Aston Martin V8Hardcover, 1 August 2009

Development of Aston Martin's V8 engine began in 1963 as a replacement for the six cylinder engines which had powered every model of Aston Martin since the 1950 DB2. In 1966 design work began on a new GT model and both car and engine were to be unleashed on the public in October 1967. With barely twelve months to complete the car, Aston Martin pulled it off, and the DBS was born. Unfortunately, the new V8 engine wouldn't be ready for another two years and the DBS had to make do with the old-fashioned Lagonda engine. Being heavier than the car it replaced, it was slower but in many ways more refined. When the V8 engine was finally ready for the DBS chassis, the resulting car was one of the fastest, safest and greatest cars of its generation. It would set the benchmark, not just for the next thirty years of Aston Martins, but also its competitors in the GT class. The last of the 5,016 V8-powered cars, a Volante Special Edition, left the factory on 20 October 2000, ending an era for Aston Martin.