"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" ASTON MARTIN DBS Vantage 1969
Current owner is Sigi Zidziunas and this is his Aston Martin story
It was at an early stage of my life, around 10 years old, living in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, that I learnt to recognise the exhaust notes for the different makes of cars. We lived on a not so busy road, but busy enough for me to lie in bed at nights, listening to the cars coming down a hill, changing gears. That was my beginnings of becoming a rev-head.
In those days, it was a big deal to have a car, and I loved it when our family went on picnics with other friends and went mushroom hunting in the countryside. As I got older, I fell in love with MGs, Austin Healeys, and just loved the Triumph TR4s - they looked really cool. I also loved the Jaguars, and of course the Aston Martins, which I had always hoped one day to own.
Just like any young teenager, I could hardly wait to get behind a steering wheel of any car, just wanted to drive, and was even tempted to see myself in a Gogomobile. My father surprised me when I was 17, buying me my first car, a Triumph (sadly not a TR4, but an old Herald Coupe), and said to me to do it up, and learn about cars. He also thought that it was not powerful enough to get me into trouble, but being teenagers, and with a bunch of school mates with similar passions, we started to play with the engines and suspensions, and learnt how to spray-paint. We all either helped each other or gave advice, and some of our group hotted up a Cortina, a FX Holden, and a variety of other clunkers to make them go, and some to go like hell. It help that one of the dads owned a service station and workshop, which was well used.
That was in our Box Hill Boys High School days, where in the latter school years it was forbidden to drive, so most of the rebels parked their cars a couple of blocks away. There were quite some interesting cars parked around: a hotted up Mark 5 Jag, even a SS100 Jag (which was written off leaving the poor kid in hospital for months), and a variety of others: a new MGA, an old MG TC, and my “B.R. Green Turtle Triumph”, on which I repeatedly had to replace the bearings and rings, trying to keep up with some of my more umphier mates.
Then came the Melbourne University days, still with the Green Turtle, since we were all just poor students, but it was transportation. It even got me to Adelaide to play basketball in the Intervarsity Games and back again. The Green Turtle was also a regular on weekends to get to Anglesea for surfing.
I started to get a bit frustrated with the lack of power, so with a friend, we bought and shared an old Mark 7 Jaguar for $200. It was a large black beast, but you could have a party in the back seat. That got my taste buds going, so I took on a night shift job at Paton Brakes as an inspector on an assembly line, which even gave me time to bring in my books to study. I earned heaps, enough to buy a very nice white Mark 2 Jaguar, and promptly bought chrome wire wheels and hubs from England. It was immaculate. I joined the Jag Car club, and with a couple of others who had the same make and colour, did sly wedding car gigs until we were jumped on by the authorities … sad. It was a good money spinner which kept us in beer and petrol for quite some time.
I had the Jag for years and it never missed a beat Then came work at a chemical company, where I was given a basic Holden Belmont as a company car. To me this was … UGH !!, so I started to leave the Holden at work, and drove the Jag to and from home. Until management told me off for parking in front of the M.D’s son’s Mark 2 Jag, same colour but nowhere near the immaculate condition of mine, and told to get rid of it since it was not the right “image”. So I left it at home from then on.
Then family, kids, added a 1959 MGA ,and after a couple of years, bought a small Water Treatment company with a colleague from work. We did very well in building it up to the point where I thought that the time was right to get my Aston Martin.
One day I saw this add from a car dealer in Glenhuntly, advertising an Aston Martin DBS Vantage 1969, and stated that it was an ex BOND CAR (which I took with a grain of salt). I went there, and in the show room was a Dino Ferrari, a Rolls Royce, and the Aston Martin, all around the same price. I fell in love with the Aston, took it for a big spin, came back and negotiated the price for around $14,200, which in those days, you could buy a house in a very good suburb for $20,000.
I joined the Aston Martin Owners Club in the U.K. and also the Victorian chapter, where it was confirmed when getting the Register of Cars, that it was in fact one of two ex "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Bond film cars which was originally registered as GKX 8G. So the car dealer was actually telling the truth.
To me, my dream had come true, and I drove it as my everyday car for about 5 years - even the kids were taken to school in this very noisy machine.
My business partner, to my annoyance, wanted one also after seeing mine. I tried to con him into a very nice Alfa Romeo Montreal which I discovered, but he went off and bought another DBS.
