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First Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation complete

Two years ago, Aston Martin announced a run of 25 DB5 Continuation cars that would be track-only reproductions of the gadget-laden DB5 from the James Bond movie "Goldfinger." A long gestation involved collaborating with Bond production house Eon Productions and longtime Bond stunt coordinator Chris Corbould on gadget reproductions. About six weeks ago the English luxury maker announced it had begun building the first DB5 from scratch and by hand, mainly using the same techniques that went into creating the original DB5, saying each car would need about 4,500 man-hours to fabricate. Today we have the first fruit from Aston Martin's Heritage Division workshop in Newport Pagnell, England. All trickery is accounted for with the show car, including recoiling machine gun barrels that erupt from behind the headlights, front and rear bumper battering rams, tire slashers, revolving triple license plates, rear smoke screen and oil spray systems, a bulletproof shield rising from the decklid, telephone in the driver's door, center console radar screen, weapons tray under the seats, an ejector seat button under the shift knob to send ornery passengers through the partial sunroof, and a remote control to work Q Branch's driver safety features when away from the leather-wrapped seats. Anything deadly only simulates genuine operation, naturally. But the smokescreen works and the oil delivery system sprays real fluid, so we see some hot-lap mishaps and cleanups at Turn 4 in some track's future. The first DB5 built in 55 years comes with a 4.0-liter straight-six sprouting three SU carburetors, shooting 290 horsepower to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Deliveries are certain to begin soon, each of the 25 examples starting at GBP2.7 million (about $3.4M U.S.). That's real money, sure, but a half-off bargain compared to the $6.4M paid for the 1964 DB5 used in the movie. Related Video:

2019 Aston Martin Vanquish: Like a handsomer DB11 with more grunt

Aston Martin appears to be getting the 2019 Vanquish ready for action, as these spy shots from the Nurburgring show. There's a lot of DB11 there at first glance, but let's take a closer look and try to spot most of the differences. To begin with, the headlights and front fascia are different. There's more overall intake area upfront, with lower side vents and a much bigger grille opening. The headlights are rounder than the DB11s, and to this author's eyes more classic and attractive. The hood extractor vents are in a different place, large quadrangles instead of the DB11's long, narrow slits – although this could easily change for production, as this arrangement might only be for the mule. Moving to the side, the sills are wider and the wheels are larger, likely an inch greater diameter than the DB11's judging by the reduced sidewall. The car is also noticeably lower. Out back, the most obvious difference is the quad pipes. They nestle above a more aggressive rear diffuser. So far, all this looks to be production-possible. Certainly the Vanquish will be positioned as a more aggressive, powerful version of the DB11, to which it's related. While the specific shapes may be tweaked slightly, everything we're seeing looks to communicate the Vanquish's mission effectively, and nothing looks unrenderable in metal or composite. Long story short: This looks like a nearly finalized exterior design. Note that this isn't related to the Vanquish Zagato Volante we saw earlier this year. That car is a final hurrah for the old, VH-architecture Vanquish. We expect the Vanquish to have more than the DB11's impressive 600 horsepower, so it can do battle with competitors from Ferrari like the 812 Superfast. Related Video:

This Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake is a masterpiece in pink

Customizing the exterior colors and styling of a car can be boiled down to a general choice: Go with a low-key classic look or take an outlandish approach that makes the car more exclusive. At least one Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato owner went down the latter route and chose a bright pink paint job for their shooting brake. Brought to our attention by Jalopnik, the car popped up on President and Group CEO Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd Andy Palmer's Instagram. " My Friday factory walk (Gemba) and I came across this beautiful Zagato Shooting Brake about to be shipped," he said on the post. "It's certainly going to stand out for a lucky customer." Stand out, it will. The pink paint, with black wheels and gold accents, adds a new element of uniqueness to the car. As an Aston Martin, it was already a premium sports car. The Zagato treatment makes it even more rare, as does the gorgeous shooting brake bodywork. For some people, that's enough. For others, that the car alone doesn't fully display their character and personality. This is the second time the Vanquish Zagatos have come up in the news in the past week. A different owner chose the classic Villa d'Este paint scheme, but went all out and bought one of each of the Zagato styles. Regardless of which style you prefer, this pink Aston proves one thing: this Zagato looks good in any color. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Andy Palmer (@andyataston) on Dec 8, 2018 at 3:50am PST Related Video: