After a gap of 24 years, the DB 7 has continued the range of the numbers that David Brown set up when he took over the company in 1947. As Sir David Brown he had sold the company at the end of 1971 when the DBS was in production; the six cylinder DB6 MkII had stopped in November 1970. However Sir David was brought back into the fold as patron when new owners Ford, started the design of the small Aston; he was delighted to allow the use of his initials for the new car. In fact, the original DBS was nearly called a DB 7.

Throughout the ‘eighties, Aston’s previous owners, Victor Gauntlett and Peter Livanos, had recognized that the company needed an entry level Aston 2+2 to join the Porsche 928 and Mercedes SL market. Unfortunately there just wasn’t sufficient capital available to be able to embark upon the design and production of an entirely new car; to be possible it would have to borrow a number of parts from an existing higher volume manufacture.

When Ford took over in 1987 this began to look possible, but it wasn’t until Ford absorbed Jaguar in 1989, that the possibility moved to the probable; a combination of Ford engineering know how and Jaguar base would provide the appropriate background. While Jaguar had supplied some components for Aston Martin V8 and Lagonda models, they wasn’t keen to provide too much until Ford came along to define the markets for the two former rivals marques more precisely.

Jaguar had long intended to replace the XJS with the new XJ41 once the XJ40, the 1986 XJ6 was in production; to many this was regarded as the F-type successor to the legendary E-type. A number of XJ41 prototypes had been built when it was decided that the production cost would be too high for the numbers that could be sold as Jaguars; in a bid to rationalize the situation, Jaguar then put the new XJ41 body design onto the existing XJS platform as Project XX. Ford axed this one too, but it was to provide an excellent basis for a small Aston Martin which could be priced at a more realistic level volumes. Work started on the Aston version – Project NPX – in 1991.

Jaguar componentry offered a number of advantages, not least a well developed platform with independent rear suspension. There was also the six cylinder Jaguar AJ-6 engine which would form a logical progression form the DB2-6 range, provided it could be Astonised. This was achieved by talking an unique 3.2 liter version of the AJ-6 engine and adding a supercharger to give 335 bhp to match the Mercedes 500 SL V-8 at 320 bhp and the Porsche 928 S4 at 350 bhp. Closed circuits tests showed a maximum of 157 mph, but Aston’s own test produced 165 mph, so our quoted figure is a mean of the two.

Jaguar had, of course, continued to develop the latest XJ6 which was launched in October 1994 as an evolution of the previous model. On derivative has been the XJR, a sport saloon using a 4 liter AJ-16 development of AJ-^, also with an Eaton supercharger; this has been tuned to produce slightly less power than the Aston’s at 321 bhp, but with slightly more torque. The result is accelerative than the BD 7 but $33,000 cheaper.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Forgetting the mixed heritage =, the new Aston does provide exactly what was required for a little sister to the Virage range, and in time it will spawn its own Vantage and convertible versions. Designed to much the DB6 in length, it is lower and wider with a body style that is evocative of its predecessors, despite that 24 years gap. It looks and behaves just as one would expect an Aston to be.