The Aston Martin DB6 is a
grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wh ...
made by British car manufacturer
Aston Martin and was produced from September 1965 to January 1971.
The DB6 succeeded the
Aston Martin DB5
The Aston Martin DB5 is a British grand tourer (GT) produced by Aston Martin and designed by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Originally produced from 1963 to 1965, the DB5 was an evolution of the final series of DB4.
Alth ...
and featured improved aerodynamics and specification over its predecessor.
History and design
After Aston Martin rejected proposals for a replacement for its DB5 from the original DB4
Touring of Milan, the decision was made to focus on their own development car, registered 4 YMC.
Wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
testing, begun in February 1965, showed development was necessary to counteract a tendency toward
aerodynamic lift
A fluid flowing around an object exerts a force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the force parallel to the flow direc ...
result of the fastback stylingcausing reduced rear-wheel traction at high speed. Final development phases relied upon DB5 chassis, suitably lengthened and titled ''MP 219'', with rear lip-spoiler and abbreviated
Kammback
A Kammback—also known as a Kamm tail or K-tail—is an automotive styling feature wherein the rear of the car slopes downwards before being abruptly cut off with a vertical or near-vertical surface. A Kammback improves aerodynamic drag, thus ...
tail Aston Martin previously incorporated in sports-racing prototypes. The decision was made to produce ''MP 219'' as the Aston Martin DB6 although the prototype
de Dion rear axle was rejected, Aston's soldiering on with its live-axle configuration reducing time to market, cost and complexity.
Introduced at the 1965 London Motor Show, the DB6 was already a dated design notable as the first model engineered following a factory relocation from
Feltham
Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs ...
to
Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area.
It is separated from the rest of the urban ...
. The DB6 has a resemblance to its predecessor, the DB5; with the most noticeable differences being its wheelbase, side profile, split front and rear bumpers and rear panels incorporating the Kammback tail rear end. The tail, combined with the relocated rear-axle and the lengthened wheelbase, provide more stability at high speed. Though fashionable – the rear-end Kamm-styled design was similar to the
Ferrari 250
The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are chara ...
– it did not prove popular with conservative, tradition oriented Aston clientele when the DB6 was introduced. Performance was satisfactory: road-tests of the day observed top speed of the Vantage model between to , with
John Bolster aboard a Vantage spec DB6 reaching a two-way average of .
The DB6 continued with then high-tech Armstrong Selectaride cockpit-adjustable rear shock absorbers as available on the DB5. Other highlights include adopting front-door quarter windows, an oil-cooler air scoop low on the front valance, quarter-bumpers at each corner, revised tail-lamp clusters; additionally the spoiler affected the overall proportions of the DB6, with an increase in length by approximately two inches.
Other notable changes:
*Roof line raised by two inches improving headroom especially for rear seat passengers
*Genuinely useful leg room for rear passengers
*More steeply raked albeit taller windscreen
*Split front and rear bumpers
*Standard chrome wire wheels on bias-ply whitewall tyres
n USA market*Optional power steering
*Optional air conditioning
*Standard
ZF five-speed manual unit or a
BorgWarner
BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 emplo ...
three-speed
automatic gearbox
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
available at no extra cost
*Optional Vantage specification retaining triple side-draft
Weber
Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'.
Notable pe ...
45DCOE carburetors with other minor revisions raising quoted output to 325 hp
Another major change from the DB5 to DB6 was abandonment of the full ''
superleggera
Superleggera (Italian for ''Superlight'') is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. A separate chassis was s ...
'' construction technique patented by coachbuilders/stylist
Touring of Milan. For later DB6's construction, the more common body-on-platform technique was used; this was primarily due to the extended rear requiring a stronger and more rigid design utilizing a folded sheet metal supporting structure. Surprisingly the modifications combined to add only seventeen pounds weight compared to the DB5.
Specifications
![1968 Aston Martin DB6 (16074088334)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/1968_Aston_Martin_DB6_%2816074088334%29.jpg)
The DB6 is powered by the twin-overhead camshaft (
DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...
),
in-line six-cylinder Aston Martin engine designed by
Tadek Marek
Tadeusz "Tadek" Marek (1908–1982) was a Polish automobile engineer, known for his Aston Martin engines.
Marek was from Kraków and studied engineering at Technische Universität Berlin before working for Fiat in Poland and also for General Mo ...