In those days, it was a big deal to have a car, and I loved it when our family went on picnics with other friends and went mushroom hunting in the countryside. As I got older, I fell in love with MGs, Austin Healeys, and just loved the Triumph TR4s - they looked really cool. I also loved the Jaguars, and of course the Aston Martins, which I had always hoped one day to own.
Just like any young teenager, I could hardly wait to get behind a steering wheel of any car, just wanted to drive, and was even tempted to see myself in a Gogomobile. My father surprised me when I was 17, buying me my first car, a Triumph (sadly not a TR4, but an old Herald Coupe), and said to me to do it up, and learn about cars. He also thought that it was not powerful enough to get me into trouble, but being teenagers, and with a bunch of school mates with similar passions, we started to play with the engines and suspensions, and learnt how to spray-paint. We all either helped each other or gave advice, and some of our group hotted up a Cortina, a FX Holden, and a variety of other clunkers to make them go, and some to go like hell. It help that one of the dads owned a service station and workshop, which was well used.
That was in our Box Hill Boys High School days, where in the latter school years it was forbidden to drive, so most of the rebels parked their cars a couple of blocks away. There were quite some interesting cars parked around: a hotted up Mark 5 Jag, even a SS100 Jag (which was written off leaving the poor kid in hospital for months), and a variety of others: a new MGA, an old MG TC, and my “B.R. Green Turtle Triumph”, on which I repeatedly had to replace the bearings and rings, trying to keep up with some of my more umphier mates.
Then came the Melbourne University days, still with the Green Turtle, since we were all just poor students, but it was transportation. It even got me to Adelaide to play basketball in the Intervarsity Games and back again. The Green Turtle was also a regular on weekends to get to Anglesea for surfing.
I started to get a bit frustrated with the lack of power, so with a friend, we bought and shared an old Mark 7 Jaguar for $200. It was a large black beast, but you could have a party in the back seat. That got my taste buds going, so I took on a night shift job at Paton Brakes as an inspector on an assembly line, which even gave me time to bring in my books to study. I earned heaps, enough to buy a very nice white Mark 2 Jaguar, and promptly bought chrome wire wheels and hubs from England. It was immaculate. I joined the Jag Car club, and with a couple of others who had the same make and colour, did sly wedding car gigs until we were jumped on by the authorities … sad. It was a good money spinner which kept us in beer and petrol for quite some time.
I had the Jag for years and it never missed a beat Then came work at a chemical company, where I was given a basic Holden Belmont as a company car. To me this was … UGH !!, so I started to leave the Holden at work, and drove the Jag to and from home. Until management told me off for parking in front of the M.D’s son’s Mark 2 Jag, same colour but nowhere near the immaculate condition of mine, and told to get rid of it since it was not the right “image”. So I left it at home from then on.
Then family, kids, added a 1959 MGA ,and after a couple of years, bought a small Water Treatment company with a colleague from work. We did very well in building it up to the point where I thought that the time was right to get my Aston Martin.
One day I saw this add from a car dealer in Glenhuntly, advertising an Aston Martin DBS Vantage 1969, and stated that it was an ex BOND CAR (which I took with a grain of salt). I went there, and in the show room was a Dino Ferrari, a Rolls Royce, and the Aston Martin, all around the same price. I fell in love with the Aston, took it for a big spin, came back and negotiated the price for around $14,200, which in those days, you could buy a house in a very good suburb for $20,000.
I joined the Aston Martin Owners Club in the U.K. and also the Victorian chapter, where it was confirmed when getting the Register of Cars, that it was in fact one of two ex "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Bond film cars which was originally registered as GKX 8G. So the car dealer was actually telling the truth.
To me, my dream had come true, and I drove it as my everyday car for about 5 years - even the kids were taken to school in this very noisy machine.
My business partner, to my annoyance, wanted one also after seeing mine. I tried to con him into a very nice Alfa Romeo Montreal which I discovered, but he went off and bought another DBS.
The Restoration
Then tragedy happened one day in Port Melbourne. Due to him looking elsewhere at some legs, he rammed into the back of me while I was stopped at lights. (It was very difficult to explain to the insurance company how two identical Aston Martins had this accident). That was the start of a very long restoration process.
Both cars were in a repair shop, Ian Crane’s Autologic in East Bentleigh, where on repairing the rear of my car, I decided to do the car up properly. We took out all the seats and internals and found the usual rust in the sills. We were replacing them when a small accident happened. One of the workers cut through the fuel line which ran under the sill and ignited causing a fire, enough to burn the headlining and dash. Lucky all of the seats and trimming was out of the car. So that prompted me to just do the whole body strip, engine totally reworked with new cylinder sleeves, new valves and seats to take unleaded petrol, running gear redone , wiring … everything.
