1960s Maserati and Aston Martin

Here’s a story I wrote for a magazine a few years ago – later I helped find new homes for both cars.

Maserati Mexico & Aston Martin DB6 by Paul Blank

It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon on a typically sunny spring day in Monte Carlo and the daughter of a well-to-do Italian industrialist has just arrived in town. Gabriella enjoys the finer things in life that her father’s business success has allowed her to indulge in.

It is May, 1969. Recently Gabriella took delivery of a new Maserati Mexico. It’s a very sexy looking car, finished in light metallic blue with Borrani wire wheels which sparkle in the Mediterranean sunlight. She has driven down from her home in Milan for a weekend of fun in Monaco. The drive from Northern Italy takes most of the day, and after getting out of the Fiat 500 infested traffic jams of Milan, Gabriella relishes her first chance to put her foot down when she reaches the Autostrada.

Luckily, her brother is a racing driver who has achieved moderate success in sports cars and has taken Gabriella for a few days of tuition at local circuits. She knows how to enjoy the 290 horsepower that her Maserati’s quad-cam V8 motor produces.

Maserati has just launched the enlarged 4.7-litre version of this engine, supplanting the earlier 4.2-litre and gaining another 30 horsepower. The Mexico was first seen in 1965 and this new version is capable of 250km/h, and can accelerate to 100 km/h in just 7.5 seconds. That’s enough to let Gabriella beat her friend’s E-Type Jaguar and her brother’s Ferrari 330GTC at the Traffic Lights Grand Prix.

The elegant styling of the Mexico is the work of Italian company Vignale. With the traditional Maserati grille up front, well proportioned if restrained lines with some beautiful detailing, the Maserati oozes class without being too showy. Gabriella’s last boyfriend had one of those gaudy Corvette Stingrays and it was not approved of by her family.

The sun shone on Gabriella as she accelerated up to 160 km/h, her comfortable cruising speed in the Mexico. From this speed it was easy to knock the precise-moving, if slightly heavy gearstick back to fourth to overtake enthusiastic Alfa Romeo drivers and leave them in the gentle wake of the Maserati. The radio played the latest hits by Tom Jones, while the newly available standard fitment of air conditioning kept the spacious cockpit just right inside.

The vision out of the cockpit is exceptional for the time, the Mexico having a very low waistline and elegant, thin pillars. The interior abounds with gorgeous details, such as the polished wood surround for the rear cigarette lighter, and the long row of switches central on the dashboard.

On her drive to Monaco Gabriella decides that taking the back roads through the south of France to Nice, then on to Monaco would be fun. And she’s certainly right. Through the mountain passes the disc brakes get a work out as Gabriella rows through the gears, keeping the engine on song. She turns the radio off through the switchbacks and tight turns to take in the wonderful sounds that the four Weber carburetors, deep thrum of the exhaust and protesting Pirellis make. Luckily Gabriella had her Maserati fitted with the newly optional power steering.

While the Maserati is very much a luxury car, the sporting and racing pedigree shows through clearly. The car grips the road tenaciously, though there’s some body roll, once you’ve become used to it, it is just a natural part of the handling characteristics.

As Nice approaches, so does the traffic, but Gabriella knows there’s still the pleasure beyond of the Grande Corniche – the highest of the three choices of road between Nice and Monaco. With sheer drops, short tunnels and spectacular views of the bluer-than-blue water of the Cote d’Azur the only obstacles to complete driving pleasure are the scooters and old Renaults occasionally encountered.

So it’s not long before Gabriella cruises into Monaco, the car dealing well with traffic, showing no signs of being temperamental after the day’s drive. Pulling up right outside her favourite café Gabriella waltzes inside for a well deserved esspresso. Her Maserati awaits outside, the exhaust ticking quietly – gaining admiring glances from passers by.

Our man Derek is a Londoner and a self-made man. After several years establishing his building company, Derek has dabbled in the stock market with equal success. It seems that whatever he has turned his hand to works out very well. For his fortieth birthday Derek decided to reward himself.

After a series of Jaguar saloons, the most recent a 3.8-litre S-Type, Derek has decided that he would take the step up to a new Aston Martin. He had several acquaintances who had owned them over the years all of whom spoke very highly of the marque. The DB6 has been on the market for a few years and seemed just the ticket. A Rolls-Royce is too much an old man’s car for him and of course Derek would never consider a foreign car.

Aston Martin had developed the DB6 from the popular DB4 and DB5 models which had first been seen in the late 1950s. With elegant Italian styling by Touring and their lightweight Superleggera construction, these cars had been the darling of the well-heeled in England. The DB6 had a more spacious cabin, sitting on a longer wheelbase, and up-to-the minute new styling at the back, featuring a ducktail rear spoiler.

There was ample power, and while Derek was used to strong 6-cylinder engines in his Jags, the similar configuration of the Aston engine produced a lot more power. At 282 horsepower, that was a good sixty more than his heavier Jaguar had. Derek didn’t really care about the technical aspects of his car. The 3995cc capacity, twin overhead camshafts, rack and pinion steering and triple SU carburettors really meant nothing to him. Much less, the optional fuel injection…

He imagined himself as a sort of James Bond in his car – even though 007’s car was a DB5, not many onlookers knew the difference. Sitting on stylish 15×6 centre-lock Dunlop wire wheels, with the sleek aerodynamic shape, the DB6 looked the part. The styling, especially at the front, with the Aston Martin hallmark grille and side vents and the glass-covered headlamps shows an exceptionally smooth, sleek shape.

Derek parks pretty much as he likes, two wheels up on the footpath – you know the sort of guy. There isn’t really a parking space in front of his tobacconist on New Bond Street anyway. Luckily the DB6 is a tough sort of car, and could withstand the kind of treatment Derek dishes out.

Inside, the black leather seats are more suited to comfort than sportiness (a bit like Derek – no flared pants for him!) and the dashboard has an impressive array of instruments. The adjustable wood-rimmed steering wheel looks very attractive in a traditional kind of way. Derek didn’t bother ordering his car with the optional air conditioning, however he did get power steering, which is very useful for parking in central London if a tad vague at speed. He rather wonders if the instead of the 5-speed ‘box, perhaps the optional automatic transmission would have been a good idea. But then it wouldn’t be anywhere near as sporty would it?

The DB6 is pretty well fitted out, with electric windows, lockable glovebox, passenger grab handle, deep pile carpet and even a fire extinguisher.

Derek finds the whole Beatles phenomenon just too unpleasant and plays classical music on the 8-track sound system he has just had fitted.

Inside, the car is completely trimmed in black, the seats, door trims, dashboard and carpet – all making it a rather claustrophobic place. Fortunately Derek had the foresight to have a large Webasto fabric sunroof fitted by the dealer before he took delivery. With that open, the glimpses of London sun shine in and keep the cockpit from being too gloomy.

By comparison to Gabriella’s Maserati, the Aston’s handling is not quite so fluid, but the roadholding is nevertheless excellent. Girling disc brakes front and rear pull the car up very well, though they’re prone to a bit of fade in heavy use – not that Derek would ever find out.

There’s a lovely bark to the exhaust note from the Tadek Marek designed engine too. Under strong acceleration the nose lifts and when braking heavily it dips noticeably.

Unfortunately Derek’s DB6 is destined to spend almost all of its time in central London, but if Derek was ever to take the car out in the country, he’d find the top speed of 145mph and vivid acceleration a revelation. This car is much faster than any of his Jaguars, but he never really explored their performance potential either. Still, Derek only keeps his cars for two years, so hopefully the next owner of his DB6 will appreciate what this thoroughbred is really all about.

Aston Martin built 1567 DB6s, plus another 215 of the coveted convertible version called the Volante. The last DB6 was made in 1970 by which time the new DBS was in full swing. Maserati on the other hand only made 482 examples of the Mexico, with production finishing in 1972.

Today both of these are very rare and desirable cars for collectors. Naturally the Maserati is seen in fewer numbers and only a handful exists in Australia. The fine example photographed is a 1970 model owned by Perth-based enthusiast Warren. He bought the car having seen it advertised in Unique Cars. While the car was in very good condition when Warren bought it, the car has been the subject to detailed improvements to bring it up to top condition.

The Mexico gets used only occasionally as Warren works away much of the time. When he’s in town and the sun is shining, he uses it every chance he’s got.

Perth owner Ken’s Aston Martin DB6 is finished in beautiful, rich Dubonet Red, with an all-black interior. It first came to Australia in the mid-1970s and has benefited from refurbishment before Ken bought it. Having previously owned a couple of British sports cars – an MG TC and a Marcos, Ken had been looking for an Aston Martin for a while, though not seriously hunting.

When this DB6 became available, he found that the car had a good history and decided to buy it saying “If I don’t do it now I never will”. That was six years ago and he’s never looked back.

“I’ve only done routine maintenance on the car” and Ken says that the car gets out at least every couple of weeks. “We took it on a run to Kalgoorlie with the club, and have been south to Margaret River with the car.” says Perth-based Ken. It is definitely a car he intends to keep forever.

These two very exclusive cars would have vied for the same customer’s money when new. Each has vast amounts of character, style, exclusivity and performance to match. How would someone choose between two such rare beauties? It’s just a matter of personal taste.