Aston Martin DB6 Vantage

The great successes that Aston Martin had achieved with the models DB4 and DB5 were to be continued in the mid 1960s. For this purpose, the Italian coachbuilder Touring, where the bodies were built in the unusual Superleggera construction method over a special tubular frame, had a specially designed draft for a potential successor model. However, this failed to impress the people over in Newport Pagnell. Instead, a DB5 used as an experimental car was pushed into a nearby wind tunnel in the UK, and from February 1965 onward, the company set out in search of potential for improvement on the form that had been repeatedly refined since the DB4. It was quickly found that modifications to the rear end were necessary to reduce the lift resulting from the hatchback. With a tear-off edge integrated into the rear end and a steep finish in the style of aerodynamics pioneer Wunibald Kamm behind it, the engineers finally achieved the desired result. They began with appropriate modifications to the bodywork of the upcoming production car, which at the same time included a slight extension of the wheelbase of the platform basically taken from the DB5 by around 10 centimeters to improve handling at high speeds. Originally, the change to a De-Dion rear axle was also part of the package, which was tried out in the MP 219 prototype.

For the Aston Martin DB6 presented at the London Motor Show in 1965, however, the familiar live rigid axle from the DB5 was relied on again for reasons of cost and time, but at least with Armstrong ‘Selectaride’ shock absorbers adjustable from the cockpit, which were only available in the predecessor for an extra charge. In addition, the body was now built as an independent part to the chassis without the Touring Superleggera construction. The weight increased by only 7.7 kilograms compared to the DB5. In addition to the new rear design, the now two-part bumpers and newly shaped rear side windows are particularly striking. Conservative customers didn’t like these modifications, as they considered the comb rear too similar to some Ferrari models of the same time. Although these had round taillights instead of the vertical and relatively narrow light units used by Aston Martin, the surrounding edge and steep finish cannot hide their similarity conceptually. Inside, the rear passengers had more headroom due to the slightly higher roof and more legroom due to the longer wheelbase. Under the bonnet was still the four-liter inline six-cylinder engine from the DB5, which delivered 210 kW/286 hp. This power was transmitted to the rear axle via a five-speed gearbox.

One year after the coupé called ‘Saloon’ the open version also made its debut at the London Motor Show. For the first time, it was given the nickname ‘Volante’, which Aston Martin still uses frequently for open cars today. In the years 1965 and 1966 there had already been a first small series of a Volante, which however was still based on the chassis of the DB5. Of the extended DB6 Volante, only 140 were built until 1970. One of them from the Mark II specification introduced from 1969 for both body variants belongs to Prince Charles and was converted to run on bio-ethanol. Mark II vehicles were given flared edges at the wheel cut-outs and wider wheels and, on request, electronic fuel injection instead of carburetors. In addition, Radford and FLM Panelcraft produced a total of nine two-door shooting brakes based on the DB6.

Right from the start of production, the DB6 price lists also included the more powerful Vantage version. Thanks to a cylinder head with higher compression and the use of three Weber dual carburetors, the output here rose to 242 kW/325 hp. However, Aston Martin doesn’t reveal how many of the 1,788 DB6s built left the factory with Vantage specification. It is only said that there were only dozens instead of hundreds in a recent press release. One reason for this can be seen in the Aston Martin DBS, which was offered in parallel from 1967 onwards, another in the controversially discussed appearance of the DB6. The British brand only introduced a legitimate successor for it in 1972, two years after the end of production, in the form of the Aston Martin Vantage, which we will also introduce in more detail shortly.

Images: Aston Martin