The Nurburgring is steeped in racing history, having hosted some of the world’s most storied races for close to 90 years.
Lately, however, the track racing fans simply call ‘The Ring’ has been making headlines in the auto industry for an entirely different reason. A number of the world’s most prestigious car brands have recently opened their own retail stores inside the track, including Ferrari, which opened its latest specialty store at the fabled racing track.
The latest car maker to make their retail debut at the track is Aston Martin, who showed off their One-77 super car at the German Grand Prix a few weeks ago, is joining a list of other marquees that have put their brands at the heart of one of the world’s most famous racing tracks. The move comes in the middle of the track’s reinvention with the objective of broadening the destination as more than just a race track, but, apparently, also as a shopping destination.
A classic Aston Martin is most certainly an automobile worth dreaming about. So it should come as no surprise that people are trying to bring the shapely English sports car back from the grave. One such group of people are the crew at Rizk Automobile, who decided to bring back a 1957 Aston Martin DBR2 LeMans racer.
The car was made from a carbon fiber monocoque chassis chosen for it light weight uncompromised characteristics despite the enormous cost. The retro Aston is powered by either a Jaguar straight-six or V12 engine and even an LS3 borrowed from a Corvette can find its way under the hood. The engines are then mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox or if you choose the American muscle a choice of 6 speed manual or automatic can be had.
The price for this astounding piece of modern Le Mans racing history, $180,000. A fair price to pay.
There is no better opportunity to show off a high performance super car than on a Grand Prix Weekend and Aston Martin being no fools took full advantage of the German round of the Formula One calendar to promote the first production One-77 and the company’s new Nurburgring boutique.
Priced at $1.4 million, the One-77 is limited to 77 units, all of them being already sold out. What those owners are buyin is a 6.0 Liter V12 engine that makes 700 HP and weighs in at only 1,500 kilograms, that is a scant 3,300 pounds, nothing for a V12 powered speed machine. Aston Martin will not confirm any performance data as of yet, but they have hinted that the carbon fiber bodied One-77 should go from 0 to 60 seconds in under 35 seconds and will have a top speed well in excess of 200 MPH.
The English coach builder Aston Martin has just revealed a new image gallery for the new DBS Volante that was unveiled back at the Geneva Motor Show. The DBS Volante is powered by the same 6.0 Liter V12 engine that is found in the DBS coupe. In either configuration, the power plant pumps out 510 HP and 420 lb-ft of torque. This allows the Volante to accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 191 MPH.
Recently Britain’s who’s who of motoring professionals turned television hosts at Fifth Gear got their hands on an Aston Martin V12 Vantage and took it for a few laps around their test track with Tiff behind the wheel. The Prodrive owned coachbuilder shoehorns their 6.0 Liter V12 engine into the nimble Vantage chassis creating a handling package that produces 510 HP and 420 lb-ft of torque and go from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.2 seconds. Given enough road, this English super car is capable of hitting a top speed of 190 MPH.
The current economic crisis has resulted in the partnership of a number of unlikely car manufacturers. First there was Fiat and Chrysler. Then it was Saab and Koenigsegg
And now we have Toyota and Aston Martin.
While Toyota and Aston Martin’s alliance is not on the level of the other two, the Japanese auto giant is in the process of producing its iQ model for its more upscale colleague in the United Kingdom.
The partnership of the two manufacturers comes at a time when both are in desperate need for bold and revolutionary moves that can jumpstart a floundering industry that’s in dire need of some fresh blood.
As part of the agreement, Toyota will supply iQ cars, which, as a matter of fact, are built in Japan, to Aston Martin, which, in turn, will sell these vehicles under the brand under a pseudonym: the Cygnet.
After being caught wearing a black while sitting in a parking lot, the Aston Martin Rapide has been caught in the nude, and let us tell you that it looks even better in white! We will most definitely see the car in a more official setting, when the four door Aston Martin makes its debut in Frankfurt this September.
When it does hit the Auto Show circuit, the Rapide will be powered by the same 6.0 Liter V12 from the DB9, the power plant will still make the exact same 470 HP and 443 lb-ft of torque as in the DB badged Aston Martin. The engine will be connected to one of Aston’s Touchtronic automated manual transmission, which provides all of the easy to use features of an ordinary automatic transmission with race car inspired paddle shifters mounted behind the steering wheel.
You can expect to see James Bond taking the kids to football practice in an upcoming 007 feature, with the bad guys driving a Porsche Panamera as they battle for four door sports car supremacy.
Even if the English coachbuilder, Aston Martin, has started to pull back the curtain concealing their answer to Maerati’s Quattroporte. The Rapide sport sedan will not make its official debut until September at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and go on sale early in 2010. Thanks to a very lucky Aston Martin enthusiast who caught the car completely undisguised in between test runs for sharing their discovery with us. Not much has been revealed about Aston’s new sport saloon, but one thing is for sure, compared to the other new arrival on the four door GT car market, Porsche’s Panamera, the Rapide wins our vote for most style.
The Rapide will be powered by the same 6.0 Liter V12 from the DB9, despite the extra pair of doors, the power plant will still make the exact same 470 HP and 443 lb-ft of torque as in the DB badged Aston Martin. The engine will be connected to one of Aston’s Touchtronic automated manual transmission, which provides all of the easy to use features of an ordinary automatic transmission with racecar inspired paddle shifters mounted behind the steering wheel.
Top Speed had the opportunity to attend an exclusive preview of Aston Martin’s latest full sized drop top speed machine, with the coach builder’s Director of Design Mareck Reichman. The DBS Volante debuted in Geneva this past March, but made its U.S. debut right here in Miami, kicking everything off with one heck of 007 inspired party.
The Voltane is powered by the familiar 6.0 Liter V12 making 510 HP, the interior is made up of no less than seven cow hides and audio is superbly handled by the the Bang & Olufsen system. Mr. Reichman was also kind enough to tell us a little bit about the special timepiece by Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Aston Martin is releasing a convertible version of James Bond daily driver. It was in Miami for a special preview this morning and while we are still editing an interview with Aston Martin director of design Mr. Reichman, enjoy some pictures of the finest British convertible on the road today.
Picture Gallery
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