Background
The DB7’s job of saving Aston Martin was pretty much done by 2004 when the model’s replacement arrived. The DB9 was, therefore, the product of a healthy Ford-backed company with a range that was well up to standard for the 21st century. No longer a re-worked Jaguar platform, the DB9 was all Aston and largely aluminium.
The design language was sorting itself out very nicely too. First the Vanquish appeared at the 2001 Geneva show, and then the DB9 made its debut three years later, clearly a chip off the same elegant block. And that was mainly down to Ian Callum.
Callum also penned the DB7, and he built on this simple, stylish form for the next two models, creating shapes that were hailed for their beauty. Better yet, they somehow aged more slowly that just about anything else of their time. Even now, a DB9 could be mistaken for a new car by many casual observers.
The Vanquish’s 5.9-litre V12 gave the DB9 enormous urge, shoving it past 60mph in less than five seconds and rounding out at a neat 300kmh, or 186mph. Most cars were equipped with ZF’s bombproof six-speed auto transmission, but you could buy a three-pedal version too. The interior remained leather-lined, as befits a British luxury GT, but the DB7’s slabs of walnut veneer made way for sweeping curves of brushed aluminium.
There were a few special editions – the GT, the LM, various Carbon Black and Quantum Silver finishes, plus of course the soft-top Volante. But the DB9 remained in production with only minor visual and mechanical changes from 2004 all the way to 2016 when the DB11 replaced it. Why mess with a winning formula?







