2007 Aston Martin, Original Owner, 9600 Miles, Silver With Grey Interior on 2040-cars

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Watch Prodrive build an Aston Martin race car in 60 seconds

It's always fascinating to watch a racecar's production whether the construction is out of Lego blocks or a cutting-edge mix of aluminum and carbon fiber. This time-lapse clip offers a glimpse of the latter as Prodrive creates an Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE in just 60 seconds. The process took nearly three weeks in real time. Starting from just a bare shell, you first notice bits of wiring, suspension, and brakes appear on the chassis. Then the engine eventually arrives, but there's still a lot of work to do. The builders keep adding body panels and do lots of other wrenching. The process reminds us of building a plastic model kit but with much more expensive consequences if parts go missing. The #98 Vantage GTE will compete in the GTE Am class this season in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Drivers Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, and Mathias Lauda are the lucky folks who get to pilot this beauty.

5 things to know about the Aston Martin Lagonda SUV

Though Aston Martin unveiled its Lagonda Sedan first, we were told that the British ultra-luxury electric/autonomous spinoff brand's first production car would be an SUV. Today, at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, they took the wraps off an All-Terrain Concept: a battery-powered, autonomous-ready, all-wheel-drive crossover intended to presage that vehicle. We walked around, and sat in, the vehicle with Aston Martin Lagonda chief creative officer and design studio head, Marek Reichman, who provided us with all sorts of interesting insights about this new vehicle, and brand, which is expected to bow in 2021. Here are five things we learned. It Has a Hood for a Reason "The sedan was the most extreme version of this new design language, derived from the proportion of not having to have an engine, exhaust, driveline, or gas tank. This new concept has more of a hood, but by no means a typical SUV profile -- the windshield starts above the front axle line. This is because in an all-terrain vehicle, in all-terrain mode when you're going through snow or rough road, you want to feel protected. You want to see something in front of you." It's Huge Inside "Because of the powertrain, it has more space inside than a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which is fully a meter [more than 3 feet] longer. Luxury now is about time and space. I can't give you time, but I can give you space." It Has Radical Materials Inside "Just like we are unconstrained by tradition on the exterior, we are similarly unconstrained in the interior. We've used materials that define modern, contemporary luxury. Not like the traditional values of an English country manor. So on the seats we have cashmere. On the key we have Swarovski crystals. On the headliner we have alpaca. And on the door cards, we have silks. This car will be built in Wales and many of these materials come from Wales." It's Luxurious and Utilitarian "Design is about solving a problem. In this case, it's about solving for a customer who needs more practical applications. So we've made the interior flexible. The front seats rotate for a future autonomous mode. But you can get fixed seats up front and move the rear sheets forward to allow room for a third row. Or you can move both rear rows forward and have more room for cargo. It's a redefinition of uses rather than trying to fit something into the box of what an SUV can be." It's Trendy and Anti-Trend "A designer's job is to see if a trend is going to burn out quickly or be long term.

What does Aston Martin have planned for the name Aeroblade?

Aston Martin is working on something called Aeroblade, and the company recently filed a trademark application for the name. According to AutoGuide, the paperwork suggests the name could be used for a component, not for a model designation. The word indicates some kind of aerodynamic element, potentially in the form of an adaptive wing like those seen on the McLaren 650S, Bugatti Veyron, and so many Porsches over the years. Deployable spoilers allow a sports car to keep the airflow clean and undisturbed in some conditions and generate extra downforce under others. The use of the Aeroblade name for a component makes more sense than an actual model name. Aston typically starts its nameplates either with the letter V (as in Vanquish or the Vulcan pictured above) or DB (as in the current DB9 or forthcoming DB11). It has been known to make exceptions – like in the case of the Rapide four-door coupe or Cygnet city car – so we could be in for a surprise. The British manufacturer of luxury vehicles is working on a new generation of models to replace its current lineup. That includes a new platform to replace the aging VH architecture and a new engine under development with Mercedes-AMG. It's also working on bringing its first crossover to production, as previewed by the DBX concept at the Geneva Motor Show. Related Video: