ok looking for info on DBS - how many are going to be available in the States? what are the production numbers? Is this car taking the place of the Vanquish or is it merely a modified DB9? Will it hold value??? Thanks
It's hard to say how many will make it to the States, but Aston-Martin has said they'll be building just 300 per year for the world. (source) However, they have also said they've received 1,500 orders (source), which means they're sold out for five years. It's coming out officially in about two months, and it's going to cost around $270,000. Both. It's a modified DB9 in the sense that it uses the same chassis as the DB9 and looks quite similar to that car. It also shares most engine components (with both the DB9 and the DBR9). One major difference is that the DBS is a two-seater, compared to the DB9 which seats four. There are also various other performance upgrades. However, it's replacing the Vanquish in the sense that it's going to cost the same as the Vanquish did and occupy the same place in the Aston-Martin line - as a "flagship." The question is whether despite its DB9-lookalike styling, it can convince people it is indeed worth the premium over the DB9. Historically, Aston-Martins retain their value poorly, especially the DBS's predecessor, the Vanquish. Based on the fact that the DBS shares so many components with and is styled so similarly to the DB9, I'd be extremely surprised if it held its value particularly well. However, its movie provenance will help.
Sadly the car is just another overweight GT. Although a beautiful looking and sounding overweight GT . Thank god for the manual tranny but I'm sure most customers will look at this as a negative. Depreciation curve should accelerate spectacularly !
Thanks guys my brother is in love w/ it. My two cents is a Vanquish is a bargain at more than half the cost.
There's an article on it in the current issue of Automobile - not overly impressed with the 'DB9 in a body kit' looks, but they liked the drivetrain. Depreciation will probably be horrid, as posted. Next Bond film is supposed to use the DBS as well. The Vanquish is probably the better deal, although apparently the gearbox is troublesome so make sure you get whatever extended warranty you can.
Get the Vanq for a GT. And a 996 GT2 to scare the Bejesus out of yourself. Put the rest for bail money.
Get the Vanquish and just upgrade to the "Works" manual transmission package. They will add you a nice third peddle and shifter. I think estimated cost is about 25 grand for the package.
You all might want to pick up a copy of the most recent Evo, in which they review the DBS along with the Car of the Year contenders. Actually, Evo acknowledged that the DBS really was a last minute inclusion (courtesy of AM's invitation), and didn't earn the right to be there. While I haven't read the entire article, the Evo reviewers were not too pleased with the DBS and rated it last in the testing. Lots of gripes. While I don't want to steal Evo's thunder, the Porsche GT3RS and the 430 Scuderia did well. And, IIRC, the works manual "upgrade" for the Vanq was GBP 20K, or more like USD $40K. Autosport Designs has sold a few of these, btw. CW
Clarkson seemed to like it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2sbLYnmpug Stig lap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D74q0GIza34 Also IIRC the one Evo drove in the car of the year contest was a pre-production car and the final production cars have been altered from the spec of the car Evo drove. Ulrich Bez (Aston CEO) is also adamant that this is not the Vanquish replacement - it's a standalone model to plug the gap between the end of the Vanquish production and the introduction of the Vanquish replacement (which is likely to be some time away - Aston are busy getting the Rapide ready for market). Whether the public see it as a Vanquish replacement or not is a completely different matter. Personally I love it, though if I had the money, the Aston I'd be buying is the new Vantage RS which actually uses a more powerful V12 and weighs less than the DBS...
