Lot 227: 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Volante to Mk 2 Specification

The DB6 marked Aston Martin's first real departure in body shape of a design that first appeared as the DB4 in 1958. Although the DB5 that followed was a truly beautiful car with impressive performance, Aston Martin felt that a wider market required increased front and rear leg room, always a criticism of the DB4/DB5. In order to achieve this the platform chassis was lengthened, increasing wheelbase by almost four inches. This also meant a change of structural design at the rear of the car: like the DB4, the DB6 used the Superleggera method of construction by stylist Touring of Milan, whereby aluminium body panels are attached to a lightweight steel tube frame, but the DB6's extended rear necessitated a stronger and more rigid design using folding sheet metal frames. At the rear the coachwork was also redesigned to incorporate a drag-reducing Kamm tail, similar to that of the Aston Martin Project race cars (themselves derivatives of the DB4GT), and larger, new style quarterlight windows were joined by front quarterlight items for the first time. In addition, the roof line was raised by two inches to increase headroom, while other visual differences included a more steeply raked windscreen and split front and rear bumpers. Yet, despite all these changes over the DB5, the DB6 was just 17lb heavier than its predecessor and consequently performance suffered little. The latter was provided by the same 3,995cc twin overhead camshaft, straight, six engine developing 282bhp at 5,500rpm although the Vantage engine option was now quoted at 325bhp against the 314bhp of the DB5. Transmission remained a ZF five speed manual unit and a Borg Warner three speed automatic gearbox was again available at no extra cost. Suspension was the same as for the DB5, ie; independent at the front via coil spring and wishbone with a live, coil-sprung rear axle located by Watt linkage and parallel trailing arms. Brakes were servo-assisted discs all round. Launched in October 1965 at the London Motor Show, the DB6 received a warm welcome; although not as graceful as the DB4 or DB5 it was nonetheless an elegant motor car. And despite appearing heavier, it had lost none of the DB5's performance being capable in Vantage trim of 0-60mph and 0-100mph in just 6.1 and 14.9 seconds respectively and a 148mph maximum. In August 1969 the DB6 was announced in Mk 2 guise. Visually it differed in having flared wheel arches and the wider wheels of the concurrent DBS but mechanically it remained the same, albeit with power steering now standard. Production of the DB6 ended in November 1970. First registered on January 1st 1968, chassis DBVC/3708/R was, following a driving accident, rebuilt from the 'ground up' with new body panels to Mark 2 Volante specification in 1981 by highly respected marque specialist Medcalf & Co. in Chertsey, Surrey, a record of which is recorded in the Aston Martin Owners Club Register. It was twenty years later, in late 2001, that the vendor, who has one of the largest and most admired collections of Aston Martins in the world, acquired the car from renown Aston Martin specialist and race preparation expert Richard Stewart Williams, after which the Cobham, Surrey-based, concern stripped the DB6's paintwork down to bare metal prior to a complete re-spray - photographs of which accompany the car. No other marque specialist has such an exalted reputation for its engine work as Richard Stewart Williams and in addition the Aston's straight six unit was not only completely rebuilt to triple Weber carburettor, Vantage specification and converted to run on unleaded petrol, but also the capacity was increased to 4.2 litres, further increasing performance over that of a standard Vantage engine as well as usefully enhancing the torque band; notably, since all this work was completed in 2002 this potent car has covered fewer than 1,500 miles. Beautifully presented in Dubonnet Rosso with cream leather trim, this ultimate specification DB6 Volante is supplied with a dynamometer printout detailing the engine's impressive outputs, V5 and V5C registration documents, old MoT test certificates, a current one valid until April 2009 and a Tracker security device. An opportunity to acquire a truly excellent and very rapid example of one of the most-sought after of Aston Martin models - and one owned by a true connoisseur of the marque that has been prepared and maintained by the very finest in the business. Not to be missed.