Aston Martin DB12 vs Aston Martin DBS

What's the difference?

Aston Martin is best known for two things - being James Bond’s preferred mode of transport and building grand tourers.

The new DB12 is the latest in a long line of memorable grand tourers from Aston Martin that dates back to the DB2 of the 1950s and runs all the way through icons like the DB5 (1963-65) and more recently the DB7 (1993-2003), DB9 (2004-2016) and DB11 (2016-2023).

Except there’s a slight problem with this lineage - Aston Martin doesn’t think the DB12 is a ‘grand tourer.’ Instead, the brand has decided to define it as a ‘Super Tourer’ and claims this is a car that “takes a new direction” for a brand that is more than 100 years old.

In mid-2018, to coincide with its global launch, CarsGuide was invited to a hush-hush, behind-closed-doors preview of the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera. 

Hidden within a maze of black velvet drapes at a low-key, inner-city Sydney location sat the famous British brand’s new flagship, a stunning 2+2 GT with the performance, dynamics and luxurious quality to match its exotic looks and $500K+ price tag.

On that day, for whatever reason, I never thought the opportunity to steer it would come my way. But two years later, almost to the day, the key to this ‘Sabiro Blue’ beauty was mine.

The DBS Superleggera sits at the top performance coupe table, mixing it with Bentley, Ferrari, and Porsche’s finest. But maybe you already have one (or more) of those. Which begs the question, does this imposing V12 machine do enough to qualify for an extra space in your garage?