1967 Aston Martin DB6 MkI Auto

1967 Aston Martin DB6 MkI Auto £195,000. Restored two decades ago, this DB6 has survived the intervening years very well, reckons Richard Gunn. Despite its advancements, the Aston Martin DB6 is less prized than its predecessors. And although prices are still on the hefty side – nearly £200k for this example – they appear quite reasonable when compared to the visually similar DB5.

The first thing to take pleasure from is that this car is not Silver Birch. It seems de rigueur to repaint Sixties Astons in silver (or other traditionally sedate shades), but when this 77,250-mile car was rebuilt in the Nineties it went from Oyster Shell Grey to the current flamboyant Fiesta Red. The hue rather suits it.

An investigation of the bodywork reveals hardly any flaws. There are a few stonechips on the nose, some of which have been touched up with paint of a deeper shade. There’s also a bit of a paint run on top of the nearside front wing just ahead of the windscreen, and some corrosion under the paint on the driver’s door where it has come into contact with the B-post trim.

Turning to the brightwork, there is a shallow dent on the nearside front quarter bumper, but no real tarnishing. The chrome wire wheels on the nearside display some slight corrosion between and on the spokes, but polishing may well remove some of it. A matching set of healthy Michelin XWV 215/70 R15 tyres is fitted.

The cabin has also been well cared for. The burgundy hide is still in fine condition, although the rear seat has some light cracking and the stitching on the front seat cushion cross-seams looks a little fragile in places. The same can be said of the area where the instrument binnacle attaches to the rest of the dashboard. However, the carpets, headlining and door cards exhibit no issues, and all the gauges (except the clock – they rarely function on DBs) work as they should. The electric windows go up and down with reassuring haste and a period Blaupunkt stereo looks the part, but no sounds came forth when it was turned on. Two stopwatches attached to the dashboard suggest previous road rally/ regularity use.

The engine started easily and quickly from cold, and once warm enough for the mixture slider to be pushed fully to the left it relaxed into a steady idle with no faltering. Pressing the accelerator invokes that deep, sophisticated Aston growl as the car launches itself at the horizon with zest. With the Borg Warner Model 8 three-speed transmission taking perfect care of shifts, the driver is left to enjoy the sensation of driving one of Britain’s great GTs. And it does drive very well indeed.

West London is hardly the ideal location to test a car of this performance and stature, but during our time with the DB6 it behaved impeccably and just as any potential owner might hope for.

CHOOSE YOUR DB6

► Aston Martin launches the DB6 in October 1965 as the final evolution of the ‘classic’ DB shape that began in 1958 with the DB4. The primary features include a longer wheelbase, Kamm tail and split front bumpers. The DB6 has a much more practical 2+2 than its predecessors and has a higher roofline to better accommodate rear seat passengers. Standard cars produce 282bhp, while the triple- Weber-carburettor Vantage boasts a spectacular 325bhp. Harold Radford also constructs six ‘shooting brake estate versions.

► The roof is cut off the DB6 to create the Volante, unveiled at the 1966 British Motor Show – not to be confused with 1965-66 ‘short chassis’ Volantes that used the DBS as their basis.

► August 1969 sees the launch of the DB6 Mkll with flared wheelarches to accommodate half-inch-wider wire wheels. This version is also available with fuel injection.

► The DB6 goes out of production in November 1970, replaced by the (almost) all-new DBS. A total of 1567 DB6 coupes and 178 Volantes are built, more than 80 per cent of them MkIs.

Dashboard-mounted stopwatches suggest this DB6 has enjoyed some rally action

Tadek Marek-designed 4.0-litre straight-six behaves impeccably and sounds great