. The engine, continued with its triple
SU carb setup producing at 5,500 rpm; the Vantage engine option is quoted at against the of the DB5. Although the DB6 was approximately heavier than its predecessor, the stability at high speed, added luggage capacity and comforts for passengers in this grand tourer more than offset any imperceptible loss in performance caused by additional weight. The rear suspension used helical coil springs with ride control that was adjustable from inside the car.
*Curb weight:
*Engine: 4.0 L () straight-6
*Compression ratio: standard=8.9:1 ; Vantage=9.4:1
*Power: at 5500 rpm (standard engine)
*Power: at 5750 rpm (optional Vantage engine)
*Torque: at 4500 rpm
*Top Speed:
*0–60 mph (97 km/h) Acceleration: 8.4 s
*Steering: rack and pinion with optional power assist
*Fuel tank capacity: 19 imp gallons (standard)
16 imp gallons (with optional
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
fitted)
Later models and variants
![1967 Aston Martin DB6 Volante Vantage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/1967_Aston_Martin_DB6_Volante_Vantage.jpg)
The DB6 Mark II was announced on 21 August 1969, identified by distinct flares on front and rear wheel arches and wider tyres on 1/2" wider wheels. Available as an optional extra for the Mark II was AE Brico electronic fuel-injection combined with the higher compression ratio cylinder head. The Mark II edition shared many parts with the then-new
DBS.
As with previous Aston Martin models, a high-power DB6 Vantage was offered. It was equipped with three
Weber carburetors
Weber Carburetors is an automotive manufacturing company founded in 1923, known for their carburetors.
History
Eduardo Weber began his automotive career working for Fiat, first at their Turin plant (in 1914) and later at a dealership in Bologna ...
and higher compression ratio cylinder head.
A
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
body style was also offered, named the Volante. This was introduced at the 1966
London Motor Show
London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O Ev ...
. The DB6-based Volante succeeded the earlier (1965–1966) Volantes which were built on the last of the DB5 chassis' and were known as "
short chassis" Volantes. Of the later DB6-based Volantes just 140 were built, including 29 high-output Vantage Volante versions, highly prized by collectors.
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, owns a DB6-based Volante MkII that has been converted to run on
bioethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
.
The car was given to him by
his mother
''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
on his 21st birthday.
Shooting Brake
A total of six or seven DB6
Shooting-brake
Shooting brake (sometimes mis-identified as "shooting break") is a car body style which originated in the 1890s as a horse-drawn wagon used to transport shooting parties with their equipment and game.
The first automotive shooting brakes were ...
s were produced by British coachbuilder
Harold Radford
Harold Radford & Co Limited of Melton Court, South Kensington, London SW7, (opposite South Kensington tube station and now Lamborghini London) were long-established retailers of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars who, under G H Radford, developed a bes ...
, with three more by FLM Panelcraft
The engine options (282 and 325 hp) were the same as for the DB6 Saloon.
*Kerb weight:
*Overall length:
*Overall width:
*Height:
*Turning radius: 34 feet
*Wheelbase:
*Track: (f)
(r)
*Fuel tank capacity:
One of the Radford-built DB6 Shooting Brakes was the 1967 New York Auto Show car. The car was Roman Purple over Natural hide, LHD with factory AC, Borg-Warner automatic gearbox, LSD, Blaupunkt Köln radio with power antenna. It was purchased directly off the show stand by a Mr. S. Tananbaum for $22,500 (nearly 3x the price of a standard DB6), whose family maintained ownership until 2017. It was displayed at the 2018
Greenwich Concours d'Elegance.
File:1967 Aston Martin DB6 shooting brake (Radford), front left, Greenwich 2018.jpg, 1967 Aston Martin DB6 Shooting Brake coachbuilt by Harold Radford at the 2018 Greenwich Concours d'Elegance
File:Streetcarl Aston Martin - DB6 Vantage Shooting Brake (6435660945).jpg, Aston Martin DB6 Shooting Brake coachbuilt by FLM Panelcraft
References
* L. A. Manwaring, ''The Observer's Book of Automobiles'' (12th ed., 1966), Library of Congress catalogue card 62–9807, pp. 41–43
External links
Car profile at motorbase– information from AMGE Aston Martin German Enthusiasts on www.auto-welt.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston Martin Db6
DB6
Cars introduced in 1965
1970s cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Station wagons
Sports cars