I even copped the sand from the beach in Portugal in my face when removing all the body heat shields for the exhausts while lying under the car. Pity I did not save them.
I spent months on scraping the body deadener from all the metal surfaces, then sanding, priming and re-doing all the rust prevention. Ian and his team did a great job on the body work and in the paint boot. I sent off all the relevant parts to be re-chromed and all the stainless steel trims to be bought back to original glory. Every nut and bolt was taken out, inspected, re-gal, or replaced as per original. I wanted to keep the car as original as possible.
All the leather was rescued, and some replaced, but in general, all original. Only the carpets in the two main foot wells needed replacing to original spec’s.
The body work, painting and many other mechanical works was done by Ian Crane, (owner of Autologic), and over the years we became very good friends. It is a credit to his ability and kindness over the many many years of our association that the car came to be what it is today.
Also, there were many other suppliers of parts and services that were needed. A special thanks to the Aston Guru, Paul Sabine (Brooklands Classic Cars) who helped out with info and parts, upholsterer Tim Ward, and many others who were only too happy to see the project through.
From day one, we used to meet with other car enthusiasts with similar passions to tinker with their beloved toys. We would meet every Monday night after work at Ian Crane’s workshop where we all got dirty and worked on our projects, with a Pizza break for dinner. This went on for at least 25 years or more, and even today after we all had completed our projects, we (Ian, Alby, Doc. A, Doc B, Doc C, and later other additions) still meet most Mondays for a “Boy’s” night at a chosen restaurant or venue to solve the world’s problems.
Both cars were in a repair shop, Ian Crane’s Autologic in East Bentleigh, where on repairing the rear of my car, I decided to do the car up properly. We took out all the seats and internals and found the usual rust in the sills. We were replacing them when a small accident happened. One of the workers cut through the fuel line which ran under the sill and ignited causing a fire, enough to burn the headlining and dash. Lucky all of the seats and trimming was out of the car. So that prompted me to just do the whole body strip, engine totally reworked with new cylinder sleeves, new valves and seats to take unleaded petrol, running gear redone , wiring … everything.
I even copped the sand from the beach in Portugal in my face when removing all the body heat shields for the exhausts while lying under the car. Pity I did not save them.
I spent months on scraping the body deadener from all the metal surfaces, then sanding, priming and re-doing all the rust prevention. Ian and his team did a great job on the body work and in the paint boot. I sent off all the relevant parts to be re-chromed and all the stainless steel trims to be bought back to original glory. Every nut and bolt was taken out, inspected, re-gal, or replaced as per original. I wanted to keep the car as original as possible.
All the leather was rescued, and some replaced, but in general, all original. Only the carpets in the two main foot wells needed replacing to original spec’s.
The body work, painting and many other mechanical works was done by Ian Crane, (owner of Autologic), and over the years we became very good friends. It is a credit to his ability and kindness over the many many years of our association that the car came to be what it is today.
Also, there were many other suppliers of parts and services that were needed. A special thanks to the Aston Guru, Paul Sabine (Brooklands Classic Cars) who helped out with info and parts, upholsterer Tim Ward, and many others who were only too happy to see the project through.
From day one, we used to meet with other car enthusiasts with similar passions to tinker with their beloved toys. We would meet every Monday night after work at Ian Crane’s workshop where we all got dirty and worked on our projects, with a Pizza break for dinner. This went on for at least 25 years or more, and even today after we all had completed our projects, we (Ian, Alby, Doc. A, Doc B, Doc C, and later other additions) still meet most Mondays for a “Boy’s” night at a chosen restaurant or venue to solve the world’s problems.
The car
For the production of 1969‘s "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service", Aston Martin was asked to loan EON Productions two examples of its latest model, the Williams Towns-styled DBS, to be driven by the new Australian Bond, George Lazenby. Unlike the tricked-up DB5, the Special Vantage spec DBS not so factory standard, with a glove box mounted rifle and scope as the only “gadget”
The car used for most of the driving shots was press demonstrator registered GKX 8G, initially fitted with a standard engine but up-rated to an experimental engine developed in the Aston factory midway through 1969. Once free of filming and press duties, it was sold to the British School of Motoring for its performance driving course, then somehow it came back to the Aston Martin factory.
When a Mr. Chris Wallace was in the Aston Martin factory buying spare parts for a different Aston DBS, he was shown a car that had been repaired and had been sitting under covers in the factory. The manager mentioned that it was used in “that” Bond movie, OHMSS.
