“The DBS is a luxury GT, but it feels quicker off the line than Lamborghini’s Gallardo Superleggera”Our sole purpose of going to England was to be the first Australian media outlet to drive the no nonsense, hard-core, Aston Martin DBS. You’ll more than likely know this car, as James Bond’s British Secret Service company car, in the last Bond Film.
It also happens to be the best looking automobile on the planet and is unrivalled in the “class” department.
And even if you have a lazy $466,000 lying around, the best you can hope to do, is to jot your name down in the ever-growing DBS order book.
But if you’re Australian, you won’t get one this year, for love or money. To make matters worse, our 2009 allotment will most likely see many willing buyers miss out, only to join the 2010 queue!
It’s the same story throughout the world. Aston Martin has created a masterpiece, and there are way too many collectors.
With a great deal of persistence, persuasion and difficulty, Aston Martin Australia had organised for Car Advice, to get a full day with “DBS1” from 8.30am – 4.30pm. But we nearly blew the bloody mission completely. “M” would not have been happy.
We missed our flight from Bologna to London and didn’t have the available cash (amazingly, no credit cards accepted) for the outrageous 700 Euro, S-Class Benz ride to Milan, where the next available plane was leaving early the next morning.
Instead, we opted for the budget priced, 50 Euro leg to Bologna airport, where we promptly rented a car from Hertz, who were by far the most competitive (an important consideration with four maxed out credit cards on hand) and drove back to Sant’Agata Bolognese, where we feasted on three of the world’s greatest pizzas I have ever eaten, for seven euro each! The restaurant is called “Maggi”. Bookmark it.
By the time we made it to Milan, it was 2.00am, and we hit the sack, courtesy of Alborz’s uncle’s place. The family had stayed up for hours waiting for our arrival although; we didn’t dare mention that we drove back 30kms just to eat pizza! Worse still, we had to be up at 4.30am to drive to the airport and make the flight to Gatwick, in the UK.
- Words by Anthony Crawford (in the UK) - Photography by CarAdvice
