Aston Martin DBS V8FI prototype: English ice princess

All classic Aston Martins are valuable, let alone unique factory prototypes. Therefore, the decision to photograph this early DBS V8 prototype on a bed of snow was certainly a brave one…

Many will be familiar with the story of the late 60s DBS. Somewhat larger than the DB6 it replaced – and now a full four-seater – its coachwork had the sharper lines in vogue at the time. But beneath that atypically square Aston grille lay a very familiar six-cylinder engine, as the planned V8 was behind in its developmental schedule.

Life after testing

While the first customers were enjoying their six-cylinder DBSs, Aston added a 5.0-litre V8 to this burgundy test mule, making it one of the first road-going Astons to be fitted with an eight-cylinder engine. Once its testing duties were complete, the car was sold to a private owner who replaced the test engine with the 5.3-litre production-spec V8 – sacrilege some might say, but it’s worth remembering the 5.0-litre was a development of that used in the Lola T70 Mk III and hardly the most reliable, as shown by its early retirement from the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Factory-fitted flourishes

Perhaps the last place you’d want to take a race-bred prototype would be a post-blizzard forest, despite the factory-fitted, non-production flourishes which included aluminium sills – perhaps providing better salt protection – and a pair of snow-snorting bonnet nostrils (no 80s banker jokes please) for improved cooling. But you must surely agree that the burgundy hue (or ‘Dubonnet’ in official terms) provides an amazing contrast against the white backdrop?

Photos: Tim Wallace for Aston Workshop

The prototype Aston you see here is currently available in the Classic Driver Market.

The wonderful world of Peter Sellers

We say 'wonderful world' with more than a little irony. One of the greatest British comic actors of all time, Peter Sellers' off-screen life was a total contrast: a life of depression, addictions and ill-health, with a string of failed marriages to add to his woes...

When it came to motors, the late Peter Sellers never really seemed to know what he wanted. By the time he had made his first appearance as Inspector Clouseau in the original Pink Panther film of 1964, the famously troubled star is said to have owned no fewer than 83 different cars, ranging from custom-built Radford Minis to the one-off Bristol 407/410 convertible that had appeared on the firm's stand at the previous year's Turin show.

Sellers had a similar propensity for acquiring women - and wives. He married four times, most famously to Swedish actress Britt Ekland whom he wed just 10 days after meeting, and embarked on other relationships with Liza Minnelli and Sophia Loren, to name but two.

Acquire and discard

As with cars, his favoured modus operandi was to acquire and discard, just as he did with everything else in his life, from properties to hi-fi to cameras. Many believe such behaviour was  simply the manifestation of a troubled mind that, Sellers often said, prevented him from having a personality to call his own. Instead, he created the people he was required to portray in the movies that made him famous, becoming them not just at the time of  filming or recording, but throughout the duration of his involvement in the production - be that the bungling and incompetent Clouseau or the touchingly naive Chance, the reclusive, television-loving gardener who is thrown into the limelight when his simple statements are misinterpreted as metaphorical wisdom.

Indeed, Sellers was so unsure of his true self that he once refused to appear as a guest on a prominent British chat show unless he could arrive in disguise. Only when he had done so, and performed in character, did he feel sufficiently confident to be interviewed as Peter Sellers, actor and comedian.

A taste for metal underwear

Had Sellers not died from a heart attack in 1980 at the young age of 54, who knows what further examples of his genius we might have seen. Another Dr Strangelove, perhaps, or developments of the characters Bluebottle, Hercules Grytpype-Thynne and Major Dennis Bloodnok which helped to make his name in the 'Goon Show' of the 1950s ? That's a question that can never be answered. But one thing is certain: no comic actor had a greater appreciation of metal underwear - as fellow Goon Spike Milligan liked to call Sellers' frequently changing automobiles.

 

Photos: Getty

The Legends of Belstaff

Since the introduction of the Trialmaster in 1948, Belstaff has been the benchmark for biker's outerwear. That iconic creation inspired a series of legendary jackets, each with its own unique heritage -- The Roadmaster, The Panther, The S Icon and the Triumph. The Legends Collection lives on in the spirit of the trials, achievements and adventures of those who wore them. Carefully considered with the motorcyclist in mind, each archival piece is designed with the same ergonomic elements that make the Trialmaster an enduring classic. Perfected over generations and adapted for individual advantage, these jackets form the foundation of the Belstaff collection.

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