2006 Aston Martin Db9 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin confirms DP-100 for Gran Turismo 6 and Goodwood debut

Gran Turismo 6 is set to come to life this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. That's where Mercedes-AMG will run its Vision Gran Turismo and Nissan will show a full-size mockup of its Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo. Now Aston Martin has announced it's getting in on the action as well with its Design Prototype 100. Aston has released a video two teaser images to give us a hint at what it's working on, but will reveal the finished product in the Supercar Paddock at Goodwood tomorrow, although we don't know if that will be in the form of a scale model, a full-size show car, a series of design sketches or a virtual rendition existing only in the game. From the look of the two images, though, it appears that we're dealing with an LMP-style racer with Aston's ubiquitous V12 mounted in the middle of a carbon-fiber chassis. What we do know for certain is that, when it's released for download next month, it will be the latest (but certainly not the last) in a long line of concepts designed specifically for driving on the PlayStation 3.

Fisker sues Aston Martin for $100M over The Force 1

We were expecting Henrik Fisker to bring The Force 1, his next vehicle design, to next week's Detroit Auto Show, but that might not happen. In December an attorney for Aston Martin sent Fisker a letter asking the Danish designer to either not show his car in Detroit or to change the design. Fisker responded to that letter by filing $100-million civil extortion lawsuit against Aston Martin in a California Federal court, naming company CEO Andy Palmer, chief spokesman Simon Sproule, and chief creative officer Marek Reichman as defendants. Based on the overhead-view sketch, the English carmaker believes that The Force 1 is "strikingly similar to several of Aston Martin's cars, including the DB10" from the movie Spectre. At the same time the carmaker's letter to Fisker admitted that it doesn't know what the final design will look like, but it appears that the carmaker's intent to "protect its valuable rights if necessary" could not make way for patience. Or perhaps Aston Martin is trying to prevent another Thunderbolt episode before it starts. That incident last year involved the carmaker suing Fisker over his reimagined Vanquish, with the two settling the matter out of court. Fisker says The Force 1 has isn't based on an Aston Martin, and as part of the lawsuit submitted a design breakdown of both the DB10 and The Force 1. Fisker's latest is apparently in partnership with VL Automotive, the company that's been threatening to release a V8-powered Karma sedan for years now, and the Detroit show organizers say they've been working with VL, not Fisker. The lawsuit seeks the $100 million for punitive and compensatory damages and court costs, alleging that Aston Martin's actions "would subject [Fisker] to public humiliation, embarrassment in the industry, and significant financial losses." The public allegations go even further, Fisker's lawyer Jonathan Michaels saying that the English brand, "In an effort to protect itself from further market erosion... conspired and devised a scheme to stomp out Henrik Fisker's competitive presence in the luxury sports car industry." News Source: Wall Street Journal Design/Style Government/Legal Detroit Auto Show Aston Martin Fisker Coupe Luxury Performance lawsuit Henrik Fisker spectre aston martin db10

Aston Martin values electric propulsion over downsizing

Not even small-volume manufacturers are being exempt from the automotive industry's pursuit of higher efficiency and lower emissions. At present, that means either electric propulsion (whether in part or in whole) or downsizing conventional engines, and for Aston Martin, the future apparently lines in the former. "I see in our future obviously V12s, V8s and probably battery-electric cars," Aston's CEO Palmer revealed to Autocar. "As time evolves, there's probably an inevitability to hybridisation, simply because, car by car, you can only downsize so much. I'd rather put a hybrid in there than an in-line four-cylinder." So just how does the company envision implementing electric or hybrid propulsion? "Imagine something like a 4x4, 1,000-bhp silent Rapide. I think 'Power, Beauty, Soul' doesn't say it has to be a gasoline engine. It just needs to be really powerful, really beautiful and set your heart on fire," Palmer explained. "I'd argue that 1,000 bhp on the ground would probably do that for you. So that's the route we could go." The British automaker demonstrated the DBX concept with an all-wheel-drive electric powertrain at the Geneva Motor Show a few months ago, and is currently in the process of revitalizing and expanding its current product range. Of course Aston isn't the only high-end niche automaker faced with the decision to either downsize or add hybrid propulsion. Ferrari is taking both approaches, using smaller turbocharged engines in its V8 models and moving towards hybrids with its V12s. Porsche offers an array of plug-in hybrids and is in the process of downsizing and turbocharging its naturally aspirated engines. Pagani switched from a big V12 in the Zonda to a smaller turbo V8 in the Huayra. Bugatti is expected to use electric turbochargers in its Veyron successor. And Lamborghini was recently reported to be considering a turbo five for the Huracan.