Aston Martin Cars

The current Aston Martin DBS is a high performance sports car from the UK auto manufacturer Aston Martin. Aston has used the DBS name once before on their 1967-72 grand tourer coupe. The modern car replaces the Vanquish S as the flagship of the marque. As already mentioned in previous post, the DBS was first seen in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. It was officially uncovered at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance sporting a brand new exterior colour, a graphite grey with a blue tint which has been dubbed 'Casino Ice'. The two seater coupe (as opposed to the 2+2 DB9 which the car is based on) has a bonded aluminium chassis made of lightweight magnesium alloy, carbon fibre composite and aluminium. It is the first production Aston Martin to make extensive use of carbon-fibre body panels. Although Ford sold over 90% of Aston Martin Lagonda Limited in 2007, the DBS returns for the car chase around Lake Garda in the 2008 Bond film Quantum of Solace.

The heart of this wonderful car is a handmade 6.0 litre V12 engine from the DBR9 racing car, tuned to produce 510 bhp (380 kW/517 PS) at 6500 rpm and 420 lb·ft (569 N·m) of torque at 5750 rpm. The V12 power plant features a new by-pass air intake port that opens above 5500 rpm to boost engine breathing as well as re-profiled air inlet ports that further improve airflow into the combustion chamber. A curb weight of 3737 pounds (1690 kg), combined with the 510 bhp (380 kW/517 PS) V12 help the DBS accelerate 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds and reach a top speed of around 200 mph (322 km/h). The DBS is fitted with new vented carbon ceramic brakes discs – a first for a road-going Aston Martin, it reduces unsprung weight by 12.5 kg (28 lb). The front wheels are fitted with 398 mm (15.7 in) diameter carbon ceramic brakes with six-piston calipers. The rear wheels have 360 mm (14.2 in) diameter brakes with four-piston calipers. The double wishbone alloy suspension features an adaptive damper controlled suspension which uses two separate valves to set the dampers to five different positions, allowing instant adjustment of the car’s ride and handling characteristics. Also included is a new, exotic, hand finished interior with black lacquer, brushed alloy, semi-aniline leather and Alcantara as some of the materials. The car comes with a six speed manual transmission standard and is expected to retail for approximately $265,000 USD. Sales are expected to start in spring of 2008. On January 22, 2008, spy photos of a convertible DBS otherwise known as the DBS Volante appeared on the internet.

The new Aston Martin's DBS is the hottest supercar to be announced by the company and highlighted in the James Bond film Casino Royale to promote the idea. Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez summarized the philosophy that was the driving force behind the conception of the new Bond car in the Press Release, explaining that “The DBS is not of the understated elegance of a DB9, nor the youthful agility of the V8 Vantage. It is explosive power in a black tie and has its own unique character which will equal that of James Bond.”

During production of the movie Casino Royale, the DBS was still on the Aston drawing board. Aston therefore had to hand-build a "hero" car for static scenes. For one of the film's stunt sequences they donated three DB9 road test prototypes made up with custom bodies to look like DBSs; all three cars were eventually wrecked. During filming, stunt co-coordinator Gary Powell discovered the cosmetically modified DB9's centre of gravity was too low to make the car roll during a ramp jump. The crew increased the ramp height to 4 times the original, but it still refused to roll. In the end, an air cannon installed behind the driver’s seat drove a cylinder into the road, forcing the car to roll 7 1/2 times, breaking the world record.

Remarkably, the DBS returned in Quantum of Solace, with James Bond doing a chase scene in Italy. As rumor has it, during filming, the stunt driver delivering the car for the scenes lost control of the car in April 2008 in a severe storm, and drove, reportedly, the only car on that moment available for filming into Lake Garda.