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Aston Martin Valhalla project rebooted with Mercedes-Benz technology

Aston Martin will leverage its access to the Mercedes-Benz parts shelf to revise the Valhalla it plans to release in the coming years. Specifications haven't been finalized yet, but the supercar will most likely arrive with a German heart. Announced in early 2019 as the Project 003, and named Valhalla later that year, the Ferrari-punching model was on track to make its debut with a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 mounted behind its passenger compartment. Aston Martin proudly pointed out that the six was the first engine it developed in-house since the Tadek Marek-designed 5.3-liter V8 entered production in 1969. These plans changed after Daimler purchased a 20% stake in the firm, however. Aston Martin boss Tobias Moers (whose last position was at the head of Mercedes-AMG) told investors that his team is "re-assessing" the Valhalla, and that it will "probably have a different drivetrain" than the concept. He didn't reveal what the model will be powered by, and he stressed that nothing is off the table. Mercedes-Benz has a wide range of four-, six-, eight-, and 12-cylinder engines in its parts bin, plus hybrid technology and electric motors. Electrification remains in the pipeline regardless of the path the company chooses to take. "With the transformational technology agreement with Mercedes-Benz, there are other chances for us regarding combustion engines, but we still have an electrified drivetrain," he said without providing more specific details. It sounds like Aston will make visual tweaks to the Valhalla, too, because Moers revealed that buyers will be shown an updated version of the car in the next four months. It's unclear whether it will be presented to the public, too. Regardless, the car's introduction is tentatively scheduled for late 2023, so it will likely arrive here as a 2024 model. Moers confirmed that a plug-in hybrid model with what he described as "a reasonable electric range" will join the Aston Martin range in the coming years, too. He added that three new variants of the DBX, the firm's first SUV, are on their way as well. One is a plug-in hybrid. Details about the others aren't known, but another could be a sportier version positioned at the top of the range. Finally, the first electric Aston Martin will arrive in about 2025.

Aston Martin says its fleet will go all-hybrid

British luxury carmaker Aston Martin says it plans to convert its entire six-car lineup to hybrid powertrains, with CEO Dr. Andy Palmer telling the Financial Times (subscription required), "We will be 100 per cent hybrid by the middle of the 2020s" and that 25 percent of all Aston Martins will be fully electric "by the end of the next decade." In June, the company announced it will produce the RapidE, its first all-electric car, in 2019, with a limited production run of 155 cars. The Rapide S, the model it's ostensibly based on, starts around $204,000. "RapidE represents a sustainable future in which Aston Martin's values of seductive style and supreme performance don't merely co-exist alongside a new zero-emission powertrain, but are enhanced by it," Palmer said in the statement. "The internal combustion engine has been at the heart of Aston Martin for more than a century, and will continue to be for years to come. RapidE will showcase Aston Martin's vision, desire and capability to successfully embrace radical change, delivering a new breed of car that stays true to our ethos and delights our customers." Palmer also told FT that while the company plans to source battery cells from overseas, it will develop its electric systems in-house. It is working with Williams Advanced Engineering in England on EV systems integrations for the RapidE. Aston is just the latest of a long line of automakers to announce electrification plans. Notably, Volvo recently announced that it would add some form of electrification to its entire fleet by 2019. Related Video:

Aston Martin DB5 from ‘GoldenEye’ will be auctioned

Think of an Aston Martin DB5 in a Bond film, and you're likely to think of "Goldfinger" — the film and the car are forever linked in cinema history. But it's not the only Bond film with a DB5 chase, as the producers were eager to establish Pierce Brosnan as a credible Sean Connery equivalent, and put him in a DB5 on a mountain road in 1995's "GoldenEye." There was no white Mustang to chase in "GoldenEye," as Brosnan's Bond played with a red, reportedly rented Ferrari F355 driven by Famke Janssen. A few years after the film's premiere, in 2001, the DB5 was sold for $200,000. That doesn't sound fantastical for a Bond car, but at the time it was the most expensive piece of Bond memorabilia ever sold. At the end of the decade, the actual "Goldfinger" DB5 sold for roughly $4 million, which is unlikely to be topped by the "GoldenEye" car this summer. The car is not a barn-find or a lost cinema classic, either, as it has been on display in several museums such as the National Motor Museum in Britain. Bonhams will be auctioning this DB5 on July 13 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The car's estimated at $1.6 million to $2.14 million, which is still half or less than half of what the "Goldfinger" car brought in. Still, it's a silver Aston Martin with actual cinema history, and it's believably one of the reasons why restored classic Astons still get resprayed in Silver Birch. Related Video: