Latest news with #Ringbrothers
Motor 1
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
The Ringbrothers Aston Martin DBS Is a Proper Restomod
Ringbrothers is renowned for taking classic muscle cars and turning them up a notch. You might remember their beautiful Buick Grand National from a few years back, or the stunning Mercury Cougar . For Monterey Car Week, Ringbrothers has done it again—but this time, it's not an American muscle car. This build hails from the UK. Although it's a far cry from the shop's typical Buicks and Mercurys, the 1971 Aston Martin DBS "Octavia" might be one of Ringbrothers' best restomods to date. As you can probably tell, this is far from a stock DBS. With help from designer Gary Ragle, Ringbrothers came up with custom bodywork that extended the wheelbase by 3.0 inches, widened the track by 8.0 inches, and stretched the rear width by another 10.0 inches. Beneath the wild bodywork is a Roadster Shop Fast Track Stage III chassis with fully independent rear suspension. RS SV by Fox Racing fixed-valve coilovers sit at all four corners, while HRE wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires hide massive 14-inch Brembo brakes. Under the hood is a 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 built by Wegner Motorsports, topped with a custom 2.65-liter Harrop supercharger. The result? A staggering 805 horsepower. For context, Aston Martin's original 5.3-liter V-8 made just 320 hp back in the day. Power is sent to the wheels through a six-speed manual transaxle. Source: Ringbrothers In collaboration with Gemini Technology Systems, the custom carbon-fiber bodywork took 3,900 hours to design in CAD, followed by another 8,200 hours of hands-on development. It's finished in a Double-0 Silver paint job with Nuclear Olive Green accents. Inside, the cabin features a refined mix of caramel-colored leather, carbon fiber trim, 3D-printed stainless steel accents, and a liberal helping of "Octavia" badges throughout. "It's nearly impossible to convey all the intricacies that went into engineering this car. It pushed us to innovate beyond our comfort zone and create a moving mechanical work of art," said Ringbrothers co-owner Mike Ring. "We've combined the ferocity of American muscle with the stiff upper lip of English sophistication and motoring. 'OCTAVIA' is beyond anything we've built before and a celebration of the hot rodding spirit, unveiled in Monterey on the grandest stage of them all." Rinbrothers doesn't list a price for this absolutely beautiful Brit, but that kind of attention to detail almost certainly won't come cheap. The Latest From Monterey Car Week This Is Lamborghini's Fastest, Most Powerful Hypercar Ever It's Your Last Chance to Buy a Ford GT This Is the New Lexus Supercar Concept—And It Looks Spectacular The QX65 Monograph Evokes the Last Good Infiniti Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
The Drive
4 days ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
This 1971 Aston Martin DBS Has Evolved Into an Entirely New Muscle Machine
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Technically, what you're looking at here is a 1971 Aston Martin DBS. It doesn't feel right to call it that, though, because the pros at Ringbrothers spent more than 12,000 hours turning it into something new. It's now a custom creation they call Octavia, and no matter how I try to sum it up, I can't do it justice. Ringbrothers says the only original components left on the car are the power window switches. That should give you an idea of just how much went into crafting this wide, low-slung looker. The chassis comes from Roadster Shop, and dimensionally, the restomod is eight inches wider up front, 10 inches wider at the back, and longer altogether as the front wheels were moved up three inches. Because of this, it takes on an entirely fresh stance. Ringbrothers 'It's nearly impossible to convey all the intricacies that went into engineering this car,' says Mike Ring, co-owner of Ringbrothers. 'It pushed us to innovate beyond our comfort zone and create a moving mechanical work of art. We've combined the ferocity of American muscle with the stiff upper lip of English sophistication and motoring. Octavia is beyond anything we've built before and a celebration of the hot-rodding spirit.' That's saying a lot, considering what the Wisconsin-based shop has done before. We've covered plenty of builds from the Ringbrothers in the past, including my personal favorite, a 1,200-horsepower K5 Blazer that's also its own thing entirely. Octavia supposedly cost its owner $2 million. Ringbrothers This being an Aston at its core, there are plenty of nods to James Bond. The name Octavia is owed to a main character in one of the spy series' installations, and the license plate cleverly says 'SHAKN.' I personally like the oil dipstick best, whose handle is shaped like a martini glass with an olive inside. It's the little things. I usually don't wait this long to talk about the powertrain, but there's just that much going on with this one. Ringbrothers ditched the old 5.3-liter V8 for an 805-hp, 5.0-liter Ford Coyote engine built by Wegner Automotive. Of course, it features a 2.65-liter Harrop Engineering blower on top. Then there's a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual that sends power to a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 tires out back. The wheels are staggered at 19×11 inches in the front and 20×13 inches at the rear. Braking is handled by 14-inch Brembos, while handling is made better than any old DBS ever dreamed with Fox RS SV coilovers. Restomods aren't always my bag, and doubly so when they're character-themed, but I can easily look past that to see how magnificent this car is. You'd surely do a double-take if you saw it, even at The Quail during Monterey Car Week, which is where Ringbrothers unveiled it on Friday. Knowing the level of opulence on display elsewhere at that event, it's clear that they've made something worth ogling over. Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@
Car and Driver
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Ringbrothers Octavia Is a Fully Custom Fabricated 1971 Aston Martin DBS
