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By
DAVID PIKE
The DBS Aston Martin coupe was introduced in 1969 and continued with the
same body styling but with minor restyling and mechanical changes until
1989, when it was replaced by the restyled Virage. William Towns
designed the body of this car which was first launched with a
six-cylinder engine. As its name implies, the DBS V8, fitted with a
5340-cc four-overhead-camshaft V8 engine, followed.
This was the same engine that later powered the
Aston Martin Lagonda, a high-tech futuristic design, which
launched in Britain to compete with a host of expensive car models
produced by car manufacturers such as Jaguar, Audi, BMW and
Mercedes, all of which were powered by either V8 or V12 engines.
The wedge-shaped body of the Lagonda was 60 cm
longer than the Aston Martin V8 coupe, though 5 cm narrower. To go
with its futuristic styling it had an amazing dashboard for the
time, which included touch-sensitive controls and electronically
controlled instruments incorporating graphical and digital
displays.
When first shown many took it as a concept car and
thought it would never take on but it proved so popular when
released that it easily outsold the two-door Aston Martin coupes.
In an effort to reverse this trend regular, substantial price
rises occurred, together with a reduction in specifications.
First versions of the V8 engine had fuel injection
but later models used four Weber carburetters. In the higher
optioned Vantage form the engine output was of the order of 298kW
which enabled it to achieve a top speed of 275km/h. The more
modest standard version used in the majority of cars produced at
that time developed around 224kW.
By the late 1980s this engine was considered
outdated and the Virage replacement launched in 1989 featured a
32-valve engine.
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