1972 Aston Martin DBS V8 Sports Saloon

When the Aston Martin DBS V8 arrived in 1969, it was the fastest production car in the world and marked the passing of the David Brown era. Performance figures from the 5340 cc, fuel injected, four-cam V8, raised the bar for other luxury sporting marques and even the automatic version could achieve a top speed of 150 mph, making it a serious 'Gentleman's Express'. Various pieces of motoring magazine editorial praised its excellent handling and adequate braking power. It also perpetuated the "James Bond' dynasty, appearing as George Lazenby's weapon of choice in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service' in 1969. The DBS was replaced in late 1972 by the Aston Martin V8 after a fairly small production run of approximately 400 units of the twin headlight model which was arguably the prettiest design of 'in house' stylist, Bill Towns. The particular Aston Martin DBS V8 offered here, was built on the 16th of March 1972 and, coincidentally, despatched to Lazenby Garages Ltd. of Staines. The specification included Oxford Blue paintwork and beige leather interior, fuel injection and automatic transmission. The V5 shows six previous owners prior to our vendor who has owned this DBS for nearly twenty five years. It appears to have spent most of its life in North London as our vendor purchased it from a Tottenham resident. Whilst in the ownership of the current owner it had been subject to an earlier restoration and is now showing signs of requiring further attention however it could be a usable driver for the time being after a mechanical check over. The aluminium body work appears very sound overall, but has blistering in some parts of the deep Oxford blue paintwork, however, the interior is good and commensurate with the car's age and the rest of the car is 'all there'. These cars have massive presence and with any Aston from this period the parts and skills exist to turn it into a Concours contender, a well restored weekend special or just a fun, usable big Aston. Unfortunately, the history file was lost in a house move, but the owner informs us that whilst in his possession it has had new front wings, and some chassis and suspension work. Work on the engine was carried out by specialists that include Richard Cann and Tower Bridge Fuel Pumps. This matching numbers, twin headlight DBS in a lovely colour combination represents, at today's guide, maybe one of the last opportunities to own an iconic Aston V8 of this period. Values of DB4s,5s and 6s appear to have levelled out temporarily but the same cannot be said for their immediate successors, as anyone familiar with auction trends will tell you. Carpe Diem.