1967 | Aston Martin DB 6 Vantage

This Aston Martin DB6 Vantage left the Newport Pagnell factory in its original Oystershell paintwork and red Connolly interior with factory options of Vantage engine, chrome wheels, heated rear screen, 3 ear hub caps and power operated aerial.

According to the Aston Martin factory records the first owner was a Prince Nicholas Von Preussen, eldest offspring of Prince Frederick of Prussia and Lady Brigid Guinness (a direct descendant of the brewing family). Registered on 03/05/1967, we assume no coincidence this was Prince Nicholas's 21st birthday! Already a high spec car with Vantage engine and manual gearbox, it also returned to the Newport Pagnell factory at Prince Nicholas request to have ‘Coolaire’ fitted in November that same year.

Factory records also show the cars next owner as a Mr A W Bunbury from Petersham Place, London although no date is recorded. The history file shows a Mr Kennedy from Edenbridge acquiring the car in 2004 and according to a note in the file he says he bought it from an Alf Moody who was one of the original members of the first SAS troop formed in North Africa in 1941! Alf Moody is named on the log book as the previous and first owner after the DVLA went digital in the mid 70’s.

Mr Kennedy parted with the DB6 in 2013 when it was acquired by Desmond J Smail Ltd who subsequently sold it to the current owner who commissioned Desmond to do a full, no expense spared nut & bolt restoration on the car which included the following:

Body off chassis/body restoration, strip, dip and sand blast, fabrication where necessary, inner and outer sills etc, all completed by Bodylines, a full engine rebuild to 4.2 unleaded spec with Cosworth pistons and new crankshaft, gearbox and axle re-builds, suspension and brakes renewed with Harvey Bailey kit, sound & heatproof, cooling fans, modern AC fitted in original Coolaire unit, EPAC power steering, re-chroming, modern Becker audio unit with i-pod connection, fully painted in Cumberland Grey and fully re-trimmed in Red Connolly and grey carpets by Desmond J Smail’s own ex-factory trimmer Joe Dorrill, who had coincidentally also originally trimmed this car when new!

This painstaking restoration to the highest standards took two years to complete and was delivered to the current owner in 2015. It has covered just a few hundred miles since then, remaining in conditioned storage with our sister business, Aston Service London, coming out on occasion for a check, MOT, change of fluids etc.

This DB6 Vantage manual is a matching numbers car with an interesting history and presents superbly having had the benefit of an exacting and fully documented restoration.