The story of the DB9 is about to come to a close after its 13-year production run, whereupon in that span it was always held in high regard as a great Grand Tourer even when rivals threw in similar models or Aston Martin themselves rolled out models like the Virage and Vanquish.
Aston Martin posted an image over social media that showed the final 9 units as they were being entering final stages of vehicle inspection before being delivered to owners. Those last DB9s were finished by company’s Q department, in charge of bespoke vehicle personalisation and are fittingly labelled ‘last of nine’.
All things considered, it’s hard to argue against the claim that the DB9 was Aston Martin’s most successful model by far. In terms of sheer numbers, it has sold more than any other version of their DB line of cars and in terms of influence, the car has a very deep resonance to the brand.
The DB9 was a landmark vehicle for the British sports car maker, taking Aston Martin to new heights technologically and in terms of design, setting the template for their future cars over the next decade, spawning the short-lived Virage and more powerful DBS. Even now, with the latest Vanquish and Rapide before that, the resemblance is still quite evident.
The car’s successor, the DB11, is more of a departure aesthetically and technically, but in some key areas does not stray far from it’s predecessor. After all, ask any young person about what an Aston Martin is, and their mental picture would conjure a DB9 or something that looks an awful lot like it.
A notable change that the DB11 is fostering is the transition away from naturally aspirated engines with it’s bi-turbo 5.2-litre V12. Previously, Aston Martin’s V12 engines were exclusively atmospheric, and the 6.0-litre V12 from the DB9 was made available in different tunes to and slotted into every model line they had – from Vantage to Vanquish.
Full scale production of the DB11 is scheduled to start in August with CEO Andy Palmer promising to inspect the first 1000 cars personally. Customers who already have orders placed are expected to receive the cars by the end of the year.
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