1997 Aston Martin Db7 Volante Convertible At No Reserve Red on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato goes back into limited production

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato in 2011, Aston Martin worked with Zagato Milano to create the Vantage V12 Zagato. Aston Martin made 101 of the special editions, available only as a coupe. This year, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Milanese design house, Swiss motorsport company AF Racing has commissioned 38 examples of the Vantage V12 Zagato, consisting of 19 coupes and 19 roadsters. The official name of the redux is Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato Heritage TWINS by R-Reforged. When Aston Martin originally announced production they planned to build 150 units, but for unknown reasons that number fell to 101 units. Since no specs have been mentioned, our guess is that the 6.0-liter V12 with 510 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque goes unchanged. As far as we can tell, the only differences between these new versions and the previous builds is that the coupe omits the rear spoiler, there's a wider selection of colors, and you can alternatively choose to take the top off. As for the entities behind this, the press release lays out a web of connections we're not totally clear on. The relevant matters are that AF Racing is a Swiss motorsport company that's a project partner on the Aston Martin Valkyrie, and it has a sub-brand called R-Reforged devoted to production-car projects. AF Racing owns a subsidiary in Germany called Vynamic that oversees four Aston Martin Vantage race cars competing in the German DTM Series. Vynamic will actually build the new V12 Zagatos. The rest of the tangled web doesn't matter. AF Racing says deliveries of the new coupes and speedsters will commence at the end of this year. No price has been mentioned, but the original coupes went for 330,000 pounds at the time, which would be $429,000 right now, and probably a good place to start.

California Aston Martin dealer adds pastel colors to model range

In certain areas of Southern California, daily sightings of late-model Aston Martins and Lamborghinis are nothing out of the ordinary. So, what do you do if you desperately want everyone to notice your sweet ride? The answer, one prominent Aston Martin dealer believes, is pastel paint. Aston Martin of Newport Beach is located in the heart of one of California's most car-rich (and actually rich) areas. The cool car-per-capita ratio is high enough to have spawned the original Cars & Coffee in the area's Crystal Cove shopping center in 2006, so you can imagine what an Aston owner must do to stand out. As such, the dealer has painted five models in five different hues of bright color, each a unique one of one example. For the paupers, there's the Vantage Coupe finished in a metallic light purple called Ultra Violet for $195,680. Next comes a Vantage droptop in an even lighter purple called Cardamum [sic] Violet for $203,880. Seemingly created specifically for a social media influencer or D-list celebrity is the $239,836 DBX crossover in an Easter egg pink called Vibrant Coral. For our money-no-object choice, it has to be the DB11 V8 Coupe in Butterfly Teal ($271,059). Topping the range is a baby blue DB11 Volante in Clear Water ($290,192). Each comes in an Obsidian and Ivory leather interior, with custom-painted trim to match the exterior. Of course, these come with a price, and the cost of these inlays ranges from $3,649 for the DB11 Coupe's to $8,300 for the DBX's. Most of them are between $5,000 and $6,000, which is a ridiculous amount for a handful of interior trim. On the other hand, the exterior paint is a $10,600 on all models except for the DBX, where it stickers at $12,000, which isn't bad for a high-end custom paint job. Each of the colors was inspired by the California coast, according to Aston Martin Newport Beach general manager Jeff West. "The pair of teal and blue DB11s are inspired by the clear Southern California skies and cool pacific waters of Crystal Cove; the purple and violet shades on the Vantages reflect the hillside wildflower blooms, and the vibrant coral DBX draws from the warm tones present in the cliffs above the ocean during our one-of-a-kind sunsets." While the colors may seem extreme, they do have a more subdued and tasteful quality than some of the custom purple or lime green wraps "designed" by social media influencers cruising around in L.A.

Top Gear caught filming Best of British near Buckingham Palace

YouTuber and car-fan extraordinaire Shmee probably had very little trouble tracking down the Top Gear film crew recently, as the group was putting together an episode that could accurately be described as "excessive." With its flag-waving (literally) Best of British theme, the TG guys gathered a jaw-dropping array of British cars, and parked them all right in front of Buckingham Palace to make extra sure that the point was driven home.
Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May were outfitted with a trio of Jaguar F-Types festooned with gigantic Union Jacks, with which to survey the landscape of British motoring glory. In the video below, you'll see that this includes any number of Mini, Aston Martin, Lotus, McLaren, Land Rover, Bentley and Rolls-Royce models (just to name a few), as well as a healthy dose of weird stuff that most people would never guess at being built in the UK. The lawnmowers and military vehicles are especially cool.