , Karl-Heinz Henrichs , and Ernst Streng (EUA )
4:38.19
QG
2.
Kevin Brislin , Victor Browne , Robert Baird , and Hendrikus Vogels (AUS )
4:40.28
QB
Semifinal 2
1.
Luigi Roncaglia , Carlo Rancati , Vincenzo Mantovani , and Franco Testa (ITA )
4:37.98
QG
2.
Gerard Koel , Jaap Oudkerk , Henk Cornelisse , and Cor Schuuring (NED )
4:41.02
QB
Gold Medal Match
Lothar Claesges , Karl Link , Karl-Heinz Henrichs , and Ernst Streng (EUA )
4:35.67
Luigi Roncaglia , Carlo Rancati , Vincenzo Mantovani , and Franco Testa (ITA )
4:35.74
Bronze Medal Match
Gerard Koel , Jaap Oudkerk , Henk Cornelisse , and Cor Schuuring (NED )
4:38.99
4.
Kevin Brislin , Victor Browne , Robert Baird , and Hendrikus Vogels (AUS )
4:39.42
Tokyo Organizing Committee (1964). The Games of the XVIII Olympiad: Tokyo 1964, vol. 2 .