Start with what the Aston Martin DB9 is: a 2+2 (car body style) / 2+2 2-door coupé / 2+2 2-door convertible with 5.9 L Aston Martin V12, built from 2004 to 2016, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. What it meant takes a little longer.
How it came about
The Aston Martin DB9 is a two-door grand tourer car that was produced by the British carmaker Aston Martin in Gaydon, Warwickshire. It was manufactured both as a coupé starting in 2004 and a convertible known as the Volante from 2005, until their discontinuation in 2016. Succeeding the DB7, which Aston Martin produced from 1994 until 2004, the DB9 was designed by Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker and debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003, while the Volante debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in the subsequent year. The DB9, which is built upon Aston Martin's vertical/horizontal platform, employs extensive use of lightweight materials—including aluminium and composite materials—throughout the body. Over its production, Aston Martin implemented a series of updates to the car; the first two—which occurred in 2008 and 2010—involved minor changes to elements like the headlights, tail-lights, engine and interior.
The third and final update occurred in 2012, when Aston Martin completely restyled the front fascia; its largely redesigned headlights gave the DB9 a design reminiscent of the 2011–2012 Virage. The company's racing division, Aston Martin Racing, adapted the DB9 for sports car racing in the form of the DBR9 and the DBRS9 for the FIA GT1 and the FIA GT3, respectively. They were extensively modified; the interior features were removed and the aluminium body panels were replaced by carbon fibre panels. The engine was modified in both cars to produce more horsepower and torque. Aston Martin released multiple special editions of the DB9, notably the DB9 LM, the DB9 Zagato Spyde
The hardware
The engine is 5.9 L Aston Martin V12. On the scales it comes to 1710 -. Drive goes through a 6-speed ZF 6HP transmission#6HP 26 / ZF 6HP 26 (Touchtronic) automatic transmission / automatic / 6-speed Graziano Trasmissioni / Graziano manual transmission / manual. The layout matters: the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, which puts the mass in the middle of the car and is why mid-engined cars change direction the way they do. The wheelbase is 2740 -. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
In the Aston Martin line-up the Aston Martin DB9 has a clear place: it replaced the Aston Martin DB7; it handed the line to the Aston Martin DB11; the factory was Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Hyundai Tucson, the Ford Mustang, the Chrysler 300. Its Aston Martin stablemates include the Aston Martin Mark II and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.