1997 - 1998 Aston Martin DB7 - Sensual, Elegant and Athletic
It was March of 1993 and the Geneva Salon was buzzing as it usually does that time of the year. New product launches intertwined with announcements of future models kept all media representatives in a flurry of excitement. The biggest news was to come from one of the smallest of companies, Aston Martin. A new car proudly displaying the revered DB nameplate, as much in honor of past owner David Brown as it was and still is good marketing, was to be unveiled.
It took another six months for the DB7 to reach European showrooms despite the flood of initial orders. It then again took until 1997 to arrive in Canada. Initially much ado was made about its similarity to Jaguar's original F-Type concept, the thought of an Aston Martin pieced together from the parts bins of lowly Jaguar getting a few media elitists in a huff. Long since forgotten, the first generation DB7 will go down in history as a true Aston Martin.
That said what is a true Aston? Images of a certain British agent come to most everyone's mind when the exotic marque is mentioned. Just close your eyes and I bet you too can see a gorgeous silver DB5, careening around narrow hairpin corners while chasing a beautiful woman in a Mustang convertible. I can't remember which girl and can't even place if the scene is from 'Goldfinger' or 'From Russia With Love', but I'll never forget the car. How could I? For years the exact 007 movie car, complete with pop-up armor plating and machine gun fitted bumpers sat enshrouded in glass outside Frank Baker's, a local restaurant.