The DB7 with its 3.2 litre, straight six-cylinder engine, was the car that allowed the company to turn the corner. All sorts of criticism was levelled at it: Its not an Aston Martin, it is only a sexed up Jaguar. It has a pressed steel body, it cannot be an Aston Martin, they should have hand built bodies in aluminium. They plan to make lots of them, cannot be an Aston. And so on. However, something had to be done, and Walter Hayes pressed the Ford Board into agreeing to the project, notwithstanding their misgivings. It did the trick, some 7049 were made including its V12 brother and the various special versions such as the 100 Zagato bodied V12s. A fantastic achievement when one realises that since 1920, only some 12,000 cars of all types had been made! At about this time, Ford created the Premier Automotive Group (PAG), which brought tog-ether Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover which allowed them to share expertise. The Vanquish V12 brought back the super-car, but the new V12 DB9, made in the companys first purpose built, up-to-date, factory at Gaydon, not far from Warwick, restored the hand-built image but with added up-to-date engineering features. The advent of the DB9 saw the Companys return to motor racing in 2005 with the DBR9 taking part in the GT1 class of sport/racing and achieving significant success at their first meeting in the Sebring 12 Hours. The end of 2005 heralded a racing car aimed at the amateur racer, the DBRS9. Included are road tests, new model reports & performance data. Models covered: DB7, DB9, DBR9, Vanquish, V8 Virage & V8 Vantage.
