1972 Aston Martin DBS


Details

Aston Martin has produced bespoke sports cars for over 100 years. The company began in 1913, when founders Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford realised their desire to build distinctive, high quality sports cars that were both exhilarating to drive and a beauty to behold. Martin regularly competed in hill climb races at Aston Clinton, and a simple combination of the name of the event and the driver gave birth to one of the most famous automotive marques. Source: www.astonmartin.com

Whilst Aston Martin produced some wonderful cars in their early years business was always a struggle and the company was severely disrupted during both World War I and II. The company went bankrupt on more than one occasion and has endured many different owners throughout its history.

David Brown acquired Aston Martin in February 1947 and the first car produced during his ownership was the Aston Martin 2 Litre Sports, later known as the DB1, which was built in extremely limited numbers from 1948 to 1950. This was succeeded by the Aston Martin DB2 in 1950, which featured a new double overhead cam straight six engine of 2.6 litre (2580 cc) capacity, and was a car that really put post war Aston Martin on the map. The David Brown era was arguably Aston Martin’s finest with the company winning LeMans in 1959 and the sixties producing the legendary DB4, DB5 and DB6 models.

The first of the Newport Pagnell designed cars, the DBS, was introduced in 1967. The DBS was initially powered by Aston Martin’s tried and true 6 cylinder engine as the company’s new V8 engine was not ready. In total circa 800 DBS and DBS Vantages were built from September 1967 through until May 1972. The DBS V8, powered by the all new 5.3 litre V8 engine was finally introduced in September 1969 and circa 400 cars were built through until April 1972.

Amid challenging financial times in the early 1970’s Aston Martin again changed hands in 1972, and soon after released its new model the Aston Martin V8. The V8 was a huge success for Aston Martin and the model essentially remained in production for the next twenty years.

Oldtimer Australia is delighted to offer a very late production Aston Martin DBS. The Aston Martin Heritage Trust  – Vehicle Heritage Certificate, Aston Martin Build Sheets and factory records on file confirm that this example was completed on the 31st March 1972 and delivered on the 11th April 1972 to Odeon Motors in Whetstone in the UK. It was finished in tankard grey with a black interior and fitted with automatic transmission, a Waso steering lock, air conditioning, a Radiomobile Voxson Stereo/Radio, two head rests and over riders. The car was first registered as JS3000 and its first owner is noted as Paul Separates Ltd from London, UK.

The V5 on file dated 20th August 1986 confirms this Aston Martin DBS was still owned by Paul Separates Ltd. The car was then registered in the UK as MMU84K. There is also an MOT on file dated October 1st 1994 noting the car’s mileage as 84,631 miles and at that time the car had been painted ‘green’.

The car was acquired by a Mr & Mrs Forbes from country Victoria, Australia and there is an import approval on file date 21st April 1995. The car remained with the Forbes for the next fifteen years before it was acquired by its current owner in July 2010.

The car is accompanied by an owner’s manual and service book with seven entries up to March 1975 at which time the odometer was at 31,730 miles. There is also a workshop manual (copy), some historical documentation, Victorian registration documents and many receipts for work done on the car during the last eight years.

Soon after acquiring the car the current owner had some major mechanical work done which included removing and refurbishing the cylinder heads, overhauling the carburettors, the cooling system and the brakes as well as other miscellaneous items to mechanically and cosmetically improve the car. The owner also opted to have a manual gearbox fitted. In total $35,000 was spent on the car. At the time the odometer was 89,739 miles. Further mechanical work was carried in December 2011 at 90,506 miles, April 2012 at 90,643 miles and in November 2012. Further significant mechanical works were undertaken in November 2013 at 92,061 miles.

The car has been used sparingly over the last five years and today the odometer reads 92,678 miles.

This DBS presents beautifully in light metallic green with a black interior. The wire wheels are a great look on the DBS and contrast perfectly with the paint colour.

Today this car presents nicely. The paint work is bright though on closer inspection there are a number of imperfections, blemishes and stone chips evident. From say a metre the car presents very well as you will see from the photographs. All of the exterior trim, badges, chrome and glass are in good order. The wire wheels are in excellent condition (like new!) and they are fitted with Remington 225R70x15 tyres all round.

Inside this DBS is very original and in very good condition for a forty five year old car. There is just the right amount of patina which is a testament to how well this car has been looked after. The leather is in good condition and there are no rips or tears in the seats, the door cards or centre console. The dash is also very good with no cracks and the instruments & controls are also very clean.

Once you get enough fuel into the carburettors the car starts easily and idles smoothly whilst it warms up. Within the first few minutes of driving the car it is evident that the manual gearbox conversion is really well done and the gear ratios well suited. The car drives well – it is tight on the road, the steering is very direct and the brakes pull the car up as you would expect.

This is a nice driving car that would clearly benefit from a few long drives, having only travelled some 500 miles in the last five years!

Highlights:

–  a UK delivered, factory RHD, fully matching numbers example.

–  a fabulous colour scheme of light metallic green with a black interior.

–  fitted with a manual gearbox conversion.

–  the car has been in Australia since 1995 and had two owners during this time.

–  the odometer reads 92,678 miles, which is most likely genuine.

–  an Aston Martin Heritage Certificate & build sheet, owner’s manual, service book and history file will accompany the car.

 


Specification

  • -
  • Aston Martin DBS
  • 1972
  • Coupe
  • Auto
  • 92678 miles
  • 3996cc

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