This Aston Martin Volare is the next evolution of English sports car craftsmanship because not only does it combine a sleek new shape with the Aston Martin’s modern design, but underneath there four electric motors that are being fed go juice by a high power fuel cell stack located between the front seats centrally locating the weight as close to the ground as possible for enhanced performance while outside it looks like someone pushed down on the base of the wind shied of a Vantage, sharpening up the profile before transplanting a set of bold wings from a One-77 onto this innovative Aston Martin design.
If it were chocolate it would be good enough to eat, and it possibly could be because this isn’t the latest concept from Gaydon this a scale model from future automotive design master James Trim, we are referring to the days ahead because Mr. Trim is only a 23 year old recent graduate of Coventry University in England with a degree in Automotive Design and a quick look at his portfolio will quickly tell you that this kid is going places.
It’s an interesting idea that James is showing, creating design concepts specifically tailored for certain manufacturers. As every ten year old boy who ever got bored with a pen in his hand will tell you that it is hard to come up with a good looking design that is truly unique, most often the more memorable cars are shaped out of packaging and aerodynamic necessity something that only develops as the parts come together. But James Trim has a good shot at replacing Chris Bangle with his BMW Z1 roadster design study or even at Audi with his cute little A0 super compact city car, the only thing he would have to do is learn to speak German.
The Gumball 3000 is a modern day version of the classic Cannonball cross country race that not only takes place here in the U.S. but also in countries around the world. The members of the more money than brains club start off in Los Angeles and then make their way through sin city and across the midwest before coming to an end at the tip of the Florida peninsula in Miami. At least that was the plan, unfortunately for this Aston Martin DB9 owner, the last leg of the trip included a stop at the freshly repaved Palm Beach International Raceway.
The DB9 driver’s fun at the track was short lived, after going into a turn a little too hot, James Bond’s ride of choice ended up in the tire wall doing a number on the front end and completely taking out the left front corner of the car. Despite the damage the wall of rubber did its job and the Aston’s driver was able to walk away unscathed.
However according to our friends at Wrecked Exotics the rumor is that the Aston Martin DB9 wasn’t really the driver’s at all, some have said that it was a rental. We just hope he took out the $5 insurance.
The auction house Gooding & Company did alright for themselves this past Saturday the evening before the highly anticipated Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, selling an impressive 83% of all their lots earning more than $21 Million. The star of the block was a red 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider that sold for $2,750,000. There were also a few records set that evening, with the 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Drop Head Coupe that went for $1,650,000, and the 1953 Jaguar XK120 SE Roadster that sold for $192,500. On a more technical note, the 1938 Buick Limited Series 80 Opera Brougham only set a record for pre-war Buicks at $506,000.
Aside from the record breaking Aston Martin and Ferrari’s, the crowd in attendance was eager to catch a glimpse of Lot 31, Ettore Bugatti’s own 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Special Coupe. Originally assembled as a birthday present for Le Patron, founder of the ultra exotic car company, this particular Type 57C has been deemed as one of the automaker’s most cherished creations. The factory’s workers even went to great lengths to protect the Bugatti during World War II, the fighting between that Allied Forces and the Axis Powers ended up destroying the factory in Molsheim, France.
Even after Ettore’s death in 1947, the 57C was meticulously maintained and continued to receive updates as they were developed. The car is said to be extremely unique, with a distinct engine and transmission package, upgrades to the interior and one-off coachwork that is believed to be based on the last design ever created by Ettore’s son, Jean Bugatti who died at the age of 30 in an unfortunate incident, test driving a Le Mans winning Type 57 tank-bodied race car. Making for one very interesting conversation piece.
The four door Aston Martin Rapide sedan is not the only hot item coming out of the high performance English coach builder’s workshop. It appears that there is also a very interesting variant of the DBS sports car in the works. The spy photographers who snapped this shot are saying that the test car that was caught on camera was wearing a few high performance accessories, like a racing inspired suspension setup as well as a few performance modifications that give the DBS a harder image and turn James Bond’s automobile of choice into a true driver’s car.
This makes perfect sense since the chairman of the Aston Martin board is also the head of Prodrive, the outfit made famous for campaigning Ferrari’s in endurance racing and winning multiple World Rally Championships for the Japanese automaker Subaru. So it is only fitting that Aston Martin would like to produce a much more raw feeling sports car, perhaps it will even include a few tricks from the GT1 race car.
The standard Aston Martin DBS is powered by a hand-built 6.0 Liter V12 engine that produces a maximum output of 510 HP. This much power allows the latest DBS to go from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 191 MPH.
Even if everyone already knows exactly what to expect from the new four door Aston, and was already know what it will look like, the Prodrive owned automaker has not announced anything saying that the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide is official yet. So whenever another rendering or spy shot of the car surfaces, it is still big news. The all-new Aston Martin Rapide is set to be unveiled sometime in 2010 and will be priced in the $200,000 range.
The Rapide is built on the automaker’s VH (Vertical/Horizontal) architecture, the same construction as the DB9 and will be powered by a 6.0 Liter V12 engine that will be tuned to deliver a maximum output of 470 HP and a peak of 443 lb-ft of torque. The mighty power plant will be mated to an example of Aston’s Touchtronic automated manual transmission, which provides the functionality of a normal automatic transmission via the push buttons mounted on the dash as well as offering a manual mode that takes full advantages of the wheel mounted paddle shifters.