A bespoke build of a 1971 Aston Martin DBS by Ringbrothers has resulted in an enticing mix of retro and modern. The one-off British muscle car was commissioned by a very trusting customer who let the car-building geniuses run wild with their ideas. Several cheeky nods to the James Bond movie series are incorporated into the design, as are high-end materials such as carbon fiber and 3D-printed stainless steel. The custom car-builders at Ringbrothers revealed their latest project car, the Octavia, at the 2025 edition of The Quail. Commissioned by an unnamed customer, the Octavia started its life as a 1971 Aston Martin DBS. But the British muscle car has been rethought from tip to tail, with an extraordinary level of detail going into every single part of the car. View Photos Ringbrothers While it was initially intended to be a straightforward restomod, the car's designer, Gary Ragle, told Car and Driver during a sneak peek of the car that, during the process of imagining what the car could be, the project "snowballed" into a fully custom job. While the Octavia pays homage to the original DBS, almost nothing you see here is original. In fact, one of the Ringbrothers co-owners says that the only parts reused from the donor vehicle are the power window switches. View Photos Ringbrothers It being an Aston Martin, the team leaned into a James Bond theme, incorporating nods to the spy-thriller franchise throughout the design. The engine dipstick handle, for example, is a custom-made martini glass complete with an olive. The handbrake lever, rendered in brilliant chrome, has the look of a handgun. The exterior paint color? Double-O Silver. The License plate? SHAKN. Even the name Octavia is a reference to the title character from the famous Bond film Octopussy. Look closely at the valve-cover gaskets on the engine, and you'll notice they don't say Aston Martin, but Aston Martini. Like any good Bond car, the Octavia features some novel tech too, including auto-dimming sunshades sourced from automotive supplier Gentex. The flip-down shades vary their transparency depending on how the sun is shining on them, leaving a clear view of the road ahead regardless of the weather. View Photos Ringbrothers In case you need to outrun some villains, the Octavia is built to perform on the road. The original powertrain was jettisoned in the car's transition, and in its place is a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 from Ford Performance. The engine makes a stout 805 horsepower and drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. The track has been widened by eight inches in the front and ten inches in the rear, mostly to accommodate new, more muscular bodywork and bespoke three-piece HRE centerlock wheels. The wheelbase has been stretched by three inches, too. A set of four Fox RS SV coilovers serves suspension duty, and the chassis is custom-tuned by Illinois-based fabricator Roadster Shop. View Photos Ringbrothers Carbon fiber has been used heavily throughout the design, and Ringbrothers sought out state-of-the-art 3D printing techniques to create many of the custom trim pieces you see in the car. A supplier called Azoth 3D, located right up the road from C/D headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is responsible for printing stainless-steel elements such as the shift knob, headrest collars, and custom Aston Martin logos for the exterior. Ringbrothers hasn't named their client, nor have they disclosed how much was spent to complete the project, but they did explain that the buyer let them have full creative control. The Octavia's debut at The Quail marks the company's first new product unveiling at Monterey Car Week, and the hope is to have the final touches done on the chassis and have it ready for some shake-down laps before the next SEMA show in November. Drew Dorian Managing Editor, Buyer's Guide Drew Dorian is a lifelong car enthusiast who has also held a wide variety of consumer-focused positions throughout his career, ranging from financial counselor to auto salesperson. He has dreamed of becoming a Car and Driver editor since he was 11 years old—a dream that was realized when he joined the staff in April 2016. He's a born-and-raised Michigander and learned to drive on a 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. His automotive interests run the gamut from convertibles and camper vans to sports cars and luxury SUVs.
Car and Driver
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
View Photos of the Ringbrothers Octavia Aston Martin DBS
The give the Aston Martin even more dramatic proportions, Ringbrothers stretched the wheelbase by three inches and widened the track by eight inches up front and ten inches at the rear.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
View Photos of the Ringbrothers Octavia Aston Martin DBS
Read the full story The Ringbrothers Octavia is a muscular reimagining of a 1971 Aston Martin DBS by the Wisconsin-based restomod specialists, and the first vehicle they have revealed during Monterey Car Week. Initially meant to be a simple restomod, the project spiraled into a fully rebuilt car, with only the power window switches remaining from the original car. The original engine has been swapped out, replaced by a beefy supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 from Ford Performance. The engine produces a healthy 805 horsepower, sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. The give the Aston Martin even more dramatic proportions, Ringbrothers stretched the wheelbase by three inches and widened the track by eight inches up front and ten inches at the rear. The Octavia rides on bespoke three-piece HRE centerlock wheels and a set of four Fox RS SV coilovers. The interior is decked out in rich tan leather with plenty of sleek-looking metal trim. The name Octavia comes from the James Bond film Octopussy, one of several nods to the famous spy movie franchise throughout the car. Another fun Bond reference is the engine dipstick handle, which has been fashioned into a martini glass with an olive. The Octavia uses carbon fiber extensively, while much of the custom trim found in the cabin was 3D printed. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
