Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 12 i Aston Martin Driver

IT’S ONLY right we celebrate the 20th anniversary of a car as important as the DB9. Not only is it one of the most beautiful ever produced by the British company but from the V8 Vantage to the current DB12, the DBS V12 to the Rapide, the DB9 would set the tone for all future models. It also returned Aston Martin to the winner’s circle of the famous 24-Hours of Le Mans when the DBR9 racing version took GT1 honours in both 2007 and 2008. And finally, with 16,500 examples produced in 12 years, it remains one of the company’s most successful. And so from taking an early example across arguably the best driver’s road in the UK (pictured above) to genuine owners discussing some of the real life pitfalls…

Aston Martin has been confirmed as the official High-Performance Partner of The Jockey Club. The iconic British brand made its debut with The Jockey Club at The Derby Festival at Epsom Downs in 2023 and the new partnership sees it extend its presence to include The Cheltenham Festival, the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree, Newmarket’s QIPCO Guineas Festival as well as the Betfred Derby Festival. Aston Martin will continue to sponsor the Aston Martin Dash at Epsom Downs, with the Heritage Handicap taking place over the fastest five furlongs in the world on Derby Day. Jack Royle, acting director of partnerships at The Jockey Club, said, “Following a successful first link-up at the 2023 Derby Festival, we are delighted that Aston Martin has decided to take its association with…

AFTER I come barrelling over the crest of a hill, the road now stretches out ahead of me like a never-ending grey ribbon that cuts through the barren countryside like my Scalextric track once did on my parents’ living room floor. With this being the top of the moor, I can see for miles in all directions, but I have no time to enjoy the view. This most challenging of roads requires all of my attention all of the time. Called Blakey Ridge, it’s one of the most engaging driver’s roads in the UK. Not only are the corners fast and the straights long, but it’s in one of the most inhospitable locations in England too, the North York Moors. A special road like this requires a special car and…

Dave Ashford bought his 2005 DB9 Coupe in February 2017 with around 60k on the clock and he recalls it cost him the same amount as a brand-new Ford Mondeo. He has since covered roughly 20,000 miles in it, including driving into mainland Europe (when the French police stopped him to listen to the engine) and up to the Lake District – he also intends to drive to Como in Italy this year. His DB9 has the ZF automatic transmission. “I find the gearbox smooth and effective,” he says, “but you have to remember this is a GT car and not a track car, so for me it’s about the blend of comfort and performance.” Whilst Dave says his DB9 is easy to drive, he finds some of the dashboard…

IF YOU have long distances to cover, from Birmingham to Berlin, Leicester to Lausanne or anywhere to Tipperary, then what you need is a private jet, something fast, sleek, and comfortable such as a Gulfstream G800 or Cessna Citation Longitude. Obviously, owning a plane wouldn’t be practical for most of us; there’s the parking for one thing and the thousands of pounds it takes to refuel. But thankfully there are two more grounded alternatives that offer most of what a Cessna does, but will comfortably fit on your drive; the Aston Martin DB9 and the Mercedes-Benz SL600. With both cars having large and powerful V12s, their combined power of 944bhp and 341mph maximum speed is close to that of a jet while as top-of-the range grand tourers, their spacious cabins…

DUE TO their often low production numbers and place in British culture, there are plenty of mythical cars in Aston Martin’s back catalogue. Take the DB6 Vantage Mk2, for example. Not only does the model mark the end of the iconic design that arrived with the DB4, later made even more famous by the iconic DB5, but with a little over 70 produced it’s also one of the rarest. This place in Aston Martin’s history makes the story of this particular example all the more amazing. Because despite its good looks, rarity and ever-growing values, the car was left languishing in a garage for three decades. Thankfully, after being rescued in early 2021, a two-and-a-half-year-long restoration by a respected specialist has returned this piece of automotive history back to its…

Despite being considered as the entrylevel Aston Martin, the 4.0-litre V8 of the updated Vantage now has an incredible 650bhp, a 30 percent gain over its predecessor, resulting in a top speed of 202mph while its 0-60mph is a heart-stopping 3.4sec. These figures together with revamped suspension has resulted in what Aston Martin calls the “fastest Vantage in the famous nameplate’s 74-year history,” and, “an authentic, unadulterated celebration of pure performance, engineered to deliver maximum thrills with maximum confidence.” The improved performance has been achieved through the adoption of modified cam profiles, optimised compression ratios, larger turbos, and increased cooling yielding. An added benefit of these changes is that the engine now has, “a more visceral and more vocal character”. Aston Martin’s chief technology officer, Roberto Fedeli, said that while…

