Just as the roots run deep in the James Bond-Aston Martin relationship, so too is the crossover marketing potential between the two. For as long as 007 is mentioned, Aston Martin is never too far behind. We’ve seen the fruits that have sprouted from this relationship over the years. Now, we can add one more to the basket in the form of a new special edition Aston Martin, called the DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Edition. Excuse the obscenely long name of the SE since it pays tribute to the sixth James Bond movie of the same name. It just so happens that On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — the first Bond movie that didn’t star Sean Connery — is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and what better way to commemorate that milestone than by rolling out a 50-piece unit that’s inspired by the Aston that starred in the movie, the 1969 Aston Martin DBS. Unfortunately, the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Edition is only available in the U.K. Each model carries a starting price of £300,007.00, with first deliveries to starting the fourth quarter of this year. In case you’re wondering, Aston did add the £7 for gimmick’s sake. The total price converts to almost $380,000 based on current exchange rates.

What Makes the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty's Secret Service Edition Special?

From LEGO’s to video games, towels to special edition cars, the product and merchandise relationship between Aston Martin and the James Bond movie franchise is as deeply entrenched as any relationship you’ll see in the business. Very little about this partnership comes as a surprise anymore, but every so often, the two sides come together to present something that not only catches our collective attention but also makes us wonder how in the hell we’re going to get our hands on it.

Helplessness is a funny thing, isn’t it? That’s even more true when a special edition model like the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Edition is presented to you. Now, I’ll admit that I’ve seen a host of incredible special edition Aston Martin DBS models in the past. The DBS 59 Special Edition comes to mind, as do the DBS Tag Heuer Edition, and the Project AM 310. But the DBS Superleggera OHMSS Edition is something entirely different.

I suppose we can get this out of the way. This special edition model isn’t just based on the DBS — that model went the way of the dodo back in 2012 — but it’s based on the DBS Superleggera, the all-conquering 715-horsepower grand tourer that replaced the Vanquish S in 2018. It weighs just 3,733 pounds, a by-product of Aston Martin’s generous use of carbon fiber throughout its body. It’s also 160 pounds lighter compared to the DB11, which says a lot about its performance capabilities. We’ll get to that later.

2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera exterior dimensions

First, let’s talk about the star of the show: the DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Edition.

The first thing you’ll notice about the DBS Superleggera OHMSS Edition is its color. That movie featured a 1969 Aston Martin DBS that wore a distinctive shade of Olive Green in its body. Fast forward 50 years and the DBS Superleggera OHMSS Edition is wearing the same color. I don’t think I’ll be the only one who’ll say it, but this specific shade looks positively stirring on the DBS Superleggera. It’s far removed from all the usual color options Aston Martin offers, and there’s a cool story behind it, too. That’s what you want from an exclusive paint finish.

The exclusive touches don’t end there, either. Up front, the DBS Superleggera OHMSS Edition doesn’t come with a mesh grille like its standard counterpart. Instead, Aston Martin went old school, lifting the bright metal grille with six horizontal vanes from the movie version of the original DBS and fitting it into the modern-day special edition. It’s a nice callback, too, to the previous-generation DBS, which Aston Martin produced from 2007 to 2012. Historical nods notwithstanding, the grille design fits into the DBS Superleggera’s low-slung and hyper-aggressive persona.

The rest of the exterior touches are no less important in creating the overall look of the special edition DBS Superleggera. There’s special badging on the side strakes, too, in case you need to show off your special edition DBS Superleggera to anybody. You should show it off! Outside of the exclusive paint finish, the other highlight of this special edition DBS Superleggera is its wheels. I can’t decide if I like the body paint or the wheels more. I do love both, so I suppose that’ll do. The diamond turned forged wheels look downright spectacular. Throw in the size of the wheels — 21 inches —, and you’re looking at a provocative special edition DBS Superleggera with the perfect stance.

Black or white are the only two colors that make aesthetic sense here, and I’m glad Aston Martin opted for the former. A white interior doesn’t take long to get dirty. You don’t want that on a special edition Aston as pristine looking as this one. Fortunately, Aston threw in a few more luxury touches to enhance the classy vibe in the cabin. The headlining and controls, for example, are dressed in grey blend Alcantara to go with a fluted headliner. There are bespoke OHMSS micro perforation details on the seats, too while the backrest proudly shows off Aston Martin’s wings logo. As expected, the steering wheel comes by way of Q by Aston Martin, and knowing Aston’s personalization, nothing less than a satin wheel with carbon fiber and pure black leather bits will do for a car like the DBS Superleggera OHMSS. A few other details and equipment come standard, including the obligatory OHMSS plaque on the door sills. Likewise, Aston loaded up on the audio system with a Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system with a subwoofer cover wearing its own OHMSS embroidery.

About the only thing that feels out-of-place in this setup is the Spicy Red stitching on the seats, door handles, dashboard, and steering wheel. I’m not that big of a fan of breaks in a special edition’s color scheme, and I fear that’s what all this red stitching does to the overall presentation of the special edition DBS Superleggera. It’s not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but the shade of red pops out so much it’s hard to ignore it.

On that note, where’s the telescopic rifle in its glovebox? If the non-road-legal Goldfinger DB5s came with fake machine guns, where’s the fake rifle in this one? It’s really not that much of a complaint because every other detail in this SE makes you feel like you’re driving a car that 007 himself would drive. Speaking of which, Aston Martin’s also offering a drinks case that’s designed to fit into the DBS Superleggera’s trunk space. This is an option that you don’t have to avail if you don’t want to, but let’s face it: if you’re going to drive like James Bond, you might as well load up on the martinis like James Bond. Shaken, not stirred, indeed.

All of what you see here makes for one of the most compelling special edition models Aston Martin has created. It also helps that underneath all this presentation sits a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V-12 engine that produces a whopping 715 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. That’s 123 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque more than the model it replaced, the Vanquish S.

All that power travels to the rear wheels through a revised version of Aston’s ZF-source eight-speed automatic transmission. Drop the hammer on the gas pedal, and you can reach 62 mph from an idle position in just 3.4 seconds. Keep the accelerator pinned to the floor, and you can hit a top speed of 211 mph in no time. George Lazenby’s classic DBS won’t even know what hit it.

2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera drivetrain specifications

Everything checks out when it comes to the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Edition. Well, almost everything. This is the part where reality smacks us in the head. Only 50 units of the special edition DBS Superleggera will be made, and all 50 units are earmarked for the U.K. market. Boo. Even if we Aston Martin decides to feel generous, each unit still costs a staggering £307,007, which converts to about around $380,000 based on current exchange rates. I don’t suppose anybody has that kind of scratch lying around?

Oh, well. Even if the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Edition is literally out of our reach, we can take comfort with these press photos. That’s about as close as we in the U.S. will get to ever seeing one.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera.

Read our full review on the 1970 Aston Martin DBS.