Aston Martin had always intended the DBS to house its new Tadek Marek-designed V8, but production difficulties meant that the car first appeared with the 4-litre six of the concurrently produced DB6. 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, the heavyweight DBS disappointed some by virtue of its slightly reduced performance, but there were no complaints when the V8 arrived in 1969. With an estimated 315bhp available from its 5,340cc four-cam motor, the DBS 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.
Introduced in response to the US market's demand for such a car, the Volante convertible appeared in June 1978