In 1967, following on from the DB4, DB5 & DB6 (although production of the DB6 overlapped by a few years) came a new body style from Aston Martin, designed by Bill Towns. Initially, the new DBS had the 4.0 litre straight six from the DB6, however, in 1969, Aston's new V8 was installed in the car, which was logically called the DBS V8. Like Rolls-Royce, the power of the 5.3 litre unit was discribed as adequate.

DBS V8

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/15090703.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/15090704.jpg

In 1972, the basic design was facelifted - the original quad headlight nose was changed to a two headlight format.

AM V8

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/15090707.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/15090708.jpg

Then, in 1977, came the daddy - the Vantage. Identified by the blanked out grill with inset lights, the Vantage featured an uprated V8. At first, the Vantage was only available in the coupe body, but in 1986, the convertible, or Volante in Aston speak, appeared.

Vantage Volante

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/15090711.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/15090712.jpg

The three models are by Spark.

Steve

Steve - thank you again for sharing these gorgeous models of some of the world's most important cars!

Can you do a group shot of the three cars showing the model evolution?

Oh yes, these are so nice classic designs and rare too. It's quite difficult to get these older Martins in die-cast. The only one I own is 1/64 Vantage from James Bond Series equipped with skis. :p
A group shot would be very cool!

The DBS came out in '67???
Wow, cool, I guess that does make sence scince I don't recall seeing a DB6 Past that year.

Now was Bill Towns with Jaguar?

My favorite AM is the '60s Zagato, but I love them all exept the Volante.
Thanks for the show!!!

Thanks all - I'll remind myself to do a group shot!

Lummox - are you confusing Bill Towns with Sir William (Bill) Lyons, the Jaguar founder?

Steve

No, I knew about William Lyons, I just thout Bill Towns might have made it into the British Leyland conglomerate or something.

Do you know if there were any 1:43rd or smaller AM DB4 Zagatos made?
Fairfield Mint sells a 1:18th that looks amazing.

A current release of a Lotus Elite would be real nice too.

Great models. Of those I like the DBS the best, with Towns' original grille design.

I, too, have the Corgi versions, though apparently mine were released later w/o the ski racks.

Is Bill Towns the guy that designed the knife-edged Lagonda sedan from the late '70s? Do you happen to have that one in 1/43 scale? It was quite startling when it first appeared. (Btw, I like the Bulldog, too!)

Those are awesome!...even though I don't particularly think a 1:1 like that would fetch 6 figures :freak:

No, I knew about William Lyons, I just thout Bill Towns might have made it into the British Leyland conglomerate or something.

Do you know if there were any 1:43rd or smaller AM DB4 Zagatos made?
Fairfield Mint sells a 1:18th that looks amazing.

A current release of a Lotus Elite would be real nice too.

Ixo have made the DB4 GT Zagato - it is a very nice model

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/P5070051.jpg

The latest Elise, I'm sure Ixo have also made one - Spark have made the Elise as well.

As for Bill Towns, I think he stayed with Aston for some time - I don't think he designed any BL cars - I could well be wrong though!

Steve

Great models. Of those I like the DBS the best, with Towns' original grille design.

I, too, have the Corgi versions, though apparently mine were released later w/o the ski racks.

Is Bill Towns the guy that designed the knife-edged Lagonda sedan from the late '70s? Do you happen to have that one in 1/43 scale? It was quite startling when it first appeared. (Btw, I like the Bulldog, too!)

Yeah, the 1976 Lagonda was a Towns design - Western Models have made a white-metal model - I'm pretty sure he drew the Bulldog (1980?) as well.

Steve

Very Nice Astons!!!

Ixo have made the DB4 GT Zagato - it is a very nice model

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/AstonMartin/P5070051.jpg

The latest Elise, I'm sure Ixo have also made one - Spark have made the Elise as well.

As for Bill Towns, I think he stayed with Aston for some time - I don't think he designed any BL cars - I could well be wrong though!

Steve

Interesting. It does look like good quality, but it sure looks different than a picture I'm looking at right now. First, the overall proportions look way different, the Ixo looks squat, sorta low & fat.
The hood scoop looks like one on a regular DB4. The pic I have it's like 2 mini XKE bulges.
And then the Ixo's headlights are a squared shape. Again, much different than the pics I've seen.
Maybe there where two different versions of the Zagato. It's such a rare care though that I doubt it, but you never know!

Edit; I just found another pic of a Zagato and it looks just like the Ivo! :thumbsup:

The lotus I was referring to was the Elite from the early '60s, not the Elise.

Thanks alot for the pic Steve!

Interesting. It does look like good quality, but it sure looks different than a picture I'm looking at right now. First, the overall proportions look way different, the Ivo looks squat, sorta low & fat.
The hood scoop looks like one on a regular DB4. The pic I have it's like 2 mini XKE bulges.
And then the Ivo's headlights are a squared shape. Again, much different than the pics I've seen.
Maybe there where two different versions of the Zagato. It's such a rare care though that I doubt it, but you never know!

Edit; I just found another pic of a Zagato and it looks just like the Ivo! :thumbsup:

The lotus I was referring to was the Elite from the early '60s, not the Elise.

Thanks alot for the pic Steve!

Whoops - I should take more time when reading - our friends at Ixo have done the 1959 Elite as well :)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/jinxvrs/Lotus/P2240035.jpg

Steve

wow WOW W O W !

Maybe I'm biased because I love the subject matter, but that has to be right
up there in some of the more perfect 1/43rd scale castings.
Thanks for that.
Just might have to look for that one ~ wonder if it's in the U.S?

Here is a Western Models white metal AM V8. It looks slightly crude compared to those Sparks models, but it is still a nice model. It's missing the mirrors, but was a bargain at just over a tenner.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e7/Fred7A/DSC03719-1.jpg

Very cool! To be honest I'm missing more threads like this. You guys have a great knowledge and beautiful models. So it's really nice to read through informative threads like this is. :thumbsup: