• Year of manufacture 
    1965
  • Chassis number 
    DB6/2353/R
  • Engine number 
    To be advised
  • Lot number 
    204
  • Drive 
    LHD
  • Condition 
    Used
  • Number of seats 
    2
  • Location
    United Kingdom
  • Exterior colour 
    Other
  • Drivetrain 
    2wd
  • Fuel type 
    Petrol

Description

Factory demonstrator; tested by Autocar and Motor
1965 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage Sports Saloon
Registration no. LBH 8C
Chassis no. DB6/2353/R
Engine no. To be advised

'Stage by stage, as the DB has become dominant in the Aston Martin strain, the successive cars have changed their image. Today the aim is to offer the maximum of luxury and refinement as well as the ultimate in road performance. The minor barbarities of so many great sports cars of the past are no longer acceptable – at least in the hand built models now leaving Newport Pagnell. Obviously such a car as the DB6 is expensive and exclusive but the value matches the price.' – Autocar, 1966.

Reproduced above is the opening paragraph with which Autocar magazine began its road test of the actual Aston Martin DB6 Vantage offered here, 'LBH 8C', which is the third production DB6 and the first built with the Vantage engine.

As one might imagine, Autocar found much to commend in the DB6 Vantage, remaking on the car's much improved handling, outstanding adhesion and exceptionally good braking figures. A mean maximum speed of 148mph was achieved, while the standing quarter-mile time of 14.5 seconds was the fastest the magazine had recorded for a four-seater. At 120mph the Aston was as effortlessly relaxed as other powerful cars at 80. 'For high-speed open-road touring this Vantage DB6 is practically ideal,' enthused Autocar's scribe, and few would disagree. Autocar's report appeared in its 25th February 1966 edition, some six weeks after Motor had published its own similarly laudatory test of 'LBH 8C'.

It duties with the press fleet at an end, 'LBH 8C' was sold on in April 1967 having been fitted with a replacement engine at around 17,000 miles. The accompanying original logbook records Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd as the first owner, followed by a Mr G O Lambert of Burnley. Mr Lambert kept the car until 1969 when it passed to the quaintly named 'Universal Tufting Machinery Ltd' of Blackburn. The logbook records two further owners, both, like their predecessors, in Lancashire followed in December 1976 by the current vendor, at that time resident in Cheshire. While in the vendor's care, 'LBH 8C' again featured in the motoring press: in Collector's Car (March 1981) and Sporting Cars (March 1984). Copies of both these articles are in the history file together with copies of the Autocar and Motor tests, the aforementioned logbook, an original instruction book and parts catalogue, and a V5C registration document.

For the last 34 years this most famous DB6 has been off the road in dry storage, hence the relatively low recorded mileage of 82,102. Un-restored, it remains in wonderfully original condition; indeed, the interior is one of the very best we have ever seen. The chassis requires some welding and the engine (last started five years ago) is not running, although it does turn over, while the bodywork is described as basically sound and complete. The interior leather has been regularly treated with hide food to preserve it but the Fiesta Red paintwork is no longer at its best and a full re-spray will be required. The Vantage no longer has its original Weber carburettors, having been fitted with easier-to-live-with SUs, the superior city and traffic driving characteristics of which were remarked upon by Autocar.

Offered for restoration and sold strictly as viewed, 'LBH 8C' represents a wonderful opportunity for the committed Aston Martin enthusiast to bring one of the marque's most widely publicised emissaries back to life.


Bonhams 1793
101 New Bond Street
London
W1S 1SR
United Kingdom
Contact Person Kontaktperson
First name 
Bonhams Collectors’ Car department

Phone 
+44-2074685801
Fax 
+44-2074477401