ASTON MARTIN

DB6

The Aston Martin DB6 was unveiled at the 1965 London Motor Show as the refined culmination of Aston Martin's classic DB grand tourers, and it holds the distinction of being the first model fully engineered after the company moved production from Feltham to its famous home at Newport Pagnell. Closely related to the beautiful DB5 made famous by James Bond, the Aston Martin DB6 was subtly but importantly different: its wheelbase was stretched for better rear-seat space, and it gained a distinctive Kamm tail with a built-up spoiler lip that improved high-speed stability, giving the car a more upright, formal look. Power came from Aston Martin's 4.0-litre twin-overhead-camshaft straight-six, producing 282 horsepower in standard tune, while the desirable Aston Martin DB6 Vantage upgraded to triple Weber carburettors and a higher-compression head for around 325 horsepower. A convertible version, the Aston Martin DB6 Volante, was introduced at the 1966 London Motor Show and is among the most coveted of all, with just 140 built, including 29 ultra-rare high-output Vantage Volante examples. The model was offered in two series, with the DB6 Mark 2 of 1969 adopting flared wheel arches and optional fuel injection. By the time production ended in early 1971, 1,788 examples of the Aston Martin DB6 had been built. Elegant, fast and quintessentially British, the Aston Martin DB6 remains a blue-chip classic and the last of the great six-cylinder DB grand tourers.