Aston Martin's DBS Superleggera is a V12 brute in a tailored suit

Aston Martin's DBS Superleggera has legged it to Australia, with the first owners of the head-turning V12 ready to pick up their keys and plan some epic weekend drives.

“We’ve only had the first handful (arrive) so far,' the head of Aston Martin in Australia, Kevin Wall, tells Australian Business Traveller.

"But it really has taken us a little bit by surprise, the interest in this car. And I say that genuinely. Originally I was calling demand in the 30s, but I think we will get close to 50 cars. The initial buyers are existing owners, but some of our other orders have come from other brands."

The 2+2 coupe sits at the top of the pecking order for Aston, and directly in the sights of people who might be thinking about parking a Ferrari 812 Superfast in their garage.

Epic numbers abound for the Superleggera, from a 340km/h top speed to a price tag of $517,000.

Yet Superleggera is the Italian word for 'superlight' – a tag that comes not from the car’s bellowing V12 twin-turbo engine but from the splashings and lashings of high-tech carbon fibre in its construction and bodywork.

It is also a nod to the Italian design studio, Touring, which created the first Superleggera for Aston back in the late 1950s.

Wall says the DBS Superleggera is the third model in a totally-new range of Astons, following the DB11 with V8 and V12 engines, and takes part of the place previously held by the Vanquish. It’s the first DBS in more than five years and positioned as a Super GT car.

“It’s the flagship, for the moment. It’s the brute in a suit. Some people say it’s a DB11 on steroids,” he laughs. “Vanquish has gone away for a while, but not too long. So enter the DBS. It really replaces the DB11 V12."

Aston Martin is in the middle of a massive new-model onslaught, as it works through its Second Century Plan, which will include its first SUV, the DBX, as well as the re-launch of its super-luxury Lagonda sub-brand as a fully-electric operation in 2021.

Superleggera has an important role, not just for sales but also as a positioning statement.

“When you hear the name DBS Superleggera, you know what it is,” says Aston’s design director, Marek Reichman. “It’s the definitive Aston Martin Super GT. It’s an icon, a statement and this one will be no different."

"We’ve pushed the boundaries of performance and design to give this car a distinct character and ensure it’s worthy of the heritage and weight that this name carries”.

Dynamically, the car is pitched as a sharper-edged DB11 and there is a good chance that it could become James Bond’s new drive when the new blockbuster, still known only as Bond 25 but which will be Daniel Craig's secret service swan song, is released in early 2020.

Paul Gover

As Motoring Editor for Executive Traveller, Paul Gover spends less time at his Gold Coast home than he does on the road (literally) test-driving the best of the four-wheel world.