Spied: 2008 Aston Martin DBS - Car News

Casino Royale star promises 500+ horsepower
With its completely exposed powder blue paint shimmering in the sun, the 2008 Aston Martin DBS has been caught while testing both on public roads and the track. While its official debut is set for the Geneva auto show in March, the concept’s lack of disguise previews not just the car we’ll get here late next year, but also the look of the new James Bond hero car seen in Casino Royale starting mid-November. Interestingly, the DBS is the first James Bond Aston to be seen in one of the James Bond movies before it has officially been launched. Not surprisingly, Aston Martin officials were relatively mum on specific modifications to the DB9-based supercoupe other than what we can all see by looking at it—specifically, a deeper air dam, larger side vents, larger wheels and aerodynamic modifications all around—but they did confirm a significant increase in the V-12’s power output and a commensurate increase in overall performance capability. Just to mess with us, it seems, Aston Martin slapped the prototypes caught by photographers with “DBRS9” badges, leading many editorial outlets to mislabel the vehicle as the DBRS9, the name of a DB9-based racer that is not, and never will be, street legal. This vehicle, however, is in fact going to be called DBS. With the Vanquish discontinued after 2006, the DBS becomes the performance flagship of the Aston Martin line. A convertible DBS is “doubtful,” Aston Martin says.