airmenair
Well-Known Member
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Today's Trivia : Crash testing for today's car was, oddly enough, done with Volvo at its Safety Centre in Sweden. Hooray for global empires that own lots of marques, I guess.
Top Ten - 2nd place (65 points)
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Aston Martin DB9
Designer : Ian Callum, then Henrik Fisker (other works : Callum : DB7, Ford RS200, new Jag XK, Jag XF. Fisker : new V8 Vantage, BMW Z8).
It's easy to say the DB9 is a good-looking car. It is, no doubt. In my mind, though, there are two questions that should be answered before we proclaim it the next messiah (or merely a very naughty boy). One, the DB9 is undeniably gorgeous. Will it retain its looks in the years to come? Some designs are timeless, and last - look at the Miura, or the Alfa Romeo Tip 33 Stradale a page or two back. Some remain a product of the time and fade away. Which will the DB9 be? I'm sure it will be remembered as a good looking car, but...In 40 years time, if you log on to the CyberTubes, go to FinalGear, hear the latest news about the 2048 Merc H-class (the H is for Hydrogen) and series 92 of Top Gear (now presented by Clarkson's-head-in-a-jar - useless at powerslides but still capable of upsetting Germans), and discover a poll like this, will the DB9 still reach number 2? That remains to be seen.
The other question that the DB9 makes me think of is basically the phrase 'too many cooks'. The DB9 is great looking, but Aston don't seem to be able to do anything else. The V8 Vantage is a shorter DB9, the upcoming Rapide is a DB9 with 4 doors, and the DBS is a Vantage that someone took an axe to. Is overuse making the design 'less special'? Can Aston designers pen anything different? I know, I know, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. But still. Please, before you kill me, these are just my thoughts, and frankly a rant waiting to happen at some point in the future.
Anyway, onto the car! It replaced the DB7, which raises the question "Why isn't it the DB8?". Two trains of thought. One, it has a V12 and Aston didn't want people to think it had a mere V8. Two, AM thought that V8 implied evolution, not revolution, and they reckoned the DB9 was the latter.
It's a two seater Grand Tourer in the Aston Martin tradition, which means ample power with ample luxury. It fixed many of the major criticisms of the DB7 - for example, the DB7 was mocked for having Ford-spares-bin parts in its interior ("Mondeo door handles!"), whereas the DB9's interior is not such a Fordgasm (although it has a Volvo satnav). About 5,000 a year are made, which should ensure AM are stable (for probably the first time in their lifespan).
The V12 that powers the DB9 is taken from the V12 Vanquish, which is good for 470 bhp. This means a 0-60 of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 190mph. The DB9 is available in coup? and convertible - dubbed Volante - flavours.
The DB9 has also given birth to a racing car - the DBR9. The same V12 engine as in the coupe is matched to a car that has been on an extreme weight-loss diet. The car has won out at the American Le Mans series, the FIA GT championship and Le Mans itself.
I hope you'll excuse me mixing my opinion - or, I guess, my questions - with the facts. I'd love to hear your opinion here.
This car and thread brought to you Jeremy Clarkson.