Aston Martin has announced that in March they will be brining the V8 Vantage facelift which will be featuring several styling updates, including a lower front bumper, redesigned side sills, air splitter, along with a rear bumper that has an integrated diffuser. This entry-level Vantage will also be getting some performance inducing updates borrowed from the hotter Vantage S version, like bigger brakes, quicker steering and wider tires.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
The engine will remain the same which means that it will be the V8 4.7-liter unit that generates 420 hp (426 PS / 313 kW), while the more powerful Vantage S delivers 430 hp (436 PS / 321 kW) and a peak torque of 361 lb.-ft (490 Nm). As standard, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is fitted with a 6-speed manual gearbox while for more money clients can order their Vantage with a 7-speed Sportshift II gearbox that replaces the previous 6-speed Sportshift automated manual transmission.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
In Germany, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (both roadster and coupe) will cost from 108,500 Euros, while the Vantage S is priced at 128,500 Euros.
We have some great news for those of you who are fans of the James Bond franchise as it seems that the legendary Aston Martin DB5 will be making a comeback when Skyfall which is the latest film of the series hits the cinemas on November 9th this year.
The DB5 has been the star of many James Bond movies, starting with 1964 hit Goldfinger, later on appearing in other JB movies like Thunderball, Casino Royale, Golden Eye and Tomorrow Never Dies. The big difference compared to those movies is that in Skyfall the Aston Martin will be seen in a full blown car chase.
A couple of years ago at an auction in London, the Aston Martin DB5 that appeared in Goldfinger was sold for 2.9 million pounds, but chances that in Skyfall we’ll see the same car are slim, even though it will be wearing the same BMT 216A license plate that the car had in Goldfinger.
With the launch of Skyfall, the James Bond franchise will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. James Bond will be played once again by Daniel Craig, while other actors include Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench and Javier Bardem.
The British automaker Aston Martin has released the first official photos of the upcoming V12 Zagato which will be making its public debut this week at the Kuwait Concours d’Elegance. AM describes this model as being the “pinnacle of the Vantage range” and as you most know is based on the V12 Vantage model. With the launch of this car, Aston Martin is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the epic DB4GT Zagato.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
Building an Aston Martin V12 Zagato takes about 2,000 man-hours and the vehicle features aluminum doors, roof and hood, while the door sills, boot lid and the fenders are manufactured from carbon fiber.
Moving inside the cabin we find a carbon fiber trim, semi-aniline leather seats and piano black accents. Also on board is a hand-stitched weave pattern on the doors, seats and the headliner. Obviously, the cabin also sports Zagato badging.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
We don’t know the specifications of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato for sure but if we were to believe the car’s brochure, it is powered by a massive V12 6.0-liter engine that is capable of producing 510 hp (517 PS / 380 kW) and a peak torque of 420 lb.-ft (570 Nm). The power unit is linked to a 6-speed manual gearbox and is capable of accelerating the 3,704 lb (1,680 kg) car to 62 mph from start in only 4.2 seconds, en route to a maximum speed of 190 mph (305 km/h).
The Aston Martin V12 Zagato is already on sale and it can be yours if you are willing to pay at least 330,000 pounds. You’d better hurry because AM will make only 150 cars.
Last Wednesday at an auction in London, a superb Aston Martin DB5 from 1965 that belonged to George Harrison managed to fetch $549,553. The car was won by an unidentified Beatles fan from Houston, Texas. The organizers of the auction mentioned that the vehicle went for approximately $235,000 over its estimate.
The Aston Martin DB5 in question is wearing a platinum silver finish and has an elegant black Connolly leather interior along with chrome wire wheels. According to the auction house, the car was built in late 1964 and it has been driven for only 22,000 miles, and it hasn’t shown any signs of “major mechanical maladies.”
Mercedes-Benz 540K
At the same auction, a rare Mercedes-Benz 540K that once belonged to F1’s boss Bernie Ecclestone was sold for a whopping $1.3 million.
The British automaker Aston Martin has started the testing for the V12 Vantage GT3 this week in United Kingdom at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent. The car already covered more than 1,000 km and it was driven mostly by factory driver Turner. 2012 is going to be a development year for the car as homologation from FIA is still one year away.
Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3
The Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 is powered by a V12 6.0-liter engine that has been tuned in order to output 600 hp (608 PS / 442 kW) and a peak torque of 516 lb.-ft (700 Nm). This engine is mated to a 6-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox. The car is scheduled to replace the current DBRS9 racer and will be eligible to participate in various races like FIA GT3, ADAC Masters, British GT, Blancpain Endurance Series, Open GT, Nurburgring VLN and Belcar.
The prices for the car begin at 341,000 Euros (298,000 pounds).
This would have to be the first video where we see a live crash of an Aston Martin Rapide. The accident happened on a highway somewhere in United Kingdom and one of the reasons for this unfortunate accident was because the driver disabled the car’s traction control. He did this because he thought it was the sport button.
While he was getting out of the highway, the car understeered severely and the driver was not able to control the car anymore. The beautiful Aston Martin Rapide ended up in the side barrier and it was heavily damaged. The good news is that the driver and the passenger escaped without any injuries.
The British automaker Aston Martin has unveiled the very controversial Cygnet model in Japan and Hong Kong. As most of you know this by know, this is nothing more than a premium version of the Toyota / Scion iQ. Anyway, deliveries are expected to commence in Q1 2012 at a price of $77,600 ($603,578 HKD) in Hong Kong and in Japan from $62,000 (4,750,000 YEN).
Aston Martin Cygnet
Just like the one available in Europe, the Aston Martin Cygnet can be ordered in one of the two versions – the Launch Edition White and Black of which they’ll make 50 units. The first one comes with a Snow White paint with a mix of silver mesh, diamond-turned alloys and a chrome trim. Inside the cabin it has hand-trimmed seats in Pearl white leather with perforated Alcantara inserts and satin chrome.
Aston Martin Cygnet
As for the Black version, this will be wearing a Magic Black metallic paint that has a specifically developed deep sea green effect which is offset by the chrome trim and the matt black louvers. The interior cabin gets a dashboard and seat finished in pure black full grain leather, along with a bunch of satin chrome accents.
Aston Martin Cygnet
Both versions of the Aston Martin Cygnet are sold with a Bill Amberg 5-piece luggage set that was created especially for this car.
For the past few weeks, results of different type of analysis were released. Some were about the cars / brands in top consumer preferences in different areas around the world or, why not, actually in the entire world. Consequently, we’ve decided to present them in the same article. So, here we have:
BMW – world’s best-selling premium automaker through September: sales increased by 9.3 percent in September 2011. On the next two places: Audi and Mercedes-Benz. You can find out details here.
Aston Martin – the coolest automotive brand in Britain: for the fifth time in six years. The criteria included: “style, innovation, authenticity, originality and desirability”. More info about that, here.
Audi – the most social luxury brand in China: if we take into account the fact that China became the world’s second largest luxury goods market in 2010, a study about how top luxury brands in China are performing in social media was normal to be initiated. The winner: Audi. Details are here.
There is nothing wrong with the resolution of your monitor and no, we haven’t flattened these photos at all. What you see it’s the real deal, the wagon version of the Aston Martin Lagonda. Its 4-door sedan sibling was targeted as a luxury car and the British automaker rolled out 645 units between the years 1974 and 1990.
Aston Martin Lagonda Wagon
Not only is it one of the ugliest cars in the word, but the sedan version was a catastrophe as far as the mechanics are concerned. AM decided to develop this car with state-of-the-art, computer-driven electronics as well as cathode-ray displays, which all sound very cool, but they didn’t work at all. It has been included in Times’ “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time” top.
Aston Martin Lagonda Wagon
Looks aside, the car was powered by a V8 5.3-liter engine that developed 280 hp (284 PS / 209 kW) and a peak torque of 301 lb.-ft (408 Nm), enough for a 0-62 mph sprint in 6.2 seconds and a respectable top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h).
You probably already know that Aston Martin is currently working on bringing back to life the Lagonda name. Let’s just hope that this time they’ll do a better job. The first car which will probably be out in two or three years will be a luxurious SUV. We’re very curious to see what they’ve have been up to since 2009 when they’ve unveiled a rather attractive concept at the Geneva Motor Show.
The British automaker Aston Martin has announced its plans to bring to this week’s Frankfurt Motor Show the DBS Carbon Edition. The bespoke model will be available in three colors: Ceramic Grey, Flame Orange and Carbon Black. Other than that, it will be available with carbon fiber accents, a black front grille, along with gorgeous 10-spoke diamond-turned rims.
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition
Inside the cabin, AM’s designers have added exquisite semi-aniline leather seats, a carbon fiber trim, a quilted headliner and special sill plates.
Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition
Set to go on sale at the beginning of 2012, the base price for the coupe is going to be $287,576 while the Volante will set you back at least $302,576.
