2007 Aston Martin DB9 Coupe Road Test
July 25, 2007 by Anthony Crawford
“It’s 2007 and Aston Martin is still building the most beautiful cars in the world – by hand. The DB9 Coupe represents the sum total of 93 years of pure automotive passion, and we feel privileged to have driven it.”
Test Model: 2007 Aston Martin DB9 Coupe (touchtronic auto)
CarAdvice Rating: 
- A bit of history
- The Look
- Inside the DB9
- The Drive
- Safety Features
- Owning a DB9
- Future Aston Martin Cars
Options Fitted:
- Sports Pack – $6,950 (please trust us and tick this box, as the lightweight forged aluminium alloys with titanium wheel nuts are worth more than this alone. You also get; a new anti-roll bar, uprated springs and recalibrated dampers) Option of the year!
- ‘Grey’ brake calipers – $825 (an unusual option – I would have thought the standard finish should look the goods anyway)
- Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror – $265 (should be standard on a flagship model)
- Bluetooth System – $1,380 (we tested this – and it works well)
Recommended Retail Price: $345,500 (excluding options) Probably the least expensive of the Super GT/sports cars on offer.
The DB9 Coupe with 6 speed manual transmission is $337,250
Where it sits: The DB9 currently parks in the boss’s space in the Aston Martin garage after production of the super Aston, the Vanquish and Vanquish S, ceased this year. The soon to be released DBS, as seen in the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale, will temporarily fill the top spot in the fleet, until the rumoured return of the Vanquish in 2010.
The DB9 Volante (Roadster) is available at $365,250 with a 6-speed manual and the touchtronic auto for $373,500.
Entry price into the bespoke Aston Martin club is $245,000 for the V8 Vantage Coupe.
A bit of History:
Aston Martin is one tough British car company which has ‘stayed the course’ despite many hard fought battles to keep business alive.
The name Aston-Martin comes from one of the two founders, Lionel Martin, who raced hill climbs at “Aston Hill” in Buckinghamshire, which sadly, is today a Mountain bike venue.
Lionel Martin – Robert Bamford
Singer (not bad actually)
Martin partnered up with Robert Bamford in 1913 to sell “Singer” brand cars as well as servicing other makes before producing the first Aston-Martin badged car in 1915.
It was all about racing and racing cars alone, for Lionel Martin. That passion for the sport, and the desire to build successful cars is what shaped the world’s most alluring car company.
Martin’s original specification for the cars was “a quality car of good performance and appearance: a car for the discerning owner-driver with fast touring in mind.” Remember, he wrote that in 1913, but it pretty well sums up what Aston Martin is about today!
But that passion was also the very thing that sent the company bankrupt in 1924 and so began a roller coaster ride of owner after owner after owner, which continues to this day.
By far the most influential owner of Aston Martin was David Brown who bought the company in 1947 after two world wars had once again sent Aston to the wall.
There’s no question that Brown had an ego and a big one. But who’s complaining, he kicked in his initials and the DB legend began.
The DB2 was a superb looking car, still is. The DB Mark III and DB4 followed, which led to the most famous of all Astons, the DB5. Sean Connery as James Bond drove this car in the 1964 Bond movie, Goldfinger.
Aston Martin has been the chosen company car for the British Secret Service agent for most of his missions over the last 44 years, except for a brief but dark period, when the money hungry producers switched sides and ran with BMW. Shame on them choosing the ugly duckling over an automotive supermodel.
The company struggled throughout the 70’s and most of the 80’s until Ford bought a controlling stake in 1987. They picked up the rest in 1994 and planned a road to profit.
Without Ford, Aston Martin may not have survived, so we thank them for Aston Martin’s current success and financial stability over the last few years.
But Aston Martin has always been about the right people and again, it’s Ford who installed Dr Ulrich Bez as the Chief Executive. Bez was a former engineering chief at Porsche and BMW who has well and truly sorted things out and intends taking the company to far greater heights.
Let me explain. In 2000, a total of 1029 cars were made. In 2006, over 7000 Aston Martin’s were shipped and the company is on target to move 10,000 cars a year, by 2010.
And here’s the punchline, Ford sold Aston Martin back in March this year. You would too, if it were bleeding cash at the rate of USD$12 billion a year. There was a queue of highly successful business groups (including our own James Packer) ready and willing to fork out just on US$1billion for the company.
The successful consortium paid USD$848million and is headed up by Dave Richards (chairman of successful UK motor sport engineering firm Prodrive) with backing from two Kuwaiti investment companies and a US based Aston Martin collector/banker.
The good news is, Ford have maintained an 8.32% stake in Aston Martin and Ulrich Bez has signed a five year contract to continue running the company.
Prior to Ford’s sell off of the company, some Ford suits were believed to have rated Bez not so highly, the reason – he was too focussed on Aston Martin. Sounds like the prefect man for the job!
Tags: Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin Reviews
guys we will have the video of the car up tomorrow night
cool, automotive PORNO!!!
i will begin drooling now!
PS put the pic of the new aston up as a wallpaper!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!
The DB9 is toward the top of my list of dream cars!
Awesome review! Well done!
Love it.
Want it.
Great article – awesome car. Well done guys.
Man, how do you guys live with yourselves knowing that there are people out there like me that have to work all day while you are out there driving this – and calling it work!
The DB9 is easily the best looking supercar on the planet. I don’t understand why Aston don’t want to call it a supercar, because its the best there is, it looks so much better than the futuristic look of the Ferraris, not to mention that half of Ferrari owners tend to be in it just for the looks…
Long live Aston indeed…
How do you spell Jaguar XK clone? :-)
Cheers
F-O
The best and most beautiful car on the planet!
