Description
The term 'Volante', denoting convertible, was first introduced at the London Motor Show in 1965 when the DB6 was announced, and the car in both body styles subsequently went into production in October of that year. However, Aston Martin had a surplus of 37 chassis left over from DB5 convertible production, and not being in a position waste such a valuable asset the first 37 DB6 Volantes were built on the shorter DB5 chassis before production commenced on the new DB6 chassis of which a further 140 were produced. A necessary cost saving exercise at the time had unwittingly produced one of the rarest Aston Martin Models ever built!
Completed in October 1965 this DB6 ‘Short Chassis Volante’ left the factory in Dubonnet Rosso with Black Connolly, 5 speed ZF manual gearbox, chrome wheels, 3 ear hubcaps, power aerial and 7 pints of antifreeze. Originally allocated to H W Motors the car remained unsold for a period of time so possibly a showroom or marketing display car. It returned in December 1966 to the factory in Newport Pagnell to be converted to Borg Warner automatic specification for its new owner Mr Despointes from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Although initially registered to Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd on 28th December 1966 it was subsequently registered to Mr Despointes the same day and invoiced by Newport Pagnell to him ‘ex works’ and issued with a 12 month factory guarantee. Mr Despointes kept the Volante on Guernsey for 10 years or so before it was sold by Classic Encounters in Surrey to a Mr Clarke from London in 1987 at which point it had covered a mere 15, 000 miles! Under his ownership the car was subject to an extensive restoration in 1989 which included chassis and body repairs, a full bare metal re-spray in Dubonnet, an overhaul of suspension and brakes and an engine strip to confirm minimal wear due to its low mileage. At the same time the opportunity was taken to return the DB6 to its original manual specification with the fitment of a period ZF 5 speed manual gearbox. Mr Clarke kept the car for a further 4 years covering a mere 2, 500 miles before selling it to Desmond Smail in 1994 who then found a new owner in Mr Negrescu from The Netherlands. The car was kept in the UK for most of his ownership with all maintenance being carried out by Desmond J Smail Ltd before Desmond sold it to its current keeper in 1997. Although the car had already been subject to some restoration and had been well maintained, its new owner immediately embarked on a series of extensive works to bring the car up to a condition to meet his expectations. This included a complete re-trim in Black Connolly, a new mohair hood, some body and paint repairs, engine strip and lead-free conversion, complete suspension re-build to include Harvey Bailey handling kits, electric cooling fans, new wheels and many other associated works. This one of only 37 in existence Short Chassis Volante has since been serviced and maintained on a regular basis exclusively by Desmond J Smail Ltd, has covered just 29, 000 miles from new, presents beautifully and comes with a very comprehensive history record.