Chris negotiated and bought the car, then came to Sydney, Australia, and brought the car over to sell in October 1974. He even tried to sell it to Channel 10 who were not interested, also actually offered it to George Lazenby who also was not interested, finally put it up for sale on consignment to a dealer in Sydney.
While in Australia, after passing through a number of hands, in 1978 it was purchased by Sigi Zidziunas and used it as his daily driver until an unfortunate traffic accident in 1984 took the car off the road for a restoration that lasted 25 years! In the process, Sigi found sand from the Portuguese beach where an early scene in OHMSS was shot.
The main car GKX 8G was used for the external view shots, including the initial opening beach scene, various views of Bond driving through the film, and being the Wedding Car when Bond’s only real wife was shot and killed while sitting in the car at the end of the movie.
A second, identical car, FBH 207G, was also used in the filming, although principally for interior shots. Contemporary images show the car with a camera platform bolted to the side and the boot lid removed and cameras mounted. Both film and car were long regarded as less successful examples of their type, but OHMSS is now regarded as one of the best Bonds films and the DBS very much a must-have Aston Martin.
Specifications
The car is fitted with a /SVB spec. engine built up in the experimental department (only 13 ever produced). Like the /VA spec. of early DB6 Vantages, they had the Super Vantage head with higher compression, DB4GT exhaust cams on the inlet side, GT valves, modified valve timing, but different jets in the triple Weber 45DCOE carburetors. The slow running jets were modified by hand with a hole drilled through the mid-centre of the jet. The car has the standard ZF manual gearbox.
Top Speed 150 mph, Production: 787 total (V6 & V8, Left & Right).
5-Speed Manual Transmission, 4-Wheel Independent Suspension, 4-Wheel Disc Brakes.
3,995cc DOHC Vantage 6-Cylinder Engine, 3 Dual-throat Weber Carburetors, 325bhp at 5,750rpm.
The car used for most of the driving shots was press demonstrator registered GKX 8G, initially fitted with a standard engine but up-rated to an experimental engine developed in the Aston factory midway through 1969. Once free of filming and press duties, it was sold to the British School of Motoring for its performance driving course, then somehow it came back to the Aston Martin factory.
When a Mr. Chris Wallace was in the Aston Martin factory buying spare parts for a different Aston DBS, he was shown a car that had been repaired and had been sitting under covers in the factory. The manager mentioned that it was used in “that” Bond movie, OHMSS.
Chris negotiated and bought the car, then came to Sydney, Australia, and brought the car over to sell in October 1974. He even tried to sell it to Channel 10 who were not interested, also actually offered it to George Lazenby who also was not interested, finally put it up for sale on consignment to a dealer in Sydney.
While in Australia, after passing through a number of hands, in 1978 it was purchased by Sigi Zidziunas and used it as his daily driver until an unfortunate traffic accident in 1984 took the car off the road for a restoration that lasted 25 years! In the process, Sigi found sand from the Portuguese beach where an early scene in OHMSS was shot.
The main car GKX 8G was used for the external view shots, including the initial opening beach scene, various views of Bond driving through the film, and being the Wedding Car when Bond’s only real wife was shot and killed while sitting in the car at the end of the movie.
A second, identical car, FBH 207G, was also used in the filming, although principally for interior shots. Contemporary images show the car with a camera platform bolted to the side and the boot lid removed and cameras mounted. Both film and car were long regarded as less successful examples of their type, but OHMSS is now regarded as one of the best Bonds films and the DBS very much a must-have Aston Martin.
Specifications
The car is fitted with a /SVB spec. engine built up in the experimental department (only 13 ever produced). Like the /VA spec. of early DB6 Vantages, they had the Super Vantage head with higher compression, DB4GT exhaust cams on the inlet side, GT valves, modified valve timing, but different jets in the triple Weber 45DCOE carburetors. The slow running jets were modified by hand with a hole drilled through the mid-centre of the jet. The car has the standard ZF manual gearbox.
Top Speed 150 mph, Production: 787 total (V6 & V8, Left & Right).
5-Speed Manual Transmission, 4-Wheel Independent Suspension, 4-Wheel Disc Brakes.
3,995cc DOHC Vantage 6-Cylinder Engine, 3 Dual-throat Weber Carburetors, 325bhp at 5,750rpm.
Summary
Sigi Zidziunas, owner Aston Martin
Born in Germany (Lithuanian Parents).
