This could be the Nürburgring. Ahead the tarmac rises, kinks left and enters a long, dark, green canopy and in an instant we’re into it. “I call this section ‘The Labyrinth,’” says the German-accented driver over the basso profundo rumble of the big V12 which is surging out and back athletically as we jink the 2008 Aston Martin DBS between corners.

Finally we barrel out of the Labyrinth’s final bend and down the straight that follows, the V12 running all the way out to its redline. Then near silence: He’s demonstrating the carbon-ceramic brakes, and if you listen carefully you can just hear me choking as I hang hard from my seatbelt.

This isn’t the Nürburgring. It’s the B-something in Warwickshire, northwest of London. We’re not going to tell you which one exactly; it’s too good. And although the driver is German and a racer, he is better known as the CEO of Aston Martin.

Dr. Ulrich Bez took the company from producing 800 cars when he joined in 2000 to 7,000 now and over 9,000 when the Rapide arrives in 2009. He also led Aston Martin to independence from Ford earlier this year and the car we’re riding in, the DBS, is the first to be launched since.

You Saw It in Bond
He’s an engaging character, Bez. The recording of our fairly committed tour of the Warwickshire countryside also features him peppering his technical explanations with sound effects, patting my hand as he checks to see if I’m OK after the brake test and Read the rest of this entry »

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