'Utilising many of the design features found in the six-cylinder DB engine, the new vee-8 is only 30lb heavier yet produces 35 percent more power. - Autocar, 2nd October 1969.
Styled in-house by Bill Towns, the four-seater DBS employed a platform-type chassis with independent suspension all round: wishbone and coil-spring at the front, De Dion with Watts linkage at the rear. Bigger and more luxuriously appointed than the DB6, whose 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine it shared, the heavier DBS disappointed some by virtue of its slightly reduced performance but there were no complaints when the V8 arrived in 1969. With an estimated 345bhp available from its 5,340cc, fuel-injected, four-cam motor, the DBS V8 could reach 100mph in under 14 seconds, running on to a top speed of 160mph - a staggering performance in those days and one which fully justified the claim that it was the fastest production car in the world. Even in automatic transmission form the V8 could reach 100mph in around 15