Popular culture
The DBS was used by George Lazenby's James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Unlike Bond's previous car, the Aston Martin DB5, no gadgets were seen in this car, other than a mounting for a telescopic-sight rifle in the glove compartment. In the final scenes of the film, Bond's wife, Tracy, is shot and killed whilst sitting in the car.[6]
A second DBS also appears in a brief single scene in the next Bond film, Diamonds are Forever. It can be seen in the background being fitted with small missiles at Q Branch whilst Bond is talking to Q on the telephone.
Another DBS was later used in the TV series The Persuaders! (1971–1972), in which Roger Moore's character Lord Brett Sinclair drove a distinctive "Bahama Yellow" 6-cylinder DBS (chassis number DBS/5636/R) that, through the use of alloy wheels and different badges, had been made to look like the DBS V8 model. Supplied by Aston Martin to the show's producers, the car used the personalised number plate "BS 1" (except for one scene in the episode "The Gold Napoleon," where the car has its original UK registration number PPP 6H instead), courtesy of the plate's real owner Billy Smart, Jr. After filming ended it was sold by the factory, via HR Owen in London, to its first private owner. It was later restored by the Aston Martin factory, and is currently owned by divorce lawyer and art collector Jeremy Levison.[8] Roger Moore and co-star Tony Curtis both signed the underside of the car's boot lid (rear luggage compartment): Moore at Pinewood Studios in May 2003; Curtis at Cheltenham Racecourse in October 2008. In 2013 the Aston Martin DBS was an invited participant at two of Europe's most exclusive motoring concours, the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este at Lake Como, and the Salon Privé Concours in London.
Kenneth Haigh as Joe Lampton drove a DBS in the television series Man at the Top.
The restoration of an original DBS, registration JRA615H was featured in the first episode of series 2 of the Channel 4 series For the Love of Cars, screened in April 2015.[9] The process took over 6,000 man-hours.[9] During restoration, it was upgraded to Vantage specification which included conversion from an automatic to manual gearbox.[9] It sold at auction with Coys of Kensington for £169,800.[9]