With the recent – and well-documented – struggles of the auto industry, car makers have been a little more reluctant attending car expos. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with the Frankfurt Motor Show.
One of the world’s biggest motor shows is expected to draw the best of the best car brands and their latest toys. A line-up of brand-new autos set to be unveiled at the Motor Show includes the Ferrari 458 Italia, the revamped Porsche 911 Turbo, the Mazda MX-5 Superlight, and now, Aston Martin is joining the fun with the highly-anticipated launch of the Rapide.
It seemed like ages ago – three years, in fact – when the Rapide became the talk of the town during the 2006 Detroit Motor Show and despite the long wait, Aston Martin’s new crown jewel is once again expected to be the one of the toasts of Frankfurt.
Aston Martin has also released the price of the Rapide, which is expected to be around £110,000 in the U.K. The car, which some scribes have called the Vantage’s little brother, is about £25,000 cheaper than the car James Bond made famous in Die Another Day. That’s tremendously good news for fans of the Rapide, a lot of who have waited three long years for the car’s official release.
The high performance English coachbuilder Aston Martin has announced that after competing in the 37th Nürburgring 24 hour race this past May, the V12 Vantage muscle car is also slated to compete in the upcoming Shelsley Walsh National Hill Climb Festival that will take place soon on August 15-16.
This beautiful blue Aston Martin not only receives the 6.0 Liter V12 from the larger Aston Martin DBS, but also a pair of really cool rally inspired driving lamps in the grill and an interesting wheel and tire combination, that judging from the photo varies from front to rear. This Nür spec Vantage almost certainly has a few more than the standard versions 510 HP resting underneath that wonderfully vented hood and should also be able to better the production version’s 4.2 second 0 to 60 MPH time, but where they might have gotten close to the roadgoing car’s 190 MPH top speed on the back straight at the Nordshleif, it’s doubtful that they will get anywhere close on the hill.
U.K. motoring journalist Richard Meaden is scheduled to drive the V12 Vantage up the hill. This accredited racer formed part of the driver lineup that piloted the car to victory at the Nürburgring only three months ago. Meaden will be joined by fellow writer Matt Prior from Autocar Magazine when they face the narrow stretches at Shelsley.
Top Gear’s ringleader, Jeremy Clarkson took full advantage of the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage. This particular Vantage follows the traditional muscle car formula of putting your largest engine into a midsize automobile, unfortunately this kind of power mad car building could be coming to an end soon. So like Mr. Clarkson says, these types of machines should be enjoyed while we still can.
The vented bonnet wearing V12 Vantage is powered by 510 HP 6.0 Liter V12 from the much larger DBS. This kind of power is capable of propelling the Vantage to a top speed of 190 MPH and go from 0 to 60 MPH in less than 4.2 seconds.
Scuderia, Stradale and Superleggera watch out! There is a new competitor in the super tuned sports car marketplace: the new Aston Martin LMV/R which stands for Le Mans Vantage Racer. The special edition factory hot rod is limited to only 30 units, the new LMV/R will be built by custom order at a specialty shop in Florida and then shipped back to the customer’s dealership of choice. The Le Mans inspired Vantage will be priced at $194,000 plus the cost of the Aston Martin.
So, how is it that an Aston Martin LMV/R comes to life? Start off with a stock Vantage, then add a set of matte black 20 inch wheels, lowering springs, new front bumper with mesh screens and carbon fiber canards, a carbon fiber front splitter, hood, wide front fenders, side skirts, wide body panels for the rear quarters, trunk lid with visible carbon rear wing, rear bumper with integrated carbon fiber diffuser and finished off with a pair of matte black stripes. Then prepare to get greasy by changing out the stock pieces for a big brake kit, sport exhaust complete with high flow cats and tuned headers. Afterwards they dress up the engine bay with a few carbon fiber accessories followed by an ECU upgrade. The interior is then fully recovered in Alcantara, dressed up with a carbon fiber interior kit and a numbered plaque to authenticate the LMV/R.
After revealing the Aston Martin Lagonda SUV at the Geneva Motor Show, the English coachbuilders announced that a production version was not too far off. However we have some bad news for enthusiasts that were looking forward to riding around in spacious style, due to the current economic situation Aston is hesitant to take a gamble with an all new segment of vehicles, so the Lagonda has been put on hold, indefinitely. Due to the cancellation of the high performance SUV, it will be replaced by a new exotic super car that will go into production as soon as possible.
In an interview with Edmunds: Inside Line, Aston Martin Lagonda boss Ulrich Bez said: "We have several sources ready to invest upward of a quarter-billion pounds, but the timing right now is simply wrong. We have some work to do yet, and it takes a lot of investment."
Looking for similar results as the German sports car builder Porsche did with their highly popular high performance Cayenne, "Our intention with Lagonda," says Bez, "is to produce as much volume as we see today from Aston Martin. So essentially, doubling our volumes once up and running." So as soon as the English automaker gets their ducks in a row, you can expect to see as many Lagondas as the coach builder can assemble and ship out to retailers glistening through showroom windows around the world.
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