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Aston Martin unveils aero kit and Heritage Racing Editions for Vantage

Each year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, enthusiasts are met with an artistic white sculpture that represents a unique part of automotive history. For 2019, the Central Feature, as it's called, highlights Aston Martin with a DBR1 frozen high in the sky.  Celebrating 60 years since Aston went 1-2 at Le Mans and 70 years since the company first raced at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, Aston Martin also unveiled an aero kit and the Heritage Racing Editions for the Vantage coupe. Crafted by Aston's bespoke division "Q", only 60 examples of the Vantage Heritage Racing Editions will be made, each acting as an homage to a historic racecar from the company's past. The green and silver Vantage, named "Razor Blade," has been color-matched to a racer that set records in