2005 Aston Martin Db9 Base Coupe 2-door 6.0l **mint Condition** Low Miles, Clean on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin seeks ‘big brother’ despite first profit in years, IPO talk

Aston Martin just reported that it earned $121 million (or GBP87 million) in 2017, its first profit in eight years, and it's preparing for a possible initial public offering, eyeing a valuation as high as $6.95 billion (GBP5 billion). It has a strategy to begin converting its fleet to hybrid and electric powertrains. Nevertheless, the low-volume British luxury marque says it needs a helping hand to survive the wave of autonomous driving technology sweeping the automotive industry. CEO Andy Palmer tells Bloomberg it's looking for a "big brother" partner to help it with the billions of dollars in capital requirements posed by the dawn of driverless cars. "We are making a new kind of company, a company that can survive on 7,000 to 14,000 very highly priced, very profitable cars a year, but it can survive because of its partnerships," Palmer told Bloomberg TV. "It can be very profitable on that 7,000 to 14,000 cars a year but only by having a big brother that can help it out." Palmer said Aston Martin already has a partnership with Daimler AG, which owns a 5-percent stake in the company, to develop autonomous capabilities, but more help is needed. One assumes he is envious of competitors like Rolls-Royce and Bentley, which benefit from the corporate parentage and financial resources of BMW and Volkswagen, respectively. Sales grew 48 percent in 2017 to nearly 5,100 units, Aston's highest sales volume in nine years, on the strength of the DB11 sports car, which starts at $211,995. It was enough for Palmer to proclaim in a release, "The financial turnaround of Aston Martin is now complete." While it shops around for a sugar daddy, Aston Martin is busy building a new factory in Wales, set to open in 2019. It has launched new models like the DB11 Volante and Vantage, plus the limited-production DB4 GT Continuation model. Further out, the company is building 155 examples of its first electric car, the RapidE, due in 2019, and it's developing an electric version of the DBX crossover, also for 2019. Palmer has said Aston Martin will offer all six of its vehicles in hybrid variants by 2025, with 25 percent of its vehicles to be fully electric by the end of the 2020s. Related Video: Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Autonomous Vehicles Electric Luxury aston martin rapide aston martin vantage aston martin db11 aston martin dbx aston martin db11 volante

'Sylvan Rock' by Aston Martin could be your home for $7.7 million

Aston Martin is known for some of the most gorgeous automotive designs ever produced, but occasionally it lends that expertise to other items. Sylvan Rock, a 55-acre luxury residential resort to be constructed in New York's Hudson Valley in partnership with New York's S3 Architecture, is one such venture. It's also Aston Martin's first collaboration in the design of a private home. Sylvan Rock will be built about 80 miles north of New York City, near Rhinebeck. Calling it a house is underselling it; even the property's own website refers to it as a "compound." It comprises a nearly 6,000-square foot primary residence, three guest "pods," a pool, pool house, tree house and garden. Oh, and yes, there's a three-car garage, but that's not what really sells Sylvan Rock as a driver's home.  "Driving down a bucolic country road, enjoying the curves in the road, you arrive at an unassuming gatehouse entrance to the private driveway. Along the driveway, the property unfolds onto a secluded luxury retreat," the promotional material enthuses. Sounds like a nice little spot, doesn't it? That's straight from the description on the property web site, which is linked above. It has detailed plans and a much larger gallery of rendered images. Here are the quick specs: Residence | 5,983 SF 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 half baths 3 car garage Pool and deck Pool House | 873 SF Three Guest House “Pods” | 1,574 SF Treehouse - Architect designed Food Garden and Trails Total finished spaces in compound: 8,430 SF If you can part with a cool $7.7 million, it could be your new home away from your 17 other homes, provided you can wait until 2022, when construction will be finished. Oh, and if you have another couple hundred grand burning a hole in your pocket, Aston Martin will even throw in a new DBX in matching Onyx Black. Honestly, if you can flash the cash, I'm sure they'll sell you as many cars as you want — or, you know, shares. They'll even throw in a picnic basket for free. Yes, that last part is real.  Featured Gallery Aston Martin Sylvan Rock View 9 Photos Auto News Design/Style Marketing/Advertising Aston Martin Luxury

This Aston Martin V8 Vantage prototype sounds like it has AMG power

We've known for a while now that the next Aston Martin V8 Vantage would get power from a turbocharged Mercedes-AMG engine, but this is the first time we've had a chance to hear it. The video above, recorded by Autoevolution, shows a prototype of the 2018 Aston Martin Vantage cruising around roads near the Nurburgring. The sound is definitely similar to other V8-powered Mercs, and absolutely does not an Aston power plant. As for how good it sounds, the office is split. At least we're in agreement that it's good the car will probably be offered with a manual transmission. We can also pick out a few little details from the body. This new Vantage will get fender vents like those on the DB11 starting from just behind the front wheel arch. The DB11's high and wide rear haunches will carry over as well. This particular prototype has a very deep chin spoiler up front, which may indicate there will be more than one version. The headlights are concealed well, but considering the similarities to the DB11 in other areas, we'd expect similar swept-back headlights up front. Basically, the Vantage is shaping up to continue Aston's tradition of similarly shaped sports cars in different sizes, but that's hardly a bad thing when the resulting cars look so good. Related Video: News Source: Autoevolution / YouTube via Road & TrackImage Credit: Autoevolution / YouTube Spy Photos Aston Martin Coupe Future Vehicles Performance Videos viral video mercedes-amg aston martin v8 vantage