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

Auto blog

Aston Martin Bulldog gets another chance to wedge its way past 200 mph

Tell us if this sounds familiar: In the mid-1970s, Aston Martin decided it wanted to prove its engineering prowess by building a car that would hit 200 miles per hour, so company designer William Towns penned the Bulldog DP K9 concept; in 1980, Aston Martin test drivers took the Bulldog to 191 mph at the MIRA test track, but the company was short on cash, so when Victor Gauntlett bought a 10% stake in the company and became chairman in 1981, he canceled the Bulldog program. The company sold the car to a Middle Eastern collector in 1982, while Gauntlett engineered a sales recovery and Aston Martin's return to the James Bond franchise. Now, 37 years later, Classic Motor Cars (CMC) in Bridgnorth, wants to show off its new engineering facility and prowess, and it intends to do so with the Bulldog. CarBuzz picked up on the story that the concept's current owner sent the coupe to CMC for a nut-and-bolt restoration, expected to take roughly 18 months. After that, the Bulldog will take a run at its destiny, aiming for 200 mph, or even better, the 237 mph that Aston Martin engineers at the time said the car should do.      The Bulldog's ultra-wedge shape, stretched over 186 inches and just 43 inches high, could not have come from any other decade. A panel on the front lowered to reveal five square headlights, while giant gull-wing doors doubled the car's height when opened. The interior, matching the Towns-designed Lagonda Series 2, showed off LED lights, buttons and touchscreens. Designers put the 5.3-liter V8 from the front-engined "Oscar India" V8 Vantage into the middle of the Bulldog, then lashed two Garrett turbochargers on top, final output claimed to be 700 horsepower and 500 pound feet of torque. Shifting through a five-speed manual, the rear-wheel-drive, 3,814-pound coupe hit 60 miles per hour in 5.1 seconds. If the Bulldog had achieved its target, it would have been the fastest production car in the world. The plan was to build up to 25 units for sale, which would pay for development costs said to exceed 1 million pounds at the time. The restoration will return the concept to its original state, CMC's managing director adding that it "may include modern components and technology to improve the car's reliability." The original car, for instance, didn't have side mirrors; those were supposedly added by the Middle Eastern collector. The original was gray and white, not green, had a black interior instead of tan.

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde Edition celebrates airspeed

This year is the 100th birthday of British Airways, as well as the 50th anniversary of the first flight for the Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde supersonic passenger jet. Today marks the 16th anniversary of the Concorde's final hop, when Concorde 216 registered as G-BOAF flew from Heathrow to Bristol, England, with 100 BA employees on board, to roll into a display space at the Aerospace Bristol museum. That same plane was the last Concorde built, coming off the line in 1978 at BAC Filton Bristol. To celebrate the plane and BA and its aerospace neighbor, Aston Martin Bristol commissioned 10 special editions called the DBS Superleggera Concorde. Pieced together with the expertise of Q by Aston Martin, the coupe is the latest in Aston Martin's aviation-inspired Wings Series specials, following the Vanquish S Red Arrows Edition, Vantage Blades Edition, and V12 Vantage S Spitfire 80. Dressed in white, the coupe gets ornament in British Airways livery colors on the front splitter, roof strake, rear spoiler, rear diffuser, and inside the Aston Martin wings badge. A Concorde graphic decorates the black, carbon fiber roof, and a Concorde-shaped chunk of solid aluminum streaks through the side strakes. The British Airways "Speedmarque" logo is on the front fender above the black enamel Q by Aston Martin badge, the rear fenders wearing registration G-BOAF.    Printed Alcantara on the Superleggera's cockpit headliner displays a sonic boom graphic, the front visors get mach meter graphics, the front seats show off Concorde and Speedmarque logos. Pieces of titanium compressor blades from the supersonic bird have been turned into paddle shifters, and embossed solid aluminum seatbelt buckles shine the Concorde again. The floor mats adopt a design by Sir Terence Conran, he being one of three designers commissioned to upgrade the Concorde's interior not long before the jet went out of service. The 5.2-liter V12 engine holds steady at 710 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, plenty of thrust for booming travel on the ground. Aston Martin Bristol says it will donate part of the proceeds from each sale to the Air League Trust, a nonprofit that teaches underprivileged children how to fly and helps open doors for them into engineering professions.

Aston Martin teases the DBX again ahead of December debut

Aston Martin began the teaser campaign for the DBX two months ago with a 37-second video of the coming crossover on a romp over dirt roads, carousing and drifting through a magenta landscape. The next month brought a dynamic tease, the DBX running up the hill at Goodwood. Now another teaser is out, this one called The Grille, focused on that trademark Aston Martin component. The dreamy vid, laid out like an opening credit sequence for a Bond film, is captioned, "Aston Martin’s first SUV features the iconic DB grille." In case that's not enough to make the connection, the DB11 opens the 41-second clip before eventually transitioning into the DBX. The DBX is built on the same Second Century Architecture supporting the DB11, the SCA also planned to carry the Lagonda's future lineup of electric vehicles. Power will come from the same Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 found in the DB11 and the Vantage. If the horsepower rumors come true, we can expect 503 ponies from the charge, same as found in the 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S Coupe, and something like 516 pound-feet of torque. The engine being hooked up to a Mercedes electrical architecture helps explain the surfeit of Mercedes-looking switchgear inside the DBX cabin, including what looks like a heavily MBUX-inspired infotainment system. Without stating a figure, Aston Martin makes note of DBX towing capability; the GLC 63 can manage 3,500 pounds, enough for the DBX to pull the required barrow of champagne to Royal Ascot 2020. The reveal is scheduled for December, deliveries to come in 2020 after units roll off the carmaker's new factory in St. Athan, Wales. Production numbers are penciled in for 5,000 units per year. The order book opened over the weekend at Pebble Beach; selling the planned annual production would nearly double the company's annual sales.