Licensed to Thrill: Aston Martin DBS

New Models

Licensed to Thrill: Aston Martin DBS

It’s tough-guy Daniel Craig in a Brioni suit, with fine cloth stretched taut over powerful muscles. And the new DBS backs up the look, as Howard Walker finds.

Howard Walker | http://www.racer.com | Posted July 11, 2008 Tampa, Fla.

"While the car is based on the less-expensive DB9, it sits lower, and wider and features bold, carbon fiber body add-ons similar to those used in Aston’s Le Mans-winning racecars."

Two things a new owner of Aston Martin’s magnificent $265,000 DBS supercar should know before taking delivery.

Firstly, it doesn’t float.

You probably read in the papers about the unfortunate driver who was delivering a new DBS to the set of the next James Bond escapade, Quantum of Solace, due out November. When he lost control of the 510-horsepower, 191 mph projectile, he crashed through a wall and dunked the car into the chilly waters of Lake Garda in Italy.

Unlike 007’s famous white Lotus in The Spy Who Loved Me, which turned into submarine when it dived in the briny, the Aston sank like a brick.

The second piece of valuable advice for every new DBS owner: Never lose the ignition key. Why? A replacement will cost you a cool $2,000, because this chunk of stainless steel and crystal glass is nothing less than a piece of automotive jewelry. So much so that Aston doesn’t even call it a key – it’s an ECU, short for Emotion Control Unit.

The DBS, as you know, made its debut in the first Daniel Craig Bond film, the immensely watchable Casino Royale. That’s the film in which the Aston roared into the Guinness Book of Records for the “most cannon rolls in a car.” It saw stuntman Adam Kirley roll the DBS a staggering seven times.

Big 6.0-liter V-12 provides awesome sound and fury.

In the metal, this new DBS looks beyond beautiful. It’s tough-guy Daniel Craig in a Brioni suit, with fine cloth stretched taut over powerful muscles.

While the car is based on the less-expensive DB9, it sits lower, and wider and features bold, carbon fiber body add-ons similar to those used in Aston’s Le Mans-winning race cars.

And the bodyshell has more in common with an F-16 fighter jet than a mere automobile. It features a light yet super-stiff extruded aluminum chassis. But to save even more weight, the Aston’s hood, fenders and rear deck lid are molded in carbon fiber.

And here’s the neat part; they’re skinned in a wafer-thin layer of fiberglass to mask the carbon weave. The result is the DBS tips the scales at a creditable 3850 pounds.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howard Walker

RACER Magazine

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