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DB9 coupe Years produced: 2004-2008 Following its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2003, the first version of Aston Martin’s new car to arrive the following year was the coupe. It was also the first car to use the company’s new VH aluminium platform ensuring it was both light yet also very stiff. Under the bonnet was the same version of Aston’s 6.0-litre V12 as the Vanquish. With 450bhp, it put the car into a super class resulting in a 0-60mph time of just 4.6 seconds and a 186mph top speed. The DB9 was available with a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual gearbox. A minor update arrived in 2008 that introduced a new centre console, while the power of the engine was increased to 470bhp. DB9 Volante…

Bought new in 2004, David Williams has now covered 117,000 miles in his DB9, which has included several European tours through France and Belgium. “I have also driven the car on an extended version of the North Coast 500 in Scotland plus; also taking in Harris, Lewis and Skye.” With the automatic gearbox, he says he prefers to use the paddle shift, but comments, “By modern standards the changes are a bit slow, but not excessively so. When the car is driven hard and at high revs in particular, the changes, whether up or down the box, are an absolute delight, because of the fabulous sound from the exhaust and also the throttle blips when shifting down.” Until recently, David’s DB9 was always serviced by an Aston Martin main dealership,…

IT WOULD be easy to view the DBS as nothing more than a DB9 with a more powerful engine and a bodykit. But that would be like describing the DB5 as a facelift of the DB4 or Elvis Presley as ‘just another singer’ when the truth is that the car has its own unique and distinct personality that’s very different from that of the DB9. Although by sitting on the same VH architecture and based on the same basic design as the DB9 there’s no doubting the two are related. But judging by the 2009 Lightning Silver example featured here, it’s clear the DBS has a much more aggressive and purposeful look. This is largely thanks to the bodykit that has similar design elements of those of the DBR9 racing…

ALTHOUGH ARGUABLY the least appropriate vehicle for exploration this side of a classic milk float, Phil Churchill’s two-decade-old V8 Vantage still performed admirably during his and his son Will’s 2023 adventures through North and then Central America. “The only things that went wrong with the car was stuff we did to it,” admits Phil. Considering the many adversities they faced including rough roads, terrible weather and low octane fuel, that’s an incredible achievement for the car. But this wasn’t the first time this early V8 Vantage has been pushed to its limits. Produced in 2005, it was the 41st example built and originally was used by Aston Martin’s then CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez, as his company car. With him regularly commuting between his home in Dusseldorf and the UK, the…

WALK INTO Quantum Works’ large, well-equipped and spotless workshop and due to the amount of Aston Martins being worked on, you’d think the business has been operating for decades. Yet the truth is, it’s not yet 12 months old, only opening its doors during the summer of 2023. The business might be new but the two directors behind it, Antony Jones and Jordan Holmes, aren’t, having learnt their trade at an established and respected specialist. By both starting as teenagers, together the pair have over 30 years’ experience in restoring, servicing and maintaining Aston Martins of all ages. “I’d always wanted to work on cars,” Antony starts by telling me. “Living close to Pugsley & Lewis, when I was 15 my parents suggested I try and get some work experience…

Aston Martin has also revealed a GT3 version of the new Vantage that will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship plus other series around the world. “Simultaneously revealing the new Vantage and Vantage GT3 race car underlines Aston Martin’s commitment to building the world’s finest sports car, and then proving its capabilities on-track,” said Marco Mattiacci, Aston Martin’s global chief brand and commercial officer. The new car has been built to comply with all FIA GT3 class regulations, including the new-for-2024 LMGT3 category in which torque sensors are mandated. It is also the first product to come from a collaboration between Aston Martin Racing (AMR) and Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT). A comprehensive evolution of the recently retired Vantage AMR GTE and GT3 cars…