Australian Citizen and resides in Melbourne, Victoria.
Fellow, Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chartered Engineer, Chartered Scientist.
Managing Director Tamar Group P/L. Address: 3 Age Street, Cheltenham, Victoria.
Contact details: Email [email protected]
Websites: www.tamargroup.com.au www.tea-tree.net
My wife and I actually met George Lazenby on many occasions, and spent quite a bit of time with him, including dinners, interviews, and displays in the two SPYFEST weeks in Goulburn where he originally came from. Also the times when he came to Melbourne for other exhibitions. He had many interesting stories, quite a lad.
Published magazine articles
AUTOSPORT (UK) September 12 1969 page 28-29, AM DBS Road test by John Bolster.
UNIQUE CARS (Oct-Nov 2005 issue 253), while still under restoration. AUST. CLASSIC CAR (July 2009 No.192). 2009 SEPTEMBER CLASSIC & SPORTS CAR, BORN AGAIN BOND. 2018 CLASSIC & SPORTS CAR, ASTON MARTIN GREATEST HITS, COLLECTORS EDITION. ASTON MARTIN QUARTERLY MAGAZINE (Summer 2011).
Displays
The car has been a hit each time she displays herself, and there have been a lot including:
2010 and 2013 MOTORCLASSICA, many FORMULA 1 (Melb) displays, CLIPSAL 500 ADELAIDE).
ARMAGEDDON (MELB) with George Lazenby, SUPANOVA Melbourne with George Lazenby.
2015 SEPTMBER SPYFEST GOULBURN AUSTRALIA with George Lazenby.
2016 SEPTMBER SPYFEST GOULBURN AUSTRALIA with George Lazenby.
DESIGNING 007 (50 years of Bond Style) in 2013 at Melbourne Museum.
VACC, RACV EVENTS and many others.
Lashana star of the new Bond movie
Mercedes to take 20% stake in Aston Martin
NO TIME TO DIE – Official Trailer (Universal Pictures) HD
ABC news - James Bond Aston Martin sells at auction in 2019
The "submarine car" used in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me has sold
Hidden in an unlikely workshop is a car that would shake, if not stir, the souls of car enthusiasts
Note: Article completed in November 2021 and Sigi provided all photos.
Born in Germany (Lithuanian Parents).
Australian Citizen and resides in Melbourne, Victoria.
Fellow, Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chartered Engineer, Chartered Scientist.
Managing Director Tamar Group P/L. Address: 3 Age Street, Cheltenham, Victoria.
Contact details: Email [email protected]
Websites: www.tamargroup.com.au www.tea-tree.net
My wife and I actually met George Lazenby on many occasions, and spent quite a bit of time with him, including dinners, interviews, and displays in the two SPYFEST weeks in Goulburn where he originally came from. Also the times when he came to Melbourne for other exhibitions. He had many interesting stories, quite a lad.
Published magazine articles
AUTOSPORT (UK) September 12 1969 page 28-29, AM DBS Road test by John Bolster.
UNIQUE CARS (Oct-Nov 2005 issue 253), while still under restoration. AUST. CLASSIC CAR (July 2009 No.192). 2009 SEPTEMBER CLASSIC & SPORTS CAR, BORN AGAIN BOND. 2018 CLASSIC & SPORTS CAR, ASTON MARTIN GREATEST HITS, COLLECTORS EDITION. ASTON MARTIN QUARTERLY MAGAZINE (Summer 2011).
Displays
The car has been a hit each time she displays herself, and there have been a lot including:
2010 and 2013 MOTORCLASSICA, many FORMULA 1 (Melb) displays, CLIPSAL 500 ADELAIDE).
ARMAGEDDON (MELB) with George Lazenby, SUPANOVA Melbourne with George Lazenby.
2015 SEPTMBER SPYFEST GOULBURN AUSTRALIA with George Lazenby.
2016 SEPTMBER SPYFEST GOULBURN AUSTRALIA with George Lazenby.
DESIGNING 007 (50 years of Bond Style) in 2013 at Melbourne Museum.
VACC, RACV EVENTS and many others.
Lashana star of the new Bond movie
Mercedes to take 20% stake in Aston Martin
NO TIME TO DIE – Official Trailer (Universal Pictures) HD
ABC news - James Bond Aston Martin sells at auction in 2019
The "submarine car" used in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me has sold
Hidden in an unlikely workshop is a car that would shake, if not stir, the souls of car enthusiasts
Note: Article completed in November 2021 and Sigi provided all photos.
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