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; low mileage; few owners; paintwork needs attention; 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 (this damage is
not recorded and the car is HPI clear today). 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 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.
The vendor elected not to get a V5C issued in his own name so the new owner will
need to apply for one in the usual way which should record just one previous
keeper.
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, has
probably covered no more than 41k miles in its entire 54-year life and has
been expertly recommissioned by one of the most respected names in the business.
On offer here at a fraction of the amount it has cost our
vendor to date, it seems perfectly usable as it is (with oodles of shabby
chic charisma) and could be smartened up over time as desired.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com