The first DBS cars off the production line were fitted with the triple Weber Vantage engine as standard.  This /SVC spec. unit was a direct carry over from the engine then available in the DB6.  The addition of a S suffix in the engine number was the only thing that distinguished it from the DB6 unit.

The DBS was designed to take Aston's new V8 engine which, due to problems discovered racing at Le Mans, was not ready in time.  The car was rushed into production with the long serving straight-six engine fitted.  The car was not as fast as expected and somewhat of a disappointment.  The Vantage engine was offered as a no cost option to salvage some honour performance wise.  In this spec. the DBS was a quick car with 0-60 mph coming up in around seven seconds and a maximum of over 140 mph.

The fist Vantage bore the chassis number DBS/5001/R and the second, DBS/5002/R went on to become a V8 development car and prototype DBSV8 Vantage.  

A mild facelift of the car coincided with the introduction of the DBSV8 in January 1970.  From around chassis number DBS/5557/R  the louvres in the side panels behind the windows were deleted in favour of a panel between the rear window and boot lid.  The panels under the nose and tail were deepened to reduce aerodynamic lift.  The stainless steel sill trim was deepened and the wood faced instrument panel was replaced with a crackle  finished steel plate.

Two cars featured in the 1969 James Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, DBS/5234/R and DBS/5109/R, both fitted with /SVB spec. engines built up in the experimental department.  Like the /VA  spec. of early DB6 Vantages they had the Super Vantage head with 9.4:1 compression, DB4GT exhaust cams on the inlet side, GT valves, modified valve timing but different jets in Weber 45DCOE carburetors. The slow running jets were modified by hand with a hole drilled through the mid-centre of the jet.

After David Brown sold the company in February 1972 the DBS Vantage was replaced by the AM Vantage, a tuned six cylinder car rather than a Vantage version of the V8 then available. No convertible DBS's were ever built by the factory.

Year

Model

Engine

Body

Built

RHD

LHD

Manual

Auto

1967

DBS VANTAGE

400/…./SVC

Saloon

296

224

72

271

25