identical (complete with MkII Cortina front indicators and Hillman Hunter tail-lights), as are the cabins where you sit fairly low in seats that don’t quite support the thighs and are more boardroom than grand tourer. There is clear, workmanlike instrumentation (the oil-pressure gauge is directly in the driver’s sight), and the aroma of leather helps you to forgive the slightly scatty minor controls and the hard-to-fathom heating and ventilation. There is more room in the back seats than you might expect and the boot makes up in depth what it lacks in length, but neither is at it best in town, with their supertanker turning circles, big three-quarter blind spots and, in the case of the V8, a hefty clutch, although its smooth engagement and feel is some consolation. Prevett has shortened the gearlever and maybe that’s why the change is particularly sweet on what is usually a meaty-feeling, ZF-supplied gearbox that doesn’t like to be rushed. Neither car is silky or cosseting, favouring handling over absolute comfort, so you can hear and feel the hum of the road and the slap of the tyres. Soon the feeling of great width fades and you sense the impressive margins of stability in these Astons, which are viceless and easy to place, with a de Dion rear that digs in on sharp corners and gentle understeer to lead you safely through fast, long ones with a relative lack of roll. These were big GT cars with sports car instincts, but there are predictable differences in straight-line urge. The V8 weighs 250lb more than the ‘six’ but, given clear roads, it would turn the 4-litre car into a speck in the distance.
THE INJECTION SPECIALIST
Bottom: Steven Prevett has owned his 1971 DBS V8 for nearly 20 years and enjoyed 40,000 miles in it. Below: former Aston man Andy Chapman knows the foibles of these systems
Andy Chapman worked for nine years in Aston Martin’s service department, later becoming an engine fitter, a road tester and an engine-shop foreman before branching out on his own as Chapman Spooner in 1975. “Before leaving Aston in 1970, I aimed to learn as much as possible about Brico and Bosch injection,” he says. “Certainly the Brico system had many niggles. Whatever we did, we couldn’t get rid of its flat-spots. I was led to believe the black box needed more functions. There was a light-throttle problem that was not rectified, but at full throttle it pulled like a train. The factory modified the control box and fitted a new inlet camshaft, but this didn’t solve it. Air and water senders were a problem, and if mechanics did not replace the ‘O’ rings when injectors were removed, they leaked into the manifold. There were also problems with a vacuum pipe to the control unit – which kinked – and bad electrical connections. A later thought I had was that the mixtures were too weak to overcome the drying out of the manifolds at idle. But it had so much promise and I think a modern electronic ignition system would help. The DB6 MkII auto was very lively to 60mph with Brico.” “The Bosch system on the V8 also had its problems,” Chapman continues. “They needed careful setting up; when this was carried out the cars ran well. The injection pump was in the middle of the ‘V’, with engine heat affecting the settings. The Opus ignition system was not up to the job and the engine ran rich at high revs. The tappets also needed to be adjusted regularly to hold tune. Even then emissions regulations could not be met, and Weber carbs proved more successful.”
‘The V8’s Bosch system needed careful setting up, but when this was carried out the cars ran well’