Aston Martin V8

The Aston Martin V8 is a grand tourer manufactured by Aston Martin in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1989. As with all traditional Aston Martins, it was entirely handbuilt – with each car requiring 1,200 man-hours to finish.[4]

Aston Martin were looking to replace the DB6 model and had designed a larger, more modern looking car. The engine was not ready, however, so in 1967 the company released the DBS with the straight-six Vantage engine from the DB6. Two years later, Tadek Marek's V8 was ready, and Aston released the DBS V8. With the demise of the straight-six Vantage in 1973, the DBS V8, now restyled and called simply the Aston Martin V8, became the company's mainstream car for nearly two decades. It was eventually retired in favour of the Virage in 1989.

DBS V8

From 1969 through 1972, Aston's flagship model was the DBS V8.

In April 1972, the DBS V8 became just the Aston Martin V8 as the six-cylinder DBS was dropped, leaving just this car and the six-cylinder Vantage in production.

AM V8

The V8 became known as the AM V8, a model retroactively referred to as the Series 2 V8 to separate it from later models. Visual differences included twin quartz-halogen headlights and a mesh grille, a front design which was to last until the end of production in 1989. AM V8 cars, produced from May 1972 through July 1973, used a similar engine to the DBS V8, albeit with Bosch fuel injection rather than the earlier carburetors. Just 288 Series 2 cars were built. Although David Brown had left the company, he had overseen development of this model. The first 34 cars still carried leftover "DBS V8" badging.[7]

Series 3

The car switched back to Weber carburetors for the Series 3 in 1973, ostensibly to help the car pass new stricter emissions standards in California but most likely because Aston Martin was unable to make the Bosch fuel injection system work correctly.[8] These cars are distinguished by a taller bonnet scoop to accommodate four twin-choke (two-barrel) Weber carbs. The car produced 310 hp and could reach 60 mph in 6.1 seconds with an automatic transmission or 5.7 with a manual. Performance suffered with emissions regulations, falling to 288 hp in 1976. The next year, a more powerful "Stage 1" engine with new camshafts and exhaust brought it up to 305 hp.[9]

In Japan, the new catalyzed model's engine was the same as the one sold in the United States. Going on sale in 1977, it met the strict 1976 emissions regulations thanks to the catalytic converter and secondary air injection just after the exhaust valves.[10] Japanese buyers were restricted to the three-speed, Chrysler Torqueflite automatic transmission. While Aston Martin did not generally publish outputs at this time, Japan's MITI required figures to be listed; the importer claimed 285 PS at 4,600 rpm and 45.7 kgm at 4,600 rpm.[10] One quirk of the Japanese market at the time is that approximately a quarter of the V8 Saloons sold there in this period were chauffeur-driven, with the owners riding in the back seat.[11]

Production of Series 3 cars lasted from 1973 through October 1978, but was halted for all of 1975. 967 examples were produced in this time. While earlier V8 cars have louvers cut into the little panel mounted beneath the rear windshield, the Series 3 and later cars instead have a small lip at the bottom of this panel, just ahead of the leading edge of the boot lid.[8]

Series 4 ("Oscar India")

The "Oscar India" specification was introduced in October 1978 at the Birmingham International Motor Show. Visually, the former scoop on the bonnet gave way to a closed "power bulge", while a spoiler was integrated into the tail. Most Oscar India cars were equipped with a Chrysler "Torqueflite" three-speed automatic transmission, with wood trim fitted for the first time since the DB2/4 of the 1950s. Just 352 Oscar India models were built from 1978 through 1985. The power of the now de-smogged engines kept dropping on American market cars, down to a low of 245 hp in the early eighties.[9]

The convertible "Volante" was introduced in June 1978, but featured the Series 4 bonnet from the start – a few months before the coupé received the Oscar India update. The Volante Series 1 weighs 70 kg more than the coupé, due to the necessity of reinforcing the frame.[12] At this time, manufacturing a V8 Volante took about four months from beginning to end.[13]

Series 5

The fuel-injected Series 5 cars were introduced in January 1986 at the New York International Auto Show. The compact Weber/Marelli system no longer needed the space of the previous carburettors, so the bonnet bulge was virtually eliminated. 405 Series 5 cars were built before production ceased in 1989. The Volante Series 2 received the same changes; 216 were built.

Lagonda

Between 1974 and 1976, seven four-door Lagonda saloons were produced based on the Aston Martin V8, with a Lagonda-style outline grille fitted within the space normally filled by the standard Aston Martin grille.

manufacturer	Aston Martin
production	1969–1989 4,021 built‡R1R‡ (incl. Vantage & Volante)
predecessor	Aston Martin DBS V8 (1969–1972)
successor	Aston Martin Virage
related	Aston Martin DBS Aston Martin RHAM/1 Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1977)
class	Grand tourer
body style	2-door coupe 2-door convertible
layout	FR layout
engine	5.3 L V8
wheelbase	2610 mm‡R2R‡
length	4585 mm‡R2R‡
width	1830 mm‡R2R‡
assembly	United Kingdom: Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England
height	1330 mm‡R2R‡
weight	1820 kg‡R2R‡(approx)
transmission	ZF 5-speed manual all-synchromesh‡R2R‡ 3-speed Chrysler automatic‡R3R‡
designer	William Towns
sp	uk

DBS V8

DBS V8 by Ogle Design

V8

AM V8

Series 3

Series 4 ("Oscar India")

Series 5

Lagonda

Production figures

James Bond

External links

References