As the story is told, one day David Brown, chairman of Aston Martin, entered a board meeting at which some of his engineers were in attendance, plunked his hunting dog down on the table, and said, “Build me something for him to sit in.”

The result was a DB5 built by the factory with an extended cargo compartment, converting it into a spacious “shooting brake” suitable for the hunt, which the Brown family used for many years. So popular was Brown’s Shooting Brake with his gentlemen friends that a limited run of the cars were produced by special customer order, with similar coachwork that cost more than 50 percent more than a factory DB5. It is believed that 12 were built on DB5 chassis, followed by another six, four by Radford and two by HLM Panelcraft, on DB6 chassis.

The car offered here is an original DB6 Shooting Brake with a remarkable story. It was ordered by the consignor’s father, William E. Weiss Jr., at the 1966 New York Automobile Show, where he personally met David Brown and was, in short order, convinced to place an order.

The car was finished in Goodwood Green over Natural Connolly leather and was luxuriously equipped, including the Borg-Warner automatic transmission, chrome wheels, a Bosch Kӧln TR radio with a power antenna, Marchal fog lights, Fiam horns, a detachable front-passenger headrest, front Britax safety belts, a Bray immersion heater, and factory Coolaire air conditioning. The Triumph taillights are correct equipment, as they were fitted to all DB6 Shooting Brakes. As the owner notes, his father and David Brown tested the car at Silverstone before delivery. Once it had arrived in the United States, Mr. Weiss, like other sportsmen owners of these cars, would use his to carry his luggage and guns to the Rolling Rock Club for hunts.

Primarily kept in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, until Mr. Weiss’s passing in 1985, it then passed to his son at his home in Wyoming, where it has remained since. In the early 1990s, it was sent back to Nimrod Motor Cars, of Stratford, Connecticut, which completely disassembled the car, checked all of its components, repainted it to the original color, replaced the rubber seals and gaskets throughout, tuned the engine, and selectively re-plated chrome trim. Last summer, it was sent to Kevin Kay, the renowned California Aston Martin specialist, to have it tuned, checked, and gone-over, so that today it runs and drives well. Aside from the repaint and aforementioned work, it has been meticulously stored in a climate-controlled garage, has not been driven in rain since 1985, and is wholly original, including the original interior, where the front seats have been protected for decades by fleece covers, which have recently been removed.

Undoubtedly one of the very rarest and most special factory-sanctioned DB6 variants, the opportunity to acquire this car from its original owner’s family is not to be missed. It is a vacation vehicle par excellence!