Overview

The Aston Martin DB Mk III is a sports car manufactured by Aston Martin. The DB Mk III was introduced in 1957 and production ended in 1959. The mark III was redesigned and now featured a DB3S style grille and a revised instrument panel with a similar design as the grille. A new improvement were Girling disc brakes.

Variants

The Mk III was available in three body styles, hatchback, coupe and drophead coupe. The engine used was a redesigned version of the 2.9-Liter engine used on the DB2/4 model. Responsible for the engine’s redesign was Tadek Marek, who also began working on the DB4 engine.

The new engine had a total output of 162 horsepower and 176 lb-ft of torque. The Mk III accelerated from 0-60 mph in 8.6 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 16.8 seconds. The maximum speed reached was 118 mph and a fuel consumption of 22 mpg was recorded. The sole transmission choice was a four speed manual transmission.

A dual exhaust option was available for the engine. With the dual exhaust system power increased to 178 horsepower. It sprinted from 0-60 mph in 8.2 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 16.6 seconds. The maximum speed reached was 124 mph and fuel economy remained the same.

A revised version of the engine which featured three twin-choke carburetors, special long duration camshafts, a dual exhaust system and high compression system was also available but only 10 cars were ever fitted with this engine. The total output of the engine was 195 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. With this engine installed the car accelerated to 60 mph from standstill in 7.9 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 16 seconds. A maximum speed of 127 mph was reached. This engine was mated to the standard four speed manual transmission.

The most popular high-output version of the engine was also a triple carburetor, dual exhaust engine that produced 180 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. Most of the car equipped with this engine were Drophead Coupe models. In performance test the car accelerated from 0-60 mph in 8.6 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 16.8 seconds. The maximum speed reached was 124 mph and fuel economy rating was 18 mpg.

After the first 100 units were produced Aston decided to fit the Garling disc brakes as standard to the front wheels of the Mk III. Many of the 100 cars previously produced were upgraded.

Additional Information

In 1959 “Road & Track” magazine praised the vehicle for everything except its price. They called it “a car for connoisseurs”.

The Mk III was also featured in the novel Goldfinger, where James Bond is driving a DB III with gadgets installed. For the film adaptation of the book the film makers used an Aston Martin DB5.