A LASTING BOND (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Andy Enright

Introductionword count: 96

The Aston Martin DBS is one of those achingly beautiful Aston flagship cars that will always find a ready used market. Will it be a classic model? Probably not. The DBS replaced the Vanquish and it was replaced by the Vanquish, which, in a nutshell, identifies where its manufacturer's allegiances lay. If the DBS was indeed marking time, it did so very successfully and there are many who prefer the sleeker lines of the DBS to the more powerhouse look and feel of a Vanquish. Here's what to look for when looking for a used example.

Modelsword count: 9

2dr coupe and convertible (5.9 petrol [UB-2010, Carbon Black])

Historyword count: 524

Introduced in 2007, the Aston Martin DBS will be familiar to many as Daniel Craig's debut ride in his excellent turn as James Bond in Casino Royale. That car was spectacularly wrecked on the hill route at Millbrook test track in a scene for the movie but by then the car had made the perfect impression with movie goers worldwide. What wasn't so well publicised was the fact that the DBS was, at its heart, no more than a development of the more affordable DB9 but it was smarter, cleaner and lighter. The DBS heralded a new era. Though developed under Ford, its future always lay firmly with a consortium who promised to make Aston Martin a desirable niche sportscar maker with its own direction rather than a premium brand tied to a multi-national corporation. No more borrowed bits or restrictions on development, we were promised. And to be fair, they've made good on that promise. The old Newport Pagnell factory was closed and production that had been undertaken at Steyr in Austria is now all done in house at Gaydon in the UK. The DBS rather predictably spawned a Volante convertible version in 2009 and this was followed by the Carbon Black edition featuring bespoke Carbon Black metallic paint especially formulated with a subtle metallic twist to create a deep rich patina. In production, each car underwent 50 man-hours of hand painting followed by stringent quality checks. Inside, there's Obsidian Black leather highlighted with a contrast silver coarse stitch. Lightweight seats formed from Carbon Fibre and Kevlar saving 17 kg over the standard seat also feature on all models, together with a Piano black finish for the fascia trim, centre stack and centre console, plus anodised black tread plates and unique sill plaques to build on the carbon theme. There's also a magnificent Bang & Olufsen Beosound DBS audio system A handful of unique DBS models were produced, most notably the vanity project that was the UB-2010 edition. Designed to commemorate Dr. Ulrich Bez's 10th year as Chief Executive of the company, this was a limited run of 40 DBS models, comprising 20 Coupes and 20 Volantes. Each of these unique DBS UB-2010 cars were specified personally by Dr. Bez and featured an 'Azurite Black' paint finish, metallic bronze leather seats with woven leather inserts and a 'Cryptic Titan' fascia finish. Each car also featured 'UB-2010' sill plaques signed by Dr. Bez, together with a final inspection plate. You need more DBS special editions? We've had the Carbon Black, why not reprise that with the Carbon edition in 2011. No prizes for originality, but the car itself is worth looking out for. It was offered in Flame Orange and Ceramic Grey together with the existing Carbon Black. A first for Aston Martin here was the option to specify a satin lacquer paint finish, creating a silk-like texture. The Carbon Edition also got 10-spoke gloss black diamond turned wheels. Harmonising with the exterior finish, it had a black grille, carbon fibre mirror heads, carbon rear lamp in-fills and smoked rear lights. The interior trim was finished in obsidian black or maranello orange semi-aniline leather.

What You Getword count: 248

Designer Marek Reichman had to base the DBS on the existing DB9, so there were inevitably some compromises that the clean-sheet Vanquish creators didn't have to concern themselves with. Aston Martin describe this car as 'the culmination of the DB bloodline', designing it to bridge the gap between the more GT-focused DB9 and more track-focused Astons like the DBRS9 racer. Reichman's brief at the beginning was to lower the DB9 design by 20mm, add 20-inch wheels (for the first time on an Aston), widen the track (by 20mm at the front and 40mm at the rear) and make the whole look that bit more aggressive. Most will agree that he's succeeded. For some potential owners, the fact that the DB9's two rear child seats were only optional in this car and will have been deleted by many first time buyers will be bad news, making car unusable for the infrequent occasions when they have to step in on the school run or run friends back from the pub. No one will be surprised by the lack of luggage space however. Specially tailored Aston Martin luggage is probably a must. Equipment includes everything you would expect from a car like this: electric memory heated sports seats with ten-way electric adjustment, parking sensors, a trip computer, power-folding mirrors, those gorgeous 20-inch alloys, sat nav and a beautifully finished interior set off by an all-alloy centre console. There's a very sophisticated car alarm and a tracking device should the worst happen.

To see the full road test text contact us on 0330 0020 227