Aston Martin DBS turns 50!

The Aston Martin DBS arrived on the market in 1967 and while it was intended to replace the DB6, customer demand meant the DBS and DB6 were produced side-by-side until 1970. Now, readers of Just Cars might prefer to see a muscle car as our Poster Child for the month, but make no mistake, the DBS did run a muscular V8 with 242kW (it was the fastest four-door production car in the world at the time), although it was first introduced with a V6 (210kW)… but we’ve included it mainly because there’s an Australian connection with the DBS.

While the DBS got its first outing as the wheels of our very own George Lazenby as his one and only time as James Bond, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It was the first time a Bond car had no gadgets… and it was the first and only time we got to see a Bond wife… Tracy was shot and killed while sitting in the DBS. Bond wouldn’t drive an Aston Martin for another 18 years. The DBS also appeared in the television series on The Persuaders! as the mode of transport for Lord Brett Sinclair.

It was originally planned that Touring of Milan would be tasked with the design of the DB6 replacement in 1966, but the company went bust and so Aston Martin called in William Towns to pen the DBS. His creation was unveiled at Blenheim Palace on September 25, 1967.

Towns, for those who might never have heard of him, had a hand in designing a number of cars, including a handful of Aston Martins. Some of his work, includes the Jensen Healey, Hustler, Aston Martin Lagonda, and AM Bulldog, TXC Tracer, Reliant SS2 and Railton F28 and F29.

Pub fact… the V8 introduced in the DBS formed the basis of every single V8 used in Aston Martin until 1987. The V8 also offered ventilated disc brakes right around; a first for an Aston Martin and a Chrysler-sourced three-speed automatic, if the five-speed ZF manual wasn’t wanted. The Aston Martin DBS stayed in production until 1972 (in both V6 and V8 guise). Happy Birthday to the car that dragged Aston Martin out of its swoopy 1960s design.