Oscar Wilde once said, “It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly.” He evidently never lived to see the good and beautiful DBS. Having briefly appeared in a cameo role in, Casino Royale, the DBS was first revealed about a-year-and-a-half ago as a concept vehicle. Now production-ready, the first examples will be delivered to customers at the start of 2008, with early indications suggesting that Aston has put to use many of the lessons learned from the FIA GT Championships.
Though based on the DB9 and sharing its wheelbase, roof, side-screens and chassis, the DBS is 40mm wider, sits 25mm lower and is laden with menacing scoops, slits and ducts, all of which are needed to help cool the uprated 6.0 litre V12 that currently boasts 510bhp, up from 450bhp. Its technical innovations are matched with killer looks. Sleek yet sporty, it upgrades the understated elegance of the DB9 with a more menacing but lighter aluminium, magnesium alloy and carbon-fibre composite body that adheres to the marque’s clean lines and perfect proportions. A self-anointed ‘thoroughbred’ perhaps but a show-boat it is not. The DB9 is, after all, the fastest production Aston ever made, capable of a thrilling sprint to 100 km/h in just 4.3 seconds with a top speed of over 300km/h.
This latest model to emerge from Gaydon is, almost certainly, the best looking car in the world for now. The Aston Martin DBS is sure to silence and satisfy critics of the brand who have been championing for a more sporting GT within the brand’s line-up. The car to beat in 2008.
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