The forecourt of Canberra's Hyatt Hotel was both shaken and stirred when a fleet of current model and classic Aston Martins descended on the city on Friday .
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James Bond's preferred ride and arguably Britain's sexiest car brand, the Aston Martin is more than just the ultimate "boys toy".
Brand manager for Trivett Bespoke, Richard Quan, said although buyers did need to be well heeled there was no particular demographic. "Our customers have ranged from an 18-year-old girl to an 85-year-old male," he said.
The $3 million dollars plus worth of Aston Martins on public show at the Hyatt from 10am on Saturday aren't the only ultimate accessories for the fashionistas the company has brought to Canberra.
Calleija's Aston Martin jewellery collection, a limited edition range that features Australian Argyll diamonds and other precious stones, is on display here for the first time.
While the rocks and frocks were a nice touch, they were never going to upstage the cars themselves however.
Tim Lewis, a former president of the ACT Aston Martin Club, who has owned four of the cars over the past 31 years, only had eyes for the dream machines on Friday.
"I fell in love with the marque when I was 14 in 1959," the former sailor said. "That was the year Aston Martins finished first and second at Le Mans.
"I bought my first Aston in 1983. It was a 1969 model DB6. I was working in England at the time and they were as cheap as chips."
He brought the car back to Australia with him and replaced it in 1995 with a 1954 model DB2/4 also bought in the UK.
That was replaced by another DB6 which he kept for nearly 20 years.
It ultimately made way for his current car, a 2001 DB7 and the first of the V12 models, which he says is "wonderful".
The same superlative is the best way to describe the company's current hero car; the V12 Vantage S which, with a top speed of 328km/h, is the fastest production Aston Martin ever built.
Like the rest of the family, the Vantage S is an exquisitely handcrafted epiphany in steel, leather, alloy, carbon fibre and polished wood.
It has a monster of a motor; a six litre V12 producing 423Kw that drives the rear wheels and can hurl the 1745 kilogram machine to 100km/h in just 4.1 seconds.
A short drive around the back roads of the Cotter on Friday demonstrated why people become so addicted to these machines and their elegant, if less technologically advanced, predecessors.
The engine note is intended to be heard, the adaptive suspension combines flat cornering with a supple ride and the steering is firm and responsive but never heavy.
And the performance? Unbelievable. If it is your intention to break the speed limit then nothing else on the road will do so with such style and panache.
