1971 Aston Martin DBS

The build in detail.

The Aston Martin DBS V8 has always been a car for people who prefer their thunder wrapped in a British accent. This 1971 example, among the first Astons to carry Tadek Marek’s magnificent quad-cam V8, arrived at Crown as the centerpiece of an ambitious plan. Its owner did not want it merely correct. He wanted it extraordinary.

The brief read like a love letter written by an engineer. Rebuild the V8, yes, but stretch it to a full seven litres, bore it to four inches, stroke the crank, fit roller rockers and Bosch mechanical injection, and hang ‘7 Litre’ badges on the flanks as fair warning. Around that heart, a complete restoration: the chrome grille refinished in glossy black, the body sorted, the cabin stripped and retrimmed, and a bank of custom instruments added to keep watch over all that new muscle.

Some of the parts simply did not exist anymore, so Crown’s fabricators made them. A missing steering-column switch housing took thirty hours to design and build from scratch. Radiator shrouds, dash panels, seat-belt reinforcements, all conjured on the bench, because a car this rare gives you no other choice.

The work here speaks for itself, the kind of hand-fabrication that separates a restorer from a parts-swapper. This Aston did not finish its journey at Crown; the project moved on before the last bolt was turned. But what Crown built into this car, the craftsmanship, the problem-solving, the flat refusal to accept ‘unobtainable’ as an answer, is exactly the standard every Crown build is held to.

Under the hood, power comes from a fully rebuilt 289 cubic-inch Small Block Ford V8, appropriately detailed in Ford BlueBosch mechanical fuel injection. The engine is paired with a completely rebuilt C4 automatic transmission, breathing through a custom-fabricated exhaust systemNew radiator with heat-dissipation coating.

Hand-fabricated steering-column housing, dash panels and radiator shrouds. Stopping power is drastically improved thanks to a front power disc brake conversion with black calipers and drilled/slotted rotors, paired with freshly resurfaced rear drums.

Reupholstered interior: headliner, console and seatingCustom instruments: pyrometer, air-fuel, vacuum, transmission and differential temperatureNew wiring circuits and modern three-point seat belts.