1965 Aston Martin DB5 Convertible

The DB5 convertible may be rightly regarded as the perfected Aston Martin-the product of deliberate and steady improvement in performance,reliability, comfort and appearance to a plane unequalled by its Continental rivals. The DB5 flowed smoothly from the DB4, gaining a small measure of displacement (from 3.7 to 4.0 liters) and power (from 240 to 282 horsepower). Its body flowed even more smoothly, adopting the covered headlights pioneered on the short-wheelbase DB4GT by Zagato and offered on some later DB4GTs. The DB5 body is the essence of refined design: beautiful, sophisticated and free of non-functional embellishment.

The DB5's Tadek Marek-designed alloy block, dual overhead-camshaft, inline six- cylinder engine had been introduced in 1958 in the DB4, similar in concept and layout to the W.O. Bentley-designed Lagonda engine used in earlier David Brown Astons. After several years of development, it provided ample horsepower for high-speed touring...