1969 Aston Martin DBS

The Aston Martin DBS made its debut in 1967 at the Paris Motor Show, with a profile that was true to the tradition of previous DB cars but its size was six inches wider than the outgoing DB6, giving the appearance of performance and power. The styling was performed in-house by William Towns, who carefully blended touches of modern alongside the traditional design elements. It abandoned the curvy lines of the earlier Touring-styled DB models in favour of a sharper, hard-edged look in the modern idiom. Its performance intents were personified by its bonnet scoop, knock-off wire wheels, stainless steel brightwork, and signature air vents in the front wings courtesy of the DB6. Instead of the traditional Aston grille, the DBS was given a much shallower and squarer-edged unit than before and further distinguished by four, equal-sized quartz-halogen headlamps. Its larger footprint allowed for four full-sized seats in addition to transformed handling and road-holding courtesy of the new rear suspension and standardized power steering. This would be the final model produced under Sir David Brown's leadership at Aston Martin.

The Aston Martin DBS employed a platform-type chassis with independent suspension all round comprised of wishbones and coil springs at the front and De Dion with Watts linkage at the rear. The engine was placed further back in the chassis, behind the front axle, resulting in an almost 50/50 weight ratio. Although it was designed to house the Tadek Marek-designed V8, production delays meant the DBS first appeared with the 4.0-litre six of the concurrently produced DB6. The all-aluminum dual overhead cam engine produced 282 horsepower at 5,500 RPM. A high-performance Vantage version of the legendary motor was also available. Trimmed with triple Weber carburetors, the Vantage-spec engine made 325 horsepower at 5,750 rpm and would propel the luxurious Aston Martin to over 140 mph.

In the finest Aston Martin fashion, the DBS was luxuriously appointed with the finest Connolly hides available. Among the list of optional equipment were power steering, air-conditioning, and an automatic gearbox.

The Aston Martin DBS was intended to succeed the DB6 which had been in production since September of 1965, but instead, the two ran concurrently for three years. The DB6 Mark II arrived in mid-1969, distinguished by flares on front and rear wheel arches, wider wheels and tires, and available with an optional AE Brico electronic fuel-injection system and higher compression ratio cylinder head. In fact, the Mark II and the DBS shared many parts. Production of the DB6 ended in 1970 after 1,788 examples had been built.

The DB6 had a 101.5-inch wheelbase, a length of 182 inches, a height of 53.5 inches, and a width of 66 inches. In comparison, the DBS had a 1.3-inch longer wheelbase, was approximately 1.7 inches shorter in length and 1.1 inches shorter in height, but six inches wider. Both were powered by the same 3,995cc DOHC straight-6 paired with a ZF 5-speed manual or Borg-Warner automatic.

In September of 1969, shortly after the introduction of the DB6 Mark II, the DBS became available with the 5,340cc V8 engine for which it was always intended. With 320 horsepower at 5,000 RPM and 330 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 RPM, the DBS V6 (as it was known) was the fastest four-seater production car in the world. The four-cam motor had Bosch fuel injection and could reach 100 mph in under 14 seconds, running on to a top speed of 160 mph. Even in automatic transmission form, the V8 could reach 100mph in around 15 seconds and over 145mph flat-out.

To improve stability at the higher speeds the V8 was capable of, the DBS V8 was tested at high speeds on the Continent, during which it was found that wire wheels were not up to the task, hence the switch to alloy wheels for the production DBS V8. The alloy wheels were wrapped with 225/70VR15 Cinturato CN12 tires and placed in front of ventilated disc brakes.

Production of the DBS V8 continued through May of 1972, after which it was given a single headlamp front end and was renamed simply the Aston Martin V8. During its production lifespan, from 1967 to 1972, a total of 787 examples were built.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2022