If you ever wanted to match your phone with your Aston Martin car, now you have the chance, as a luxury phone designer, called Mobiado, has created and send to production the Grand 350 Aston Martin, a sophisticated good-looking upscale phone.
It’s made of CNC-machined aluminum case, featuring a 2.36-inch 271-carat sapphire crystal screen with 16 million colors, while the infrared window is made from a solid piece of ruby crystal. Impressive, isn’t it? To all these you should add the buttons, a combination of sapphire crystal and stainless steel, and luxury becomes the nickname of this phone. But let’s not forget about its mobile functionality, Bluetooth, micro USB connector, GPS, WLAN connectivity and many other options, that make it a must have for Aston Martin’s passionate .
The colors? Black, black satin, and silver. We suppose you will have no problem with the limited color range, as we are sure you would easily find a solution to match it with your car (or with your lady), without causing damages to your fashion style.
So, what do you think about this phone?
[Source: Autoblog]
Post tags: Tags: Aston Martin, luxury-car, mobile phone
Aston Martin has decided to reveal this week the road version of the V12 Zagato, which is scheduled to go into production in mid-2012. Based on the V12 Vantage, this hand-built supercar will feature a body made out of aluminum and carbon fiber. Under the hood it will have a 6-liter engine that churns 510 hp and has a peak torque of 420 lb.-ft.
The car was developed after 50 years since the introduction of the exquisite DB4GT Zagato and was first seen in May during the Villa D’Este Concours in Italy. It managed to grab the award for best design and the best prototype.
Two Aston Martin V12 Zagato prototypes were used at Nurburgring, including here during the demanding 24-hour event which was held back in June. These two cars are set to make an appearance in September during the Frankfurt Motor Show, along with other AM cars like the Virage, Virage S and the One-77.
The British car manufacturer said that they are going to make only 150 units of the road-version V12 Zagato and the base price for the model, not including VAT, will be of 330,000 pounds.
The British car manufacturer Aston Martin has confirmed this week the specifications of the V12 Vantage GT3. The heart of this car will be a huge V12 6.0-liter engine that produces 600 hp (608 PS / 442 kW) and has a peak torque of 516 lb.-ft (700 Nm).
Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3
The power unit will be positioned lower in order to improve the car’s weight distribution. In addition, it will have a shorter wheelbase which should improve performance and handling. As standard, the car comes with Traction Control and race-ready ABS systems.
Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3
The Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 will participate in numerous events, starting with the FIA GT3, Nurburgring VLN, ADAC Masters, along with the British GT, Blancpain Endurance Series, Open GT and Belcar.
AM will start testing the car in October and the first deliveries are due in early 2012.
The base price for this beast is 341,000 Euro (298,000 pounds).
While there were some rumors that the Aston Martin V12 Zagato will go into limited production, there were no certainties. Now, we have official news from the British automaker that this exclusive car will be seen on the streets. Only 150 units will be made and all will have a whopping price tag of 330.000 pounds, without the local taxes.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
The car is going to be assembled at AM’s headquarters located in Gaydon and the first cars will be delivered in the second part of next year. The British company is already taking orders so if you have the money, grab one while you still can as they’re selling it on a first come, first serve basis.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
The design work for this very desirable car began last year and the initial engineering started in the first month of this year. A couple of months later, the supercar attended the Villa D’Este Concours and grabbed the award in the Concepts and Prototypes class. Just a week later, it managed to finish the very demanding Nurburgring 24 hour race.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
The Aston Martin V12 Zagato has a bonded aluminum and carbon fiber chassis and features a massive V12 6.0-liter engine that generates 510 hp (517 PS / 380 kW) and has a peak torque of 420 lb.-ft (570 Nm).
The British carmaker Aston Martin has decided to reduce the production rate of the Rapide in order to match the slow sales. From now on, they are going to make only 25 units every year which means that the annual output will be of approximately 1250 units, which is a little over 50% of the 2,000 units that they had in planned back in 2007/2008. Other sources are saying that AM will reduce output to only 10 cars per week.
Last month, the company halted the production of the Rapide and right after the weekend of the Royal Wedding, an e-mail was sent to the suppliers in which Aston Martin said that they don’t need any more components for the rest of the month.
A couple of days ago, the automaker announced that they will be ending an 8-year production agreement with Magna Steyr from Austria in the middle of next year, which is 6 years earlier than planned. No word about the terms of the contract but if we were to believe the rumors, Aston Martin will have to pay about 10 million pounds in order to get out of this deal.
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