The Ringbrothers have raised the bar for concept car-style builds once again, with a ’71 Aston Martin DBS build dubbed ‘Octavia.’ Rather than debut the new build at the SEMA Show as usual, the covers came off at The Quail, an invite-only show held during Monterey Car Week at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel, California.

And while Octavia riffs on the James Bond theme with a few subtle features throughout the build, the actual famous James Bond Aston was a 1964 DB3 , which made its debut in Goldfinger and featured in many other Bond flicks including Thunderball and GoldenEye.

Even so, the DBS model that Octavia is based on did make one appearance in a Bond flick, namely a ’69 model in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – starring Australia’s own George Lazenby.

The Bond riffs throughout the car include the name (taken from Octopussy), a Martini glass-shaped dipstick handle and the colour, which is dubbed ‘Double-O-Silver’. And the rocker covers on the Coyote engine read ‘Aston Martini’.

“This build is our most-ambitious,” says Jim Ring. “It’s the wildest thing we’ve done and the most challenging,” says Jim Ring, one half of the brotherly team that run the Wisconsin-based shop.

“What’s exciting about this build is that we’re lucky to have the young guys working with us to bring the technology that we use,” says Mike Ring. “Even the technology we use for the machining the foam on the seats. It’s crazy stuff.”

The car is based on a Roadster Shop chassis, with a CAD-designed body built out of carbonfibre. The only original Aston Martin surfacing that remains is the arc of the side windows.

“Take the doors, for example,” says Jim. “We’ve had to replace every hinge, latch, and panel. Everything is custom. We’ve integrated parts from Aston Martin, Cadillac, Ford Mustang, even pick-up parts – and that’s just to give us electric windows and a different exterior panel profile.”

The shape of Octavia is radically different to the original vehicle. For starters, the guards are 8in wider at the front and 10in wider at the rear, but let’s just say every single part of the car has been redesigned by Gary Ragle. The body is supported by a structural rollcage, welded to the chassis.

Under clamshell bonnet is a Wegner Motorsports Coyote V8, with a custom-made Harrop blower to allow the air intake to come through the bonnet, along with other mods to suit the design philosophy of the car. Behind the engine is a Bowler Tremec TR-6060 Magnum six-speed and a Strange nine-inch.

Many driveline and suspension parts are painted in a contrasting green colour called ‘Nuclear Olive.’

As you can see in the photos, the interior is a work of art by Steve Pearson at Upholstery Unlimited. The trim is mostly done in 3D-printed in stainless steel, with brass doorhandles. The dash and console were machined from foam with carbonfibre overlays, which was then in turned covered in tan leather panels.

There is so much to this car that a book could be written on it, but for now, check out the video to hear direct from the team how it all came together.

OCTAVIA SPECS

• Engine: Wegner Motorsports 5.0-litre Coyote V-8 with custom 2.65-litre Harrop supercharger
• Trans: Bowler Tremec TR-6060 Magnum six-speed manual Transaxle and torque tube
• Rear: Strange Engineering Ford 9in housing with S/S 31-spline axles
• Front brakes: Custom Type-3 380x34mm rotors and Brembo GT M6 calipers
• Rear brakes: Custom Type-3 380x28mm rotors and Brembo GT M4 calipers
• Rims: One-off three-piece HRE Wheels with centre-lock and Porsche pin-drive hubs