Aston Martin V8

The Aston Martin V8 is a two-door coupé automobile manufactured in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1989. As with all traditional Aston Martins, it was entirely handbuilt - with each car requiring 1,200 manhours to finish.

Aston Martin's customers had been clamouring for an eight-cylinder car for years, so Aston Martin designed a larger two-door saloon for V8 applications. The engine was not ready, however, so in 1967 the company released the DBS with the straight-six Vantage engine from the DB6. Two years later, Tadek Marek's V8 was ready, and Aston released the DBS V8. With the demise of the straight-six Vantage in 1973, the DBS V8, now restyled and called simply the Aston Martin V8, became the company's mainstream car for nearly two decades. It was retired in favour of the Virage in 1989.