2002 Aston Martin Db7 Vantage Volante Rare Atrium Blue/ivory 19,000 Miles Mint!! on 2040-cars

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Aston launches certification program for historic cars

After 102 years in business, Aston Martin has an in-house program to provide factory certification to the products it has made for more than a century. The Aston Martin Assured Provenance program is a way for owners to have their classic cars examined by the gents at Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell, and then - if successful - be assessed one of four levels of certification. Owners pay a fee to have their car looked over by in-house experts who perform a digital scan and then examine all of the car's visuals and mechanics. Those records are then given to the Sanctioning Committee, another group of experts that decides which level, from Platinum to Bronze, should be awarded to the vehicle. The owner pays another fee if the car get certified, after which said owner gets a photo book of the car, the certificate in a presentation case, two sets of plaques for the instrument panel and door sills, and a USB with the digital record of the car. The program is open to original vehicles and those reworked by Aston Martin. The press release below has more. Related Video: ASTON MARTIN LAUNCHES ASSURED PROVENANCE RATING FOR CLASSIC CARS 11 September 2015, Gaydon - Aston Martin is today unveiling an authoritative new Assured Provenance certification programme which, for the first time in the brand's 102-year history, comprehensively assesses the background of its heritage sports cars. Created to offer a true blue riband service to heritage car owners and collectors, and drawing on the unrivalled knowledge of a committee of authoritative Aston Martin experts, the pioneering Assured Provenance certification programme is administered and run by the brand's world-renowned in-house heritage car facility – Aston Martin Works. The first official authentication programme to be provided in-house by Aston Martin, the new scheme offers four levels of verification to take into account not simply all-original examples, but also sports cars that have been modified by Aston Martin itself over the years. As part of the painstaking procedure of examination and authentication, all cars submitted to the process will undergo a digital scan which will be verified and held in a secure archive for future reference. Every car will be assessed at Aston Martin's internationally renowned heritage restoration, service and repair facility – Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire – where they will undergo a thorough visual and mechanical investigation.

2012 Pebble Beach Concept Car Lawn offers a tutorial in cars to come

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is a showcase for some of the world's most exquisite vintage vehicles, but if newer metal is more your speed, the Concept Car Lawn is the place to be.
This year saw models from Bugatti, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley as well as SRT, Hennessey, Infiniti and Lexus among others. The ultimate sampler platter of exotic and concept vehicles saw the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse mingle with the Lamborghini Urus Concept and the mighty Hennessey Venom GT, though we found ourselves particularly smitten with the BMW Zagato Roadster and the Aston Martin Vanquish.
Not that we could go wrong anywhere we looked. The 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed seemed perfectly content parked on the manicured putting green, as did the McLaren MP4-12C Spider. Get cozy with the full gallery below to see the smattering of metal on the lawn.

2017 Aston Martin Vantage GTS is only for America

Earlier today, Aston Martin announced that a short run of V12 Vantage S models would come to the US with a manual. Just 100 will be built, but that's an exciting prospect nonetheless. The US is also getting a unique rationalization of the V8 lineup, spiking the low-price GT and more expensive S variants and consolidating them into one trim: the GTS, available in fixed and droptop versions. Basically, there's one trim, but two flavors thereof. Both offer the 4.7-liter V8 in the existing V8 Vantage, and both offer a choice of a six-speed manual or 7-speed single-clutch automated manual. The Sport flavor offers some styling baubles (think: carbon fiber) as well as the sport suspension that was optional on the older Vantage. Inside, the Sport is trimmed with either black or grey leather with either alcantara or leather detailing. The center stack face is carbon fiber, and the rotary controls are black. The Lux version skips the sport suspension bits, but adds in some gloss black exterior elements at the front splitter and rear diffuser, and brightwork at the front grille, headlamp surrounds, hood vent strakes, and window surrounds. The seats are leather, although the color is up to the buyer from an "extensive color palette". Controls are done up in satin chrome finish with piano black. The GTS is, like most Astons, a blank slate for too many styling options to list, but if you can write a check big enough chances are you can have it any way you'd like. Expect it to start at roughly the current V8 Vantage S's price, or right around $134,000. Related Video: