The DBS restomod features carbon bodywork and a supercharged Ford Coyote V8 making 805 hp
by Chris Chilton
August 15, 2025 at 17:00
- Restomod legend Ringbrothers has picked an English classic for its latest build.
- ‘Octavia’ started life as a 1971 DBS, the car that evolved into the first V8 Vantage.
- The stretched chassis has a wider track and the engine gets a 6-speed manual.
Wisconsin-based Ringbrothers consistently wows with the attention to detail on its builds, but what’s even more appealing is its willingness to reimagine cars that almost no one has thought of restomodding. And this year, the company that reminded us how epic the AMC Javelin could look with a little love and stuffed an LT4 V8 into a vintage Roller has debuted a stonking new take on a classic Aston Martin at Monterey Car Week.
The project started with a tired blue 1971 DBS , the model that served as the bridge between the better known classically-styled DB6 and the muscular V8 fastback and its brawnier V8 Vantage offshoot that followed. But if the Vantage was hairy, Octavia is a full on Sasquatch.
Power with personality
After 12,000 hours of work it now features carbon fiber bodywork and a supercharged Ford Coyote V8 that thumps out 805 hp (816 PS) and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed Tremec manual transmission.
Custom valve covers on the Coyote modified to look like the ones on the original Tadek Marek-designed V8 read ‘Aston Martini,’ a tongue-in-cheek reference to James Bond’s favorite drink. Another is the dipstick handle machined to look like a martini glass.
Related: Ringbrothers’ Chevy K5 Blazer Hides A Toyota Secret Underneath
Compared with the original Aston DBS, Ringbrothers’ car has a 3-inch (76 mm) longer wheelbase and gorgeous three-piece center-lock wheels from Ragle Design and HRE result in a much wider track. Behind the rims are custom 14-inch Brembo brakes, Fox coilovers and a Roadster Shop Fast Track chassis.
A cabin with contrasts
Ringbrothers
Billet aluminum, carbon fiber, brass and leather make the cabin a weird mix of classic and modern, luxury and performance, but it totally works and still retains the spirit of the original DBS. The old timer never had an armory of cameras though, or Gentex Corporation’s clever auto dimming visors.
“Octavia is a combination of state-of-the-art fabrication and imagination. We asked ourselves, ‘What would an MI6 agent drive on holiday?’ This was the result,” said of the build Ringbrothers‘ co-owner Jim Ring.
“We’ve combined the ferocity of American muscle with the stiff upper lip of English sophistication and motoring,” added cofounder Mike Ring. “Octavia is beyond anything we’ve built before and a celebration of the hot rodding spirit, unveiled in Monterey on the grandest stage of them all.”
Ringbrothers
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