Lot Ended
Description
Rare six-cylinder Vantage with 5-speed manual gearbox and triple Weber
carbs; one of only 70 made in RHD; recent £88k recommissioning by RS Williams;
new sills; paintwork needs attention; few owners; fabulous opportunity to
acquire an ultra-rare 'matching numbers' Aston at a sensible guide
price
Launched in
September 1967, the Aston Martin DBS was the successor to the DB6 and had sharp,
Italianate styling by William Towns. Aluminium-bodied, it had independent
suspension all round: wishbones and coil springs at the front, De Dion axle with
Watts linkage at the rear. Autocar judged it superior to the DB6 in many
respects, offering four full-sized seats in addition to improved handling and
roadholding courtesy of the new suspension and standardised power
steering.
Originally designed to accept an all-new V8 engine, this wasn't
ready in time so the DBS was initially fitted with the 4.0 straight-six from the
DB6. This was available in Standard or Vantage tune, the former producing 282bhp
on triple SU carbs, the latter 325bhp on triple Weber carbs with a higher
compression ratio and hotter cams. When tested by Motor magazine, the Vantage
recorded 141mph with 0-60 and 0–l00mph reached in 7.1 and 18.0 seconds
respectively.
Production of the DBS six-cylinder
stretched between September 1967 and April 1972 during which time somewhere
between 787 and 802 examples were produced (sources vary on this point), only 78
of these being to Vantage specification and only 70 with the ZF five-speed
manual gearbox (the others had a Borg Warner three-speed
auto).
Continuing Aston's famed 007 connections,
the DBS was used by George Lazenby's James Bond in the 1969 film 'On Her
Majesty's Secret Service' and, albeit briefly, by Sean Connery in ‘Diamonds Are
Forever’ (1971).
First registered in Birmingham
in March 1971, this particular Vantage (chassis number 5542) is a Series 1
model, easily distinguished by the twin air vents behind the rear windows which
were replaced by a single air vent between the rear screen and the boot lid on
the Series 2 models (chassis numbers 5557 onwards). The SVC engine number suffix
confirms that it is a factory-built Vantage model and it has the desirable ZF
five-speed manual gearbox.
Although there is no
early history with the car, it had just one owner from 1977 – 2022, a gentleman
who seems to have owned or run Smith & Brindley garage/petrol station in
Erdington. He kept a detailed log of his time with the Aston, the notebook
recording that it was first owned by a Mr CJ Wilkinson who put his private plate
on the car, CJW 10.
In June 1977 the Aston
suffered some fire damage and the garage owner acquired it from the insurers in
September 1977 when it was showing 35,507 miles on the odometer. It seems from
notes and invoices that he repaired/restored the car over the next couple of
years, including fitting a new speedo which was presumably set to
zero.
Back on the road by early 1979, the
notebook records five services up to May 1984 during which time it only seems to
have covered around 4,000 miles. The tax disc in the windscreen implies that it
was last on the road in c.1986 and we are told that it was then put into dry
storage where it was to remain for the next 36 years.
Our vendor acquired the car in December 2022 and succeeded in getting
it registered on its original Birmingham-issue number plate, YON 625J. In March
2024 he sent the car to Aston Martin specialists RS Williams of Cobham with
instructions to get it back into roadworthy condition.
This ultimately cost just under £89,000 and included a major engine
service; Weber carbs rebuilt; brakes, steering and suspension overhauled;
differential stripped and rebuit; new inner sills and localised chassis repairs;
new carpets etc (see invoice photos for full details). RS Williams also
confirmed that the DBS retains its original Vantage-spec engine so it is a
‘matching numbers’ car.
Documentation includes
the V5C recording just one previous owner; the aforementioned notebook and
invoices covering the period 1977 – 1984; recent RS Williams invoices plus a
copy of the original Aston Martin works ‘Chassis Assembly Inspection’ (see
photos). What looks like the original steering wheel is also included but in
need of repair.
As you can see in the photos,
the car now needs attention to the bodywork and a repaint to restore it to its
former glory. It has been starting promptly and running well as we have driven
it around on site, with healthy 80psi oil pressure.
This rare matching numbers DBS Vantage has seemingly had just three
owners from new and has been newly recommissioned by one of the most respected
names in the business. On offer here at substantially less than the amounts
lavished upon it to date, it seems perfectly usable as it is and could be
smartened up over time as desired.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com