Property of a deceased's estate
1969 Aston Martin DBS Sports Saloon
Registration no. UAO 275G
Chassis no. DBS/5240/R
Engine no. 400/3836/S

Although always intended to house the new Tadek Marek-designed V8 engine, the Aston Martin DBS first appeared with the 4.0-litre 'six' of the concurrently produced DB6. Styled in-house by William Towns, the beautiful DBS caused quite a stir, Autocar magazine observing that: 'Without the aid of an Italian stylist the Newport Pagnell team came up with something as modern, handsome and Italianate as anything from the Turin coachbuilders at that time.' Beneath its shapely exterior the DBS employed a platform-type chassis with independent suspension all round: wishbone and coil-spring at the front, De Dion with Watts linkage at the rear. Larger and more luxuriously appointed than the DB6, the heavier DBS disappointed some by virtue of its slightly reduced performance, but the Vantage version's top speed of 140mph and a standing quarter-mile time of 16.3 seconds were highly respectable figures nonetheless. Assessing the virtues of Aston's new flagship, Autocar judged it superior to the DB6 in many areas, the bigger DBS offering four full-sized seats in addition to transformed handling and roadholding courtesy of the new rear suspension and standardised power steering. This particular DBS has had three owners since May 1978, the last of whom (now deceased) purchased it in December 1996 at 18,000 miles. The Aston joined a collection of 12 classic cars and a replica Hawker Hurricane! The earliest of the expired MoT certificate on file is dated June 1988 at 10,587 miles, though little is known of the car's history prior to this. An accompanying folder contains numerous invoices from Aston Martin Works Service, DJR Aston Specialists, Aston Engineering, Aston Workshop and other specialists. These include bills from Aldridge Trimming (£6,120 in April 2013 for a full re-trim including headlining); VRV Automobiles (£15,631 in May 2008 for a cosmetic rebuild/re-spray); and Spencer Street Garage (for £7,154 circa 2008 for engine work including timing chain/tensioners and a conversion gasket set - assumed for an unleaded conversion). There is also a bill for new bumpers/manifolds (£2,000 in 2013). Fully refurbished both mechanically and cosmetically, this beautiful DBS currently displays a believed-correct total of only 23,000 miles on the odometer and comes with fresh MoT and Swansea V5. The provision of Weber carburettors is the only notified deviation from factory specification.