Thanks

First of all, many thanks to my friend Philip Turle for the wonderful english translation of this website.

When I first started writing these pages I had three main objectives. First, to share my passion for the DBS with others. Second, to gather together a maximum amount of facts, photos and memorabilia and third to give the DBS 6 cylinder car the place it justly deserves after years of neglect. It is true that without the V8 engine, it was not the perfect incarnation of David Brown’s final creation. But the DBS is a noble successor to the famous DB4, DB5 and DB6 and today it deserves its rightful place. As the saying goes, “everything comes to she who waits”! Well the day may have finally come.

There is very little information about the DBS V8 on this site. This is not because it is a less worthy car than the DBS 6 cylinder model, but because it was necessary to make a choice in order to cover the subject as best as possible. I hope the owners and fans of DBS V8 cars will not hold this against me, as I hope one day to be able to fill the gap.

My research and the compilation of the information you see here would not have been possible without the precious help of a good number of historians of the brand and internet users who have inspired me to undertake this project. Amongst them I would particularly like to mention Tim Cottingham and his site http://www.astonmartins.com for his encyclopaedic knowledge of the brand, as well as Kean Rogers and his site http://v8vantage.com/vantage.htm and his pertinent study of the Aston Martin Vantage cars.

Of course, a certain number of books devoted to the subject also helped me in my research. I would particularly like to mention the following :

I would also like to thank the staff at the Heritage Motor Center in Gaydon (UK) who allowed me access to the Aston Martin archives and especially the DBS 6 cylinder production register.

Some of the photos were taken by myself, others were found on the internet. Even though I have not always been able to identify their authors, I would be delighted to add their names to their photos if they come forward. 

The most useful sites include http://www.imcdb.org for its photos of cars used in films and TV, and http://astonuts.free.fr which contributed to provide photos for the page "End of road". 

My continued search for DBS cars (under « census ») would not be possible without the major contribution of two Aston Martin enthusiasts : 

- Wolfgang Bauer (aka "themalvernhills"), an austrian internet user who has gathered, through his photo album http://www.flickr.com/groups/661198@N23, an impressive number of images of DBS 6 cylinder and DBS V8 cars posted on Flickr by other internet users coming from everywhere in the world

- Mickaël Petit (aka "Mika"), a french internet user who has built an impressive data base about Aston Martin classic cars. In kindly sharing his information with me, Mika has been a fantastic contributor to my census work.

I would also like to thank :

- my son, for his precious computer skills and for accompanying me to so many classic car meetings

- my wife and my two daughters for their unending patience and unfailing moral support

- my parents and in particular my father who very early on in my life allowed me to understand the hidden aura behind Aston Martin

Thanks also to :

- Emmanuel, thanks to whom my « forgotten dream » has become a reality

- Philippe, for his technical support and his helpful advice and who like me has also been bitten by the Aston Martin bug

- Philippe, Phiphi and Jean-Christophe for the quality of work carried out on my own particular car in both a constructive and sympathetic manner

A final word to stress that this internet site is in no way linked to any commercial or financial interests. It is entirely financed by its author and its sole aim is to share his passion with as many people as possible.

Ph.C. - September 2011