Frugal, it is actually the other way around ;)
Automotive art.
I’m heading down the shops for a lotto ticket.
I would be worried driving one of these after seeing how easily 007 flipped this car….. a slight turn of the steering wheel!!! Quite good looking, but for a ’supercar’ it doesnt have bold looks.
it has all the bold looks Paul!
its not a futuristic Jet, thats the difference
as for bond flipping his car, firstly, daniel craig can’t even drive stick… so no one should be allowed to play bond without a manual license.
there is a HUGE story behind that, I’ll sum it up briefly.
Initially the producers did the testing with some 5-series BMWs, and they realized that it was pretty easy to flip the car with just a little help, but when filming for the actual thing took place, no matter what they did, they couldnt flip it, they kept using bigger and bigger ramps, but still, the damn thing was so low it wouldnt flip..
so…….
the strapped some small explosives to it to get it to flip over – that did the trick.
^
Lol. A waste of a car!!! Id still pay for the damaged shell of it.
yes, I actually initially thought it was CG, but no, they took the car on a race track and flipped it good
Dont get me wrong it is a beautiful actually the best looking, but I would’nt call it a supercar either. Sure the price and top speed of well over 300kh (312kh well tested I think)is supercar territory, but the engine is at the wrong spot, its very heavy and its slower to a 100 then 911 turbo.
you’re right on all points SRT BUT, All 911’s look the same. The DB9 is a supermodel. The 911 Turbo, in comparison, looks like a Target catalog model.
damn you ablorz, you and your lucky life, you disgust me!
once again another fantastic write up and a good read.
definatly an underrated exotic that gets overlooked by most.
Aussies always get totally f****d over by car costs — how can you explain why the Vantage, which sells for in N.A. for US$112,000 (including dealer delivery + taxes = AU$130,575) costs us AU$245,000 !!!
It sucks I say it ALL THE TIME. “Cant compare a Euro car against the local stuff too as the price difference is so great”. Well every one else in the world does against their local market,in a resent mag I read in the States they compare an Infinity {Nissan thing} against the BMW 3 series twin turbo Coupe . Of course the BMW beat it but there was little or no difference in price there.
Oh and the DB9, is pure sex,orgasmic,classical and I want one ! I cant fit the shopping in boot of the M3 not that I like too take it shopping,thats what the GT is for but how big is the boot of the Aston ?
the boot is tiny, almost non existant. But that should never stop you buying one
A mate of mine spotted one of these when he was staying up at a farm in the adelaide hills! He chatted to the owner and took a bunch of photo’s on his phone. The guy went over to the factory in the UK to pick it up and all. The photo’s are half decent (if u call 2 megapixels decent lol) so I might send them to the site. Not that they are as good as the pics up here, they are still nice, because this is the most beautiful car EVER!
it’s the maddest car around, i reckon it would go like a shit off a shinny shovel.
does it go like a shit off a shiney shovel?
The paragraph that stood out referred to be being cut off by someone in heavy traffic.
Reality in those conditions,just another slab of sheet metal with four wheels.
Like all performance machines of this calibre they are not the every day driver & nor should they be.
For me something to be cared for & cherished.
WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A GO……ONE DAY
Dream on.
i have this car in my garage
as well as all exotic and luxuryz
love to chat P Unit. Any chance having a look at your cars and taking a few pics? All in good taste of course.
I spotted one of these in Metallic Grey on the freeway this weekend here in Perth!
It is an AWESOME looking machine from any angle!!!
What a laugh!
When finally some british car maker comes up with a good-looking car design in 2007, suddenly reviewers like these clowns compare it with Ferrari saying it looks better.
They remind me of the Yank car review that came to the conclusion that the Ferrari cost so much more but could only go a few miles an hour faster than an american-built muscle car (in a straight line)!
And imagine calling the 612 Scaglietti oddly shaped!
Not that I think it’s the best looking car in the stable, but let’s concentrate on the DB9.
There’s no denying it’s a good looking car, but before clowns start to vaunt its beauty, let’s not forget where those design principles which have produced such a car come from.
Given the extent of good designs available historically, it’s about time someone put them together properly to design a good looking car.
As for the car itself, I have seen that front in previous cars. The hip treatment is not new. the melding of its lines and some of the lines themselves are not new.
What these clowns are calling ‘odd shapes’ is actually an attempt at innovation, so the design is recognisably new, not like the DB9 which looks like a (pleasant but old!) melding of previous designs.
Moral for the reviewers: Please scan historical car designs from Bertone, Pinin Farina etc. before making such silly statements.
I know it’s a relief to finally be able to call a british car good-looking, but really…
The Aston Martin is a great looking car probaly one of the most lovely designed cars in the world. But Aston Martins arent that fast for the price!
I saw one of these the other day, just driving around town like a normal car. It’s amazing how hardly anyone was taking any notice of it. I on the other hand nearly rear ended an L-plater because I was staring at it (that’s no joke either, it was only the ABS that saved me). But that’s really only because I know what it is.
The biggest thing I found though was the ‘wank’ factor, as I call it. It was nil. Zero. Nothing. The only other supercars I’ve seen in real life are a Gallardo, a Murcielago and an f430, so while it’s not the biggest sample I would have to say they all stand out in a crowd as, well, wanky. Don’t get me wrong I’d own one in a second, and drive it everywhere looking like a wanker.
But the Aston, as beautiful as it is, just somehow isn’t a wanky car. Of all the cars in the world if I could own any it would be a DBS, but most of the points stand for the DB9 as well, especially the looks. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous car.
A bit girl-ish interior, if you ask me…
old and new Aston is so faster