This is a private offering, because of the exclusivety of this vehicle our client has asked us not to post pictures or vin#. If you would like more information please contact us. This article describes this amazing vehicle best.
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“It’s a tough guy in a dinner suit.” That’s how Aston Martin’s Design Director, Marek Reichman described the DBS Volante. So when Aston decided to give us some wheel time with its wicked-looking Carbon Black Special Edition, we figured this sophisticated roughneck had traded in some of its tuxedo image to reveal more of a gangster side. After all, a black-on-black-on-black DBS Volante is the only  machine that could ever make James Bond team up with Blofeld.

Under this assumption we booked a dark parking garage for the photo shoot and did our best to grow pencil thin moustaches (a la Touch of Evil) in preparation for this baddie’s appearance.

What arrived at our doorstep was something slightly different than expected. This special edition designates the DBS Volante is painted in a special color appropriately called Carbon Black. It takes 50 hours to apply the multiple layers of the dark and shiny lacquer. The result is a classic black color that includes metallic elements imbedded deep into the paintwork. The package also includes a black cloth roof and Obsidian Black leather interior, but it is the paintwork that defines this car. 

We were right to assume this machine’s appearance defines evil just standing still, but there was more. The paint had so much depth that photos could never do it justice.  As it turns out, that was the real metaphor for this car.

Today’s trend for the ostentatious crowd is to paint a car matte black, so it is only fitting that the masters of understatement at Aston Martin would take the opposite route. The Carbon Black’s high gloss and metallic flair is not so much a bold “look at me!” as it is a deep-voiced, slow drawl “hello there.”

Immediately when we got behind the wheel, the DBS was a surprise. As the hard-boiled cousin to the DB9, there is an expectation that the grand touring linage would be machined out in favor of a much more hardcore track-only feel. What surprised us most was the civility of this English gentleman. For going around town or riding with traffic, the DBS performed admirably. The suspension had the right amount of flair over the bumps -- it didn’t float like a Cadillac, but each bump wasn’t a spinal adjustment either. 

We had already decided to conduct part of the test drive by running the car through coastal backroads to its natural habitat of Palm Beach, Florida. We didn’t plan on incorporating the sunny, colorful backdrop as part of our photo session. But the personality of this DBS Volante was the exact opposite of its appearance. It may have looked like it was lurking in the shadows, but its easy riding nature made it feel like the playboy of the Riviera.

At one point during the trip we crossed paths with a Ferrari F430 Spider. Where the DBS Volante had so far been a model of restrained elegance, we could hear the Italian brute before it ever came into sight. We may have been in a car set up for grand touring, but we were not going to let anyone else have more fun in a car at three fourths the price… We knew this DBS had a dark side, and it was now time to explore it.

Below the navigation controls on the center console, sharing the same space with a custom pen set, are three buttons to turn any DBS into a true sports car. One stiffens the suspension, one changes the gearing, and the other turns off the traction control. Press all three buttons and hang on.

What was once a fine grand tourer became a trackday brute. The exhaust note opened up, unleashing the full fury of the 510 hp 6.0-liter V12 engine. 

In its full sports car mode the DBS Carbon Black lived up to its appearance. The suspension read the road like it was slithering across the pavement, and the engine was easily powerful enough to strike with quick force. If it were not for the wonderfully throaty exhaust, we could have snuck up behind some unsuspecting exotics and swallowed them whole. The only true letdown when trying to unleash the full potential of this DBS was that Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission held the car to its assumed 6800 rpm redline -- no matter in full automatic or paddle shift mode.

The powerplant is located between the driver and the front axle. The front-mid mounting not only allows for more weight to be pushed to the center of the car, but this position also allows the engine to be mounted lower in the frame. To balance out the engine, the transmission is mounted behind the driver and also low in the car. This low center of gravity and balanced weight profile really presents itself in the corners. When taking this DBS around a 90 degree curve on our test circuit, the car gripped hard enough to let us continue to power through at speeds that had made other sports cars break loose.  We tried to have a little fun and have the photographer grab a few shots of the car getting into a chase scene type epic slide, but the effort needed to make understeer or oversteer was pushing our journalistic ethics/insurance liability.

By the end of our test drives, we found the DBS Volante Carbon Black to have two distinct driving personalities. It can be the talk of the dinner party or the devil lurking on the backroads…and the difference is only the matter of a few buttons.

Inside the Obsidian Black leather interior with silver stitching is standard issue on the Carbon Black. It makes the whole interior appear like an expensive tuxedo accessory.

As for the instruments, if you’ve seen the inside of one Aston Martin, you’ve seen them all…literally. Aston Martin puts the same dashboard and instruments into the Vantage, Rapide, DB9 and DBS. This triggers a little voice in the back of a potential DBS buyer’s head that wonders “Why am I paying almost $300k for a car that has the same inside as a car costing half as much?”

The short answer is:  don’t worry. We’ve been to Aston’s assembly facility in Gaydon, England, and we’ve watched the interiors being sewn and assembled carefully by hand. The level of detail and quality is on par for a DBS level car, and that makes the $120k V8 Vantage an even better value.

One piece that does not make it into every Aston, but really should, is the Bang & Olufsen Beosound stereo. Not only does it literally surround the occupants with sound, but the tweeters that rise from the dashboard help justify this car’s price of admission.

The DBS Volante comes standard with 2+2 seating, but don’t go planning a road trip to include more than one friend. The rear seats are less than just a kid-only affair; the near zero legroom means children should be very young and not be whiners. Even Aston Martin concedes that the car was conceived with two people in mind.What makes the rear seats useful is the cabin space they create. One chief complaint we have from modern sports softtops is that all the padding in the canvas roof combined with the functional design can make occupants feel so enclosed with the top up that it is almost like being trapped. The extra foot of empty space behind the driver created by the rear seats helps the cabin keep an airy feel when the top is up.

The Carbon Black Special Edition package only adds about 1% to the price of the car. Considering it takes more than 1% to upgrade from generic Fruit Loops to a brand name, the Carbon Black package seems like a value no-brainer. means no Carbon Black owner has ever clipped a coupon." -