MODEL HISTORY

Intended as a replacement for the iconic Touring-designed series of DB4, DB5 and DB6, the DBS marked a change in direction for Aston Martin when it was launched in 1967. There was supposed to have been more in the way of continuity, but unfortunately Touring went out of business after producing two prototypes.

In-house designer William Towns was therefore given the job. He produced a modern, sharp, square-edged design that set the template for the subsequent V8 models and helped to establish the accepted 'look' for a big Aston throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The DBS should have been powered by a V8 engine from day one, but Tadek Marek's new 5.3-litre unit wasn't ready in time, so Aston Martin carried over the 4-litre six-cylinder engine from the DB6. It was available in either standard 282bhp SU-carburettor form, or as the 325bhp Vantage, which used Weber carburettors. A handful of cars were also produced with the Brico electronic fuel-injection system.

Drive was via a ZF five-speed manual gearbox or a three-speed Borg-Warner automatic, and the rear suspension employed a de Dion set-up rather than the DB6's live axle.

The DBS V8 eventually joined the six-cylinder model in 1969, the same year in which the DBS starred alongside George Lazenby in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. When Autocar tested a V8-engined car in 1971, it recorded a top speed of 161mph and summed up the model with the words: 'Tremendous performance, superb brakes, excellent handling'.

The two models ran alongside each other until 1972. The six-cylinder DBS was then dropped and the bigger-engined car morphed into the V8, which would be the mainstay of the Aston Martin range into the 1990s.

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