Developments - Project MP231 There was a programme (factory project number MP231) in place around 1970 to update the DBS, primarily by improving the cars aerodynamics. A new body shape was evolved with a new higher tail, and a modified roofline, which incorporated small strakes on each side to control air flow. The rear window was set at a lower angle than on the DBS, and had a slatted cover which ran down to the vertical tail. On each quarter there a slatted air extractor vent, similar but larger than those seen on the first DBS, and the rear panel was flat, with flush fitting wraparound rear lights. At the front there was a new nose with single 7 inch headlamps replacing the smaller double units - the one piece of restyling that would be carried over onto the AM V8. The intention of the redesign was to cut down the original designs drag and it succeeded - wind tunnel tests saw the overall drag reduced to 0.358 from the original's 0.384.

Front end lift was reduced at a notional 160 mph from 396 ld to 102 lb and at the rear lift was reduced from 382 lb to 183 lb. Wind tunnel experiments explored the use of new front under tray which was found to reduce the lift even more but increased the drag factor. The new version of the car did not make it into production. Even before the company was sold in 197X to Company Developments cash was obviously tight and the the funds (and time) to completely revamp the DBS were simply not available, so the revamped front end was the only element of the update applied to the car. When it was first introduced the DBS could not be sold in the USA as it was not homologated for the country - the main sticking point being the cars inability to meed the then current emissions regulations. After a lot of work the DBS V8 eventually made it to be sold in the US and Canadian market by October 1971, and while it was still fitted with the Fuel Injection system it had to have a lower compression ratio and air injection pump to meet the emission rules which reduced the available power significantly - early emissions compliant engines could only produce a measly 250 bhp as opposed to the early UK specification engine giving an estimated 320 bhp. While this was was achieved with help from British combustion engineering company Ricardo it was a short lived victory as the engine could not meet the 1972 US emissions so very few DBS V8s made it across the pond. Conclusion The DBS and DBS V8 were (and are) the cars that mark Aston Martin's crossover from the swinging sixties into the more austere 1970s, and also provide a tangible link to David Brown and the glory days of Aston Martin.

While the mechanical underpinnings maintained a familial link to the previous DB4, 5 and 6 cars, when new the DBS and DBS V8 offered the potential owner a more modern GT car with just enough tradition not to alienate Aston Martin's traditional customer. The interiors gave a nod to 1960s sports car - a plain, faintly austere dashboard which is well stocked with instruments, which was combined with luxurious and comfortable seating to give a great GT car. Mechanically the straight six cars give good performance, but they were and still are overshadowed by the almost quantum leap of performance that the V8 provided. Without doubt the DBS V8 is the car that David Brown envisaged as the replacement for the DB6; the new car moving away from the sports car market and into the GT space, where the ability to cruise across continents at speed and in luxury on motorways and autobahns was more important than tackling a twisty cross country route in the quickest time. The DBS V8 was and is without doubt a superlative autobahn stormer, able to compete performance wise with the best from Maranello with style and class and apart from the sometimes epic fuel consumption is probably the best GT car of the 1970s.