1968 Aston Martin DB6 Saloon

3,995cc DOHC Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Triple SU Carburetors
282bhp at 5,500rpm
5-Speed ZF Manual Transmission
Independent Front with Live Rear Axle Suspension
4-Wheel Disc Brakes

*Delivered new to famed composer and conductor Igor Markevitch
*Delivered new in left-hand drive and with the desirable ZF 5-speed
*Retains its original, elegant Mink over Dark Brown color scheme
*Beautifully presented British motoring

THE ASTON MARTIN DB6

"Stage by stage, as the DB has become dominant in the Aston Martin strain, the successive cars have changed their image. Today the aim is to offer the maximum of luxury and refinement as well as the ultimate in road performance. The minor barbarities of so many great sports cars of the past are no longer acceptable – at least in the hand built models now leaving Newport Pagnell. Obviously such a car as the DB6 is expensive and exclusive but the value matches the price.' – Autocar, 1966.

As one might imagine, Autocar found much to commend in the DB6 Vantage, remaking on the car's much improved handling, outstanding adhesion and exceptionally good braking figures. A mean maximum speed of 148mph was achieved, while the standing quarter-mile time of 14.5 seconds was the fastest the magazine had recorded for a four-seater. At 120mph the Aston was as effortlessly relaxed as other powerful cars at 80mph. "For high-speed open-road touring this Vantage DB6 is practically ideal," enthused Autocar's scribe, and few would disagree.

The 4.0-liter DOHC engine remained unchanged in standard triple-SU carburetor form but the Vantage specification unit with 9.4:1 compression ratio now developed a mighty 325bhp. A ZF five-speed manual gearbox was carried over from the latter, 'Selectaride' driver-adjustable damping was standard, and for the first time there was optional power-assisted steering available. Saloon production totaled 1,327 units, including seven shooting brake conversions by Harold Radford.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

Little known fact, but if you were a successful music artist in the late 1960s, you were essentially required to have an Aston Martin DB6. Paul McCartney had one and is believed to have first sung what became Hey Jude in his. Mick Jagger famously crashed his in London. But it wasn't just rock stars who enjoyed the works of Newport Pagnell. Famed composer Leonard Bernstein regularly drove one in London. And the offered example was ordered new by another titan of classical music, avant-garde Russian composer Igor Markevitch.

Reaching the heights of international fame even before WWII when he was called "the second Igor"—after Igor Stravinsky—Markevitch would augment his composing talents with his conducting skill becoming the permanent conductor of the Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris in the 1950s in addition to holding the same title at the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1960s. Seeking a car for the latter, he placed an order through Garage Merrilon for a left-hand drive DB6 Saloon to be delivered to his office, if you will, at the Palais Garnier in Monte Carlo according to the copies of the factory build records. Finished in Mink over Dark Brown Connolly leather, he opted for the ZF manual transmission, chromed wire wheels, triple SU carburetors, limited slip differential, rear defroster, a passenger seat belt, and a power aerial to listen to the tunes. Igor took delivery of the car in June of 1968.

The car appears to have spent the majority of its life in France and was in the collection of French Aston Martin enthusiast Claude Friederich from September 1976 until the mid- to late-2000s. The current owner acquired the car in May of 2010. While in the present ownership, it has seen limited use but careful storage. Still in its original color scheme, it is recommended that some fettling be executed before it is actively made to compose exhaust note music.

Whether you want to rock out to the Beatles, jam to the Rolling Stones, learn the basics of classical music with The Young People's Concerts, or cut straight to the chase and listen to Markevitch's Rébus ballet score, this is the car to do it in.