Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition revealed

Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition Coupe - cost £186,582

Aston Martin are to take a pair of ‘new’ models to Frankfurt in the DBS Carbon Edition Coupe and DBS Carbon Edition Volante.

There must come a point, somewhere along the line, where Aston Martin actually makes a new car. But that’s no time soon, so the new models are a further re-hash of the range with the Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition making a début in both coupé and Volante guises.

Apart from saving money on developing a new Aston Martin platform, AML are obviously saving money on employing anyone to come up with new names for their Limited Edition models. The last ‘Limited Edition’ DBS we had was the DBS Carbon Black (well, apart from the oddly named and oddly inspired DBS ‘Bez’).

Both coupé and Volante DBS Carbon are available in Flame Orange and Ceramic Grey together with the existing Carbon Black, and the option to opt for a ‘Satin’ finish to the paintwork. Don’t.

To add to the custom paint jobs, the DBS Carbon Edition comes with 10-spoke gloss-black diamond turned alloys with black callipers as standard, although you can opt for red, yellow, orange of grey if you feel so inclined. Other exterior flourishes include carbon fibre mirror heads, warm black grill, smoked rear lights and carbon rear lamp in-fills.

Inside the DBS carbon gets a titivate too, with semi analine leather in black or orange, quilted leather headlining, carbon fibre fascia with a carbon weave Aston Martin say has been “…positioned exactly to follow the form of the dashboard…by hand”. There’s even carbon fibre on the flappy-paddle edges and the de rigueur ‘Carbon Fibre Special Edition’ plaque with laser-etched metal inlay.

Thankfully, Aston Martin has brought the DBS in to the 21st century with a Garmin SatNav that actually knows where most towns are – and is willing to tell you – and proper windscreen wipers.

We may moan about the lack of innovation from Aston Martin – and the lack of a new platform – but we have no argument with this Limited Edition DBS. It’s as beautiful and desirable as every other Aston Martin still is, despite ageing underpinnings.

The Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition goes on sale at the start of 2012 at £186,582 for the coupé and £195,581 for the Volante – around a £6k premium over the standard DBS.