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Aston Martin Vanquish 25 by Callum begins Ian Callum's next act

In June, Ian Callum retired from his post as Jaguar's design boss. In July, the man with an elegant and luxurious public resume extending more than two decades started Ian Callum Design with a few former colleagues. Callum said the full-service design and engineering house would create and comprehensively upgrade vehicles, and that he'd "like to take some of the cars I've designed and maybe redo them a little bit." That initiative starts with the Aston Martin Vanquish 25, a thorough rework of the original Vanquish Callum built from 2001 to 2007, when Ford counted the English brand in its stable.  With the goal being to "make the Vanquish the Grand Tourer for the 2020s," the broad strokes remain — as it should be, seeing how much they still appeal. More than 100 overall detail changes begin with the redesigned front fascia, with a sharper-edged upper grille sitting above a larger lower intake. Projector headlamps give way to four high-intensity LEDs, and the lower fog lamps are replaced by carbon fiber vents to channel airflow to the front brakes. An "intimidating" mien starts with dark grille strakes supplanting the chrome bars of yore, the dark mood continuing with the one-piece carbon fiber window surround and carbon fiber hood vents and fender vent strakes. Gone are the scalloped sills, replaced by convex carbon fiber rockers that blend into the new curve of the lower rear fenders. In back, new taillights rest atop a new bumper that wraps around a large diffuser with integrated exhaust pipes. The cost-cutting Jaguar XK side mirrors — Ford owned Jaguar at the time, too — are gone, newly designed units with built-in turn signals taking their places.  When we drove a 2005 Vanquish in 2015, we wrote that while the greater part of the coupe held up to time, the interior did the opposite. Callum has fixed that, turning the original coupe's blocky, vertical center console into a sloping waterfall unit in carbon fiber. At the top of the center console, a removable Bremont pocket watch. Below that, no more Jaguar switchgear, but an eight-inch media display touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, carbon fiber buttons and aluminum dials. A thinner steering wheel and reshaped paddle shifters sit ahead of a dash cluster designed by watchmaker Bremont.  New front seats with deeper sculpting sit lower in the cabin, clothed in the same cross-stitched Bridge of Weir leather as the rest of the cockpit.

Aston Martin electric supercar might be in the works

Aston Martin could develop a lightweight battery-electric sports car in line with the Tesla Roadster as part of the British brand's shift towards hybrids and electric vehicles. CEO Andy Palmer told Auto Express the company is considering a pure-electric car that's smaller than the Vantage but faster and more expensive, taking aim squarely at the Roadster. "There are various challenges involved in making an EV, and the one everyone focuses on is the battery — the management system and the chemistry involved," Palmer said. He added: "The interesting thing is that the other three components of any electric car — weight, aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance — are areas sports car manufacturers, and us in particular, are really good at mastering. That puts us at an advantage over other brands who are making some big claims — such as Tesla, with a lightweight roadster. I think we could be in that space relatively easily." Aston Martin is building only 155 examples of its new RapidE, its first electric car due for launch in 2019, which will cost $255,000. It's also developing an electric version of its DBX crossover for 2019. More broadly, Palmer has said the brand plans to convert its entire six-car lineup to hybrid powertrains by the middle of the next decade, with 25 percent of its vehicles fully electric by the end of the 2020s. It recently unveiled an all-new Vantage, which it expects to price somewhere south of $150,000. Palmer also told Auto Express that Aston's coming hybrids will use 48V technology — but they won't be plug-in hybrids, which he says add complexity and costs. They could also pave the way for a six-cylinder Aston. "I have no objection to the principle of engines that are smaller and in a V configuration, in fact, but inline four-cylinder or three-cylinder units? No," he said. "I don't think we'll see an Aston Martin with a combustion engine that has any fewer than six cylinders."Related Video: Image Credit: Corbis via Getty Images Green Aston Martin Coupe Electric Hybrid Performance Supercars PHEV aston martin vantage aston martin dbx

Aston Martin DB11: Everything we know right now

With six and a half decades of heritage, the Aston Martin DB is one of the most storied nameplates in the savory sports car stratosphere. And we're (probably) just weeks away from seeing the next major chapter: the DB11. A few exclusive spy shots reveal new details, and we've gathered some crucial intelligence to help us get a better idea of what we can expect from the new DB11 when it launches later this year. Much like how the previous DB9 ushered in a new generation of cars from Aston's Gaydon, UK, headquarters, the British carmaker says the DB11 will kick off its "Second Century Plan." An insider told us that Aston is in the final tuning stages, and as such, the engineering prototype pictured here is likely the closest thing we've seen to a final production-spec car. While early mules had moldings and panels, we now have a good sense of the DB11's proportions, and can clearly see the rear-wheel-drive coupe's character lines. We can also see an aero-lip intake under the grille that appears to be significantly wider than on the DB9. Beyond being aesthetically pleasing, this is a necessary addition for better cooling. Our sources tell us power is expected to be above that of the naturally aspirated V12 Vantage's 565 hp and 458 lb-ft of torque. Gaydon's partnership with Daimler will soon yield the new Mercedes-AMG 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine for use in Aston Martin cars, but the Brits surprised us recently by showing a teaser of a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12. The timing is curious, and makes us suspect that the DB11 will continue the 12-cylinder tradition, despite the pressure to be increasingly fuel efficient. Our sources tell us power is expected to be above that of the naturally aspirated V12 Vantage's 565 horsepower and 458 pound-feet of torque. While the current DB9 boasts a six-speed automatic gearbox, we understand the V12 will be mated to a new transmission with more speeds. It's possible the DB11 could get the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic that Aston recently added to the Vantage and Rapide range. The DB11 will ride on an all-new chassis, and in continuing the industry trend, the new car should be lighter, tipping the scales below the current DB9's 4,000-pound mark, despite some new equipment. The Daimler partnership should improve a major area where Aston has historically lacked: in-car technology and infotainment.