Aston Martin DBS Original (1967–1972) Price Guide

The original Aston Martin DBS is the car that was designed around an engine it didn’t have yet. William Towns produced a wider, more spacious body than the DB6 specifically to accommodate the Tadek Marek V8 that was still being developed. For the first two years of production, the DBS made do with the older car’s 4.0-litre straight-six while the world waited for the engine it was built to house.

The Car

Unveiled at Blenheim Palace on 25 September 1967, the DBS was designed by William Towns after Touring of Milan (originally commissioned for the project) went out of business before completing the work. Towns’s body was larger than any previous Aston: 4in wider and 2.25in longer than the DB6, with genuine four-seat accommodation. The De Dion rear axle was a significant departure from previous models. In six-cylinder form, the 3,995cc twin-cam produced 282bhp in standard tune and 325bhp in Vantage specification with triple Weber carburettors. Around 787 six-cylinder cars were built. When the 5,340cc quad-cam V8 finally arrived in September 1969, the DBSV8 produced around 315bhp with Bosch mechanical fuel injection making it, at the time, the fastest four-seat production car in the world at 160mph. Just 405 DBSV8s were built before the model was replaced by the V8 in 1972. The V8 engine Marek designed for this car would go on to power Aston Martins for the next twenty years.

Buying

The DBS is less celebrated than the DB4, DB5, and DB6 it followed but offers genuine Newport Pagnell craftsmanship and the most spacious interior of any classic Aston. The six-cylinder cars are more affordable than the DBSV8. Body condition is paramount; rust attacks the sills and around the door apertures. The Superleggera aluminium construction used on earlier DBs was abandoned for the DBS in favour of a steel body, which makes it heavier but no easier to repair. A specialist such as Aston Workshop or R.S. Williams is essential for any major work. Aston Martin itself offers heritage support through Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell.