Exclusive: Aston Martin DB6 Mk2 Unrestored - a Manual Masterpiece | Tyrrell's Classic Workshop
Summary
TLDRThis video features a 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Vantage, an extremely rare car that is a one owner example from new. The car is discussed in detail including its unrestored original condition, Vantage high performance engine specifications, and manual transmission. A road test demonstrates the tight feel of the original car compared to many restored examples. The history and significance of the DB6 model is covered along with insights into features like the cam tail design. Driving impressions highlight the precise steering and smooth gearbox. Overall it is a privilege to work on this special car with such provenance and originality.
Takeaways
- 😯 This video discusses a rare 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Vantage owned by one person since new
- 👴 The original owner purchased the car new in 1970 and still drives it today at 54 years old
- 🎓 The DB6 Mark 2 was the last of the DB series with curvy bodies before the V8 and DBS successors
- 🔢 Only 240 DB6 Mark 2s were produced over 13-14 months, with 71 being Vantage high-performance models
- 🚘 This car retains its original, untouched Connolly leather interior in fantastic condition
- ⚙️ The car features a 325 hp Vantage tuned straight-6 and a factory 5-speed ZF manual gearbox
- 🤝 The presenter has serviced Aston Martins for 40+ years and considers working on this car an honor
- 🛠 The car came in for brake service due to binding, but was road tested and found to be in great shape
- 🔧 Some improvements like recalibrating the tachometer were noted to optimize car performance
- 😊 The presenter thoroughly enjoyed driving this unique, honest, historic one-owner Aston Martin
Q & A
What make and model of car is featured in the video?
-A 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Mark II Vantage.
What makes this particular DB6 special?
-It is a one owner car from new and is mostly original and unrestored.
How many DB6 Mark II Vantages were produced?
-240 total, with 71 being the Vantage high performance model.
What transmission and other options did this car have when new?
-It has a 5-speed ZF manual transmission, the Vantage engine, and power steering.
What work has recently been done on the car?
-The brakes were refurbished due to binding issues.
What did the host notice needs some additional work?
-The tachometer needs recalibrating and some other minor tune-up work should be done.
How can you identify a DB6 from other DB Aston Martin models?
-The DB6 has a 'cam tail' rear end for improved aerodynamics.
What made the DB6 steering unique for the time?
-It had standard power steering which also allowed more direct, higher geared steering.
Why does the host say this car drives differently than restored cars?
-Since it's mostly original, it still has the factory correct setup for good handling.
What does the host say is often overlooked on restored cars?
-That they actually function properly and drive well, not just look good cosmetically.
Outlines
🎥 Introduction to the rare Aston Martin db6 Mark 2 Vantage
The video introduces a rare, one-owner unrestored 1971 Aston Martin db6 Mark 2 Vantage. It has covered just 54 years and 27,000 miles. The original interior and patina give it a beautiful aged character. This rear-wheel drive grand tourer was hand-built in very limited numbers.
📈 Details of the db6 Mark 2 Vantage model
The db6 Mark 2 was made for only 13-14 months from 1969-1970. Only 240 were produced, with 71 being the Vantage high-performance version. This right-hand drive Vantage has a 5-speed manual transmission and other rare specs, making it likely one of only 25-30 examples built.
💡 Design elements like the aerodynamic cam tail
The video analyzes unique design elements of the db6 like the 'cam tail' rear end. This innovative inverted aerodynamic shape was first used in the 1930s for reducing drag. The db6 was the first Aston Martin to feature this.
🎛️ How the electric windows highlight British craftsmanship
The video demonstrates the db6's electric windows made by the British company Piper. Unlike slow mechanisms in other contemporary cars, these windows are remarkably quick and precise due to limit switches, showcasing exemplary mid-century British engineering.
☑️ Driving impressions highlight the integrity of an unrestored original
The video host shares driving impressions of the db6, noting how the tightness and handling dynamics reflect the care given by its one owner. This contrasts with many restored classics, which often have issues from being disassembled and reassembled.
🤗 Concluding thoughts on preserving this automotive history
In closing, the video host reflects on the honor of maintaining such a rare historic vehicle in original condition. He advises exercising restraint when driving it to avoid damage. The gearbox and drivability showcase Aston Martin's achievements.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Aston Martin DB6
💡One-owner car
💡Vantage specification
💡Factory original condition
💡Manual transmission
💡Tuning
💡Road test
💡Restoration
💡Provenance
💡Connolly leather
Highlights
The car is a 1970 Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Vantage, one owner from new and unrestored
The original Connolly leather interior, carpets and headlining are still present
Only 240 DB6 Mark 2 cars were made over 13-14 months, with 71 being the Vantage high performance version
This car has the factory 5-speed manual transmission and power steering, which was rare at the time
The carburetors are very rare Weber 45 DCOE 9s, which are now extremely valuable
The cam tail design by Professor Cam improved aerodynamics and high speed stability
Electric windows were very rare in the 1960s, but this car's Piper mechanisms work beautifully
As a one owner car, the tight feel likely comes from original factory setup rather than restoration
Many restored cars look good but don't function properly due to lack of attention to detail
Higher oil pressure, like in this engine, allows tighter bearing clearances for performance
Power steering enabled more direct, higher geared systems for better steering feel
The rev counter needs recalibrating, so the engine hasn't been pushed hard recently
Driving it is a privilege due to the rarity and untouched originality
The smooth, precise ZF 5-speed gearchange is extremely satisfying to use
The car feels well-planted and lovely to drive even gently due to inherent integrity
Transcripts
well hello and welcome to another tur's
classic Workshop this time round we're
talking about this car an Aston Martin
db6 Mark 2 Vantage bit of a mouthful but
it does rather cover it this car is
particularly interesting because not
only was it a very rare car in us and
Martin history but this car is wait for
it one owner from new and
unrestored so the gentleman who owns
this car now bought it new in 1970 how
about that um and he's still driving it
and the car is still in very very
presentable condition um and it's got
the original untouched uh connly leather
interior carpets headlining everything
um and it's even got the original
handbook with it uh it's all there put
your head in the interior
and sit in it and it's like sitting in
the most beautiful old Gentleman's Club
the aroma of Rich um finest on the
planet leather which Connelly was um and
still is actually in a way just the
aroma of everything having spent the
last 54 years maturing is just
delightful and this car is in fantastic
condition considering uh its provenance
considering the fact that it's now over
half a Century old um The db6 Mark II is
a very interesting car as a model it was
the last of the um of the sort of
formula that came out when Aston Martin
moved from falam to Newport Pagel they
had this shiny new car in 1959 the db4
uh which famously David Brown sir David
Brown of DB uh nomenclature he uh made
them all at a loss and um a customer
wanted a db4 and they said to him can I
please please have it at Cost price and
he says by all means and asked them to
pay £50 I think it was more for the car
than anybody else did because he lost
money on every car he made bit like the
mini BMC did that with the mini when it
first came out as well and I think for
most of the production run but anyway
this is the very last iteration of that
so A few videos ago I covered another
car that we had in for work an Aston
Martin V8 fuel injection one of the very
early DBS V8 cars as they were called
with the quad headlights across the
front
um and that car was also from 1970 I
think from memory 69 maybe um so they
made the two cars uh concurrently which
is very strange really uh I don't know
quite why Aston Martin did that I'm sure
there are some Aston Martin historians
who can fill in the gaps but um The db6
Mark II was the last Harrah of the
straight 6 engined um very curvy bodies
that uh that the V8 replaced and the DBS
6 is replaced um they made them for 14
months only 13 14 months from August um
69 to November
1970 and they were um what ason Martin
were doing was standardizing a lot of
parts so uh they they moved to the wider
wheels of the DBS uh V8 and they had so
consequently the DB 6 Mark I's had this
flared wheel Arch front and rear to
accommodate The Wider tires bit of
marketing as well actually um I'm sure
they could have cleared them anyway but
you know there we
are they made 240 in total of the of
this model only
240 in those 13 or 14 months um this is
the Vantage uh this badge isn't just
here for show that's been on it from new
and that means that it's one of 71 so
we're narrowing it down now uh made with
a more highly tuned engine three vber
carburetors instead of three suus um to
get really nerdy for a moment the
carburetors on this car are 45 dcoe
9s um which was sort of Weber's stock
large side draft car bre at the time um
and they're very very valuable now and
you just can't get hold of dco 9 they
were only fitted in period you can buy
Modern uh Weber Replacements which bolt
straight on um 45 dcoe 1.15 tws um which
are a different carburetor Al together
and have an extra phase of transitioning
from idle to um to light load Cruise Etc
they have steps or phases between them
re are three-phase and the 152s are
four-phase so it's a more modern version
but actually the originality is key
particularly with this car so it's one
of the 75 71 fitted with the Vantage
engine 325 brake horsepower against 282
I think for the the uh the standard
engine um this car also has the factory
manual ZF 5-speed gearbox which is a
delight to use on the road and it also
has power steering as standard um
because of partly because of the wider
tires and partly because people's
expectations were
improving um having said that the
Ferrari Daytona did not have power
steering even as an option which was uh
a sort of rival to this car by this time
this came along but this is nowhere near
as fast as a Daytona it's a four- seater
but they were both very expensive GT
cars
nevertheless um and the um this but this
car is very special because it's one of
71 uh vantages made it's not an
automatic as a lot of them were it's a
manual car its original right-and Drive
um how many were made to rightand drive
four-speed uh 5-speed manual Vantage
specification of the 240
built probably 25 30 something like that
how many of them are one owner largely
unrestored original probably one this
one that's how unique this car is it's
just reeks of honesty and originality
and there's something for me there's
there there's something it's almost an
honor um to work on a car that is so old
um but yet so original and they it's
quite funny they drive differently
original cars because they're just um
the factory knew what they were doing
they when they set them up the wheel
alignment the way everything bolted
together it was done who by people who
did it day in day out um sometimes that
could be a good thing if it was a
British Leland on a bad day in the 70s
but um they knew they you know I've
driven e type jagu that have been in
restored and they just drive beautifully
because they're bolted together properly
and everything has sort of gradually
worn in um in sync with each other and
um quite often restored cars are uh
bolted together and look shiny and
Beautiful on the Concor lawn but
actually don't function very well at all
um but anyway I uh I digress so it's a
great honor to have this car here and we
we actually have done although we
haven't featured many Aston Martins on
the channel we've done a lot of work on
them I have personally been working on
them for 40 years we've restored a lot
of DB fours fives and sixes over that
time complete ground at Restorations um
I had the pleasure of uh um tuning a db4
GT in South Africa at some time ago
which is again in an earlier video and
um that a very valuable car now um many
millions of
pounds uh so but this is just it's an
honest lovely car this and um the the
owner is actually has been a friend of
the family for 40 years we've known him
um and uh it's just just a delight to uh
to have this car in we we've been
working on the braking system that's
what what it specifically came in for
the brakes were binding and just
suffering from a bad case of anod Domini
um so we've refreshed all those um put
it back
together I think it probably needs a few
more jobs doing to it um I've noticed
some things but I'll confirm that on the
road test uh but um
just try and find another absolutely
unique one owner best arguably the best
specification a few years ago uh we had
the the again the honor the privilege of
rebuilding the engine on the the Prince
of Wales Aston Martin V8 Vantage valante
which was uh built for him by Aston
Martin in 1987 and so there are some
photographs online of uh Prince Charles
as he was then and Diana famously
driving the car um this car is so
important that Aston Martin made 22
Prince of Wales specification replicas
if you will afterwards um and they alone
are amongst the most highly prized of
the Aston m in V8 range but this is the
car that was made for his his Royal
Highness at the time especially by Aston
Martin and they took it so seriously
that um they in conjunction with Connell
leather uh came up with a special
one-off color for this car's interior
and um amongst other things uh here here
is a um a container for um I um sugar
cubes for uh his Royal Highness
Polo ponies also trimmed in the special
one-off Connelly leather color and um
yeah this was uh a very a very
delightful job for us to have done at
the time um and uh he of course has got
another Aston Martin uh a db6 Mark I
Volante which is um again an extremely
rare car uh you're in very thin air with
db6 Mark 2s generally very rarified
atmosphere
well one of the interesting things about
uh this car that distinguishes the db6
as a whole from other as Martin models
um is uh this the back end really um
this is what's called a cam tail
aerodynamicists over the years grappled
with various resolutions to the back of
a a vehicle of any description as to how
it could be the most aerodynamic and
hence the most economical on energy and
speed and all the rest of it and um one
of the aerodynamic things which there
are plenty of uh pictures online of sort
of cars that come to a point at the back
end from the 1920s and things like that
but that was okay but Professor cam
actually came up in the uh the 1930s and
realized that if you actually chopped
off the back of a vehicle of any
description what actually happened was
the air sort of came around and pushed
the the in the vacuum pushed the forward
and it was almost knock for knock
between this type of thing and the the
who wants a car with the pointed tail
that you're going to bang bashing car
parks and all the rest of it not many so
a solution had to be found and um uh uh
Mr cam hair cam Dr cam um came up with
the solution and also on this you'll
notice there's like a a spoiler built
into the uh the top of the boot lid um
that's obviously for that's for
downforce as well so and lots of cars
from um the 1930s onwards um Lots quite
a few um were gradually this began to
come in as a fitment on them one of the
most memorable is the Ferrari 250 GTO
it's interesting that this actually
became in a lot of ways uh it was
discovered that this actually um wasn't
as detrimental to aerodynamics as was
first uh anticipated and quite a few
cars these days have got cam tales on
them of one description or another it
sort of slipped into our Consciousness
as something that a lot of cars have it
certainly made the db6 stable at high
speed which was something Aston Martin
grappled with because of the vacuum
created by the the Fastback shape
apparently um this was in the days
before wind tunnels were as seriously
used as they are now almost at every
stage of design and one easy way to
identify db6 from its other db4 and five
siblings
well at the risk of um you know one of
our videos wouldn't be the same without
a bit of nerdiness so at the risk of
being nerdy we're back to the subject of
electric windows and um they were a real
Rarity uh in the 1960s electric windows
um only the very most expensive cars had
them and only one car of that era had uh
hydraulic windows and that was the
Mercedes ben 600 which is for another
video for another time but um the
electric window mechanisms on these cars
these cars I mean generally varied quite
substantially um and a lot of them I'm
thinking of the BMW um E9 the 3 l CSI
that sort of thing they were very very
very slow um they crawled up and down
even when they were new but these
mechanisms were made by a company called
Piper a small British industry um I
think long since gone unfortunately like
so many but um when they are working
properly as these are they are an
absolute Delight um they are unusually
have limit switches at the top and
bottom so they don't just hit the frame
or a rubber stop at the bottom they
actually have a limit switch which can
be finally adjusted so that the motor
doesn't burn out when the when you keep
the switch pressed uh clever stuff but
I'm the car isn't running at the moment
so that it we're just running on battery
power but I'll give you an idea of how
brilliantly these windows
work that's not not
bad very quick and a beautifully precise
uh switch really metallic switch action
very satisfying um just another lovely
facet of these very special
cars so we we've done some work on the
brakes um we're going to take the car
for a run and uh yeah let's see let's
see how it performs on the
road
well uh one of the virtues one of the
many virtues of a one-owner um car
that's been under the same custodianship
from new is um that you know exactly
what's happened to it all the way
through its
life and uh this car is a shining should
I say gleaming example of that because
uh this car it's a little bit hesitant
because of those Weber car
and the fact that it's cold but I'm just
warming it through
gently um but it just feels so
absolutely lovely this car
um we I'm just noticing that the
steering wheel is a little bit offset uh
we can sort that but the the car just
feels tight in a way that um quite often
restored cars don't that there are so
many people who restore cars
um and I'm talking even at the highest
the highest levels uh in the the classic
car restoration business and they they
forget that
um a huge amount of the restoration
completion and signing off process is
that the cars actually work and drive
properly and
um they they can look lovely and they
can be bolted together uh Etc but that
does not make a restored car
um a restored car has to work properly
and so many excuses are made for classic
cars um oh well they all do that well
quite often they they don't all do that
but um but that's just an excuse for
shoddy workmanship and lack of attention
to detail uh but what what I'm trying to
say is that this you can tell this is
not a restored car it's just a
beautifully uh untouched largely of
course it's had had a lot of work done
on it um in the last 50 years but uh 50
odd years but it's it's just got a
feeling of of um honesty that so many
restored cars just don't
have um and yeah it's just uh it's a
lovely place to be actually lovely I
noticed that the oil pressure uh it's a
mechanical gauge on these
and they're normally pretty accurate the
oil pressure is very good it should be
very high on these Aston Martin
engines both this engine the tadex
straight 6 and the V8 which was largely
tadex work as well the Polish very very
uh clever polish engineer so the car is
the the oil is getting warm now it's not
up to full temperature but the oil
pressure is still
showing
um uh at about 2,2 2,500 RPM it's still
showing 90b per square in which is
probably double what the equivalent
Jaguar XK engine is maybe even a bit
more um and the only other engine that
ran at this pressure of this era was the
Lamborghini V12 they were both
exceptionally high oil pressured engines
just it's um a matter of bearing
clearances the capacity of the oil pump
[Music]
Etc
and one of the other things uh about the
db6 Mark I specifically uh was that the
fact power steering was actually
standard on them and uh it makes a big
difference one of them is obvious
because it's power steering and it makes
the effort lighter but also what
manufacturers did was um they took the
opportunity to make the steering more
highly geared more direct um uh because
a lot of power steering systems or a lot
of steering systems in general sorry in
the 1950s and 60s and' 7s were very
vague they were quite low geared so you
could move the wheel and it didn't have
a great deal of effect on the direction
of the car necessarily but this one you
just move it a tiny bit and it sends the
car off in a different direction pot
holes not
withstanding um and that uh what
manufacturers did was actually alter the
gearing ZF or Burman or whoever made the
steering assembly actually made them
more High geared so that um because you
they could afford to be that way because
you had the advantage of power
assistance uh obviously the the quicker
the steering is the less the more effort
you have to put into maneuvering Etc
because you haven't got as much
mechanical
advantage um with uh higher gearing so
in other words the more the more you're
making the front wheels move the more
effort you have to put into actually
doing that so power assisted short
result of all that is power assisted
steering cars uh such as the Lamborghini
asparta Series 3 uh this some cars that
went into power steering during their
production cycle the steering is
actually more direct and therefore more
relevant to Modern use um and this is
where the these electronic power
steering systems fantastic though they
are they don't actually give you higher
geared steering more direct steering
they just reduce the the effort so um
that's a very long winded way of saying
power steering is good because it's
power assisted and it also makes the
steering work
better um but uh I'm not pushing on in
this car too much for two reasons first
of all because she's an old lady and
um uh also because the brakes are brand
new that's obviously what it's been in
for but the um I don't want to push the
engine too hard because the rev counter
one of the things I've noted and we're
going to I'm going to have a word with
the owner um who as I mentioned before
is a family friend but um one of the
things that uh that I noticed is that
the ref counter has actually gone quite
wildly out of calibration so it's uh
allegedly doing 3,000 revs this engine
when it's not it's doing about
2, uh 400
2,300 so we can uh we can recalibrate
the spring loading in the rev counter to
bring it down to the correct values but
that makes what what it would see make
the result of that is that it looks as
of the engines revving higher than it is
so if it was at the red line which is
5,500 RPM
M um on the rev counter it's actually
doing only doing about 3 and 1 half
4,000 RPM in real life and that means
it's probably a long time since this
engine has actually been driven hard so
for that reason I do not want to be the
one who runs the risk of breaking it so
I'm going to just um pole along in this
car very slowly uh I did have the
opportunity to uh I was invited to
um tune a db4 GT Aston Martin in South
Africa um and there is a there is
actually a video much earlier in the
series of uh me working on that car and
db4 GTs
are uh very specialized from memory I
think they made uh about 70 of them and
they're now worth many millions of
pounds um and I did a tuneup job and
afterwards uh Wayne who was then curator
of the museum and myself took it for a
road test and the noise was glorious the
engine is is uh almost the same as this
slightly smaller capacity so if you do
want to hear um an Aston Martin straight
six engine in Anger uh look no further
than the db4 GT video but
um it's just so it's so uh satisfying
and so pleasurable to be in a one owner
db6 Mark I Vantage manual it's such a
excruciatingly rare car possibly unique
uh for the reasons I explained
earlier this is It's just lovely to
drive such a piece of History not only
is it one owner but it's in such lovely
untouched condition uh the leather Etc
um it's just just an extremely rare
example of of uh of a very very nice car
and uh yeah I'm uh I'm thoroughly
enjoying this even though it's not pedal
to the metal um it's just just coming
through this sweeping Bend pressing on a
bit it feels lovely so well
planted just
beautiful I'm going to uh going to have
a word with the owner and just see if we
can do a bit more work on this
car um because I think it would actually
uh reap great rewards get the rev
counter working
properly um give it a bit of a tuneup
but uh nevertheless I I consider it a
privilege to work on this beautiful
historic
car one of the things thing about this
particular car is it's got the uh the ZF
gearbox um in it that the uh the db6 is
had and the later DB FS but they they
did slightly um they did some work on it
uh ZF and we ended up with uh a very
very satisfying uh gear change uh they
they also put this extremely high-tech
gear knob on the db6 Mark II but um it's
just it's it's a great thing to operate
strange
and you can change gear with one finger
once the gear box is nice and warm as I
shall now
demonstrate just lovely um even my
little
finger just
beautiful absolutely lovely Precision
just a a feeling of mechanical um uh
integrity and smoothness and precision
just absolutely lovely
well that concludes another tur's
classic Workshop video um thanks very
much for liking and subscribing and for
watching and we'll be back with
something else very
soon
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