"I see a red door and I want it painted black. No colours anymore, I want them to turn black. I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black."
The fantastic words of the Rolling Stones. Now I have had had my fair share of black cars over the years. Starting with a Toyota Celica GT ST202. We did many European touring miles in that car and I still miss it. The wife loved it so much that when I told her it was time to move it on she begged me not to. She argued we should invest half the value of its replacement in rejuvenating it. It was duly overhauled complete with a new leather interior. It stayed with us another 6 years and was a spare car for its last 12 months. But lack of use forced me to move it on to a deserving home. It was replaced by a black Boxster.
And here she is shortly after that long ago refurb and touring Scotland for Hogmanay in 2007. A trip I went on with 2 Aston's an i6 and V12 DB7.
I wish I could have gone in this beauty though. It is not quite a Unicorn car. But pretty close to one. A DBS UB-2010. Not a car I had heard of before. Part of a limited run of 20 cars, where only 13 were actually built. And this is car number 12. Apparently only 1 manual Volante was built. Now that is the true unicorn car.
DBS V12 UB-2010 Volante « Aston Martins.com
But what about this car, what makes it so special? Well I absolutely love the colour of course. But the fact the interior is trimmed in fabric down the centre of the seats makes this a true Riviera cruiser. But I reckon that Bronze Metallic leather looks fantastic in the sunlight. Has anyone seen any Gaydon era cars with a half leather & half fabric seat? I cannot recall another.
Mr Ulrich Bex has even personally signed the car with his best sewing machine. I really do see myself cruising along the Corniche from St Raphael to Cannes and enjoying the sea breeze and the clifftop views.
I've enjoyed many a trip to southern France. Often taking the scenic route down and taking our time. We once went in the E Type shortly after buying it. Starting off at Good FoS and then banning ourselves from the Motorways and taking the 1960's roads. In England we even took the back roads to Dover via Battle, near Hastings. But If I was going to take this car to Frejus (our favourite place) we might just take a wine derived route. I can see it now. Reims for the Champagne, Beaune for the red burgundy, past Lake Annecy for the bread and cheese. Into the mountains via Val-d'Isere where I would take my overnight stop. In the morning I would be heading out onto the Col du Iseran. A beautiful mountain pass road that takes you to Italy without the traffic and onto Lac Du Mont-Cenis for a cheese and wine picnic lakeside.
After the picnic I would be heading over to Asti to pick up some cheap Fizz for my week long stopover in Frejus.
I would be driving along those coast roads as proud as a peacock in this V12 beauty and safely knowing it will stand out form the crowd without being shouty. What's not to love about V12 GT top-down cruising? Even all the carbon fibre is tastefully done. Mr Bez has wonderful taste, no wonder he put his name to this one.
Even my luggage worries are going to be taken care of with this seductress.
Now all I need to do is locate that manual Volante to know I will never see another one as beautiful. A true Unicorn car.
Extra lottery ticket for me this week.
Aston Martin Car Sales | Hatfield, Hertfordshire | Nicholas Mee & Co