James Bond Classic: Aston Martin DBS
George Lazenby is hardly anybody's favourite James Bond. But the car he drove during his sole appearance as 007 is, in our opinion at least, among the coolest four-wheeled machines the famous agent has ever driven.
The Aston Martin DBS - the successor to the famous DB4, DB5 and DB6s - was designed by William Towns, and was the last car to be made under David Brown's stewardship of Aston in the late 1960s.
Intended to have a more modern look than earlier Astons, it incorporated a fastback-style rear end and squared-off front grille - two design innovations that were atypical of Astons at the time - while retaining many of Aston's trademark design features, like a bonnet scoop and stainless steel side air vents.
In that respect, it was a perfect blend of the modern and the timeless - a balance that we at Farer aspire to achieve too. That's why we took one of our creations, the Carter, along for the ride when we recently got the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of a rare and desirable DBS.
Packing 325bhp and with a manual ZF gearbox - which, to any motoring purist, is the stuff of dreams - the technical details of this car are one thing, but the look and drive are the real story. Innes Ireland, the Formula 1 driver, once said of the DBS had to be 'one of the most beautiful cars on the road'.
Not only was he an expert at handling a car travelling at break neck speed through hairpin turns, but an excellent judge of the beauty of a car. The DBS is stunning. The engine purrs, but purrs loudly, like a great jungle lion hungrily chomping through a kill. It is powerful, it roars, but not in a brash way. The power and pace is subtly concealed behind such beautiful styling.
As for how it drives? It's every bit as good as you might expect. We guided it out through London's inner sanctum, out into the suburbs, and finally out further to open roads lined with greenery and delightfully free from traffic.
And what did we discover?
That of all the things George Lazenby missed by giving up the 007 gig - the guns, the gadgets, the girls - this car might well have been the hardest thing to say goodbye to.