On the same day as the new Vantage and GT3 made their debut, Aston Martin Racing also revealed its challenger for the forthcoming F1 season, the AMR24. “We are proud to debut the AMR24,” said team principal Mike Krack. “It is the result of a huge effort by the whole team at our new AMR Technology Campus and it will allow the team to take another step forward in 2024.” Considered a strong update of last year’s successful car, one of the main changes includes an altered front wing design to help manage front wheel wake in a more efficient manner. Another update includes the front suspension which has been changed to improve performance in conjunction with the front wing and floor while the rear suspension has been optimised to…

THE DB7 might have been one of the prettiest British sports cars of the Nineties – if not of all time – but it was hardly cutting edge. The original straight-six version used an ageing Jaguar-sourced engine while all models, including the Vantage from 1999, were based on an even older chassis. The DB9 changed all that. Not only did it have a new lightweight, bonded aluminium chassis plus an updated version of the company’s 6.0-litre V12, but it was the first car produced at the company’s state-of-the-art factory located outside the village of Gaydon in Warwickshire. Little wonder Autocar magazine described the car in its 24 February 2004 issue as, “The most modern Aston ever.” The driving force behind the DB9 was Aston’s new CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez. After…

IT’S 2.50PM on Sunday 17th June 2007 and the many British spectators that line the 8.47-mile Le Mans Circuit are holding their breath. With only a few minutes remaining of the famous 24-hour race, barring last minute problems, this could be Aston Martin’s first major success here since its sole victory in 1959. Although it’s not overall honours that the company’s current challenger, the DBR9, is chasing, the GT1 class is as hard-fought as an outright victory. But the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the toughest race on the calendar and an almost certain victory for the Aston team the previous year was denied due to a last-minute clutch problem. To make matters worse, it’s also raining, heightening the chance of the car skidding off the track, cruelly denying…

WITH THE price of a second-hand DB9 dropping to around £20-£30k and even the rarer models with a manual gearbox being below £50k, is this supercar that originally cost over £100k when launched in 2004 worth investing in now? We think so but remember that you are buying a supercar whose performance statistics mean it needs to be looked after to maintain its ability to accelerate from standing to 60mph in under five seconds and go on to almost reach 200mph. So, whilst the second-hand value of a DB9 may be similar to a brand-new Ford Kuga, the cost of running it undoubtedly isn’t. However, there’s more to owning a DB9 than being aware of the costs. We’ve also outlined the practicalities of its size, interior and luggage room, the…

IT’S CLEAR that by 1955 the once beleaguered Aston Martin was starting to find its feet. Not only did the now David Brown-owned company have a burgeoning racing team, but it was also a two-model company with both the DB2/4 and Lagonda in production. Impressive stuff for a marque that just eight years earlier wasn’t producing anything at all. Yet that wasn’t all, since its new-found confidence also meant Aston Martin was in a position to introduce new variants of its existing models, such as a pretty fixedhead coupe (sometimes called notchback) version of the DB2/4. The car owes much to David Brown’s 1954 acquisition of the Newport Pagnell-based coachbuilder Tickford. Following Brown’s 1947 purchase of Aston Martin, the cars were initially put together in three different locations: the chassis…

ISSUE 11 COVER STORY DB7 Vantage or V8 Vantage? INSIDE Restored DB5, V8 Volante, Vanquish buying guide ISSUE 10 COVER STORY Aston Martin Lagonda INSIDE DB2 Vantage, DB4 prototype, Rapide vs Bentley, Virage buying guide ISSUE 9 COVER STORY DB12 first drive INSIDE V8 Vantage X-Pack, Prodrive V8 Vantage, Zagato Vanquish Speedster ISSUE 8 COVER STORY DB5 at 60 INSIDE DB5 V8, DB5 vs Bristol 408, V8 Vantage buying guide, Vantage V600 ISSUE 7 COVER STORY 75 years of DB INSIDE DB4 at 65, Vanquish, DB7 buying guide, Ian Callum biog, V8 Evolution ISSUE 6 COVER STORY DB7 at 30 INSIDE V8 Oscar India, DB2/4 by Vignale, DB6 drive story, DBS buying guide ISSUE 5 COVER STORY Vantage & DB9 INSIDE Victor, DB MkIII, DB7 vs BMW 840Ci, V8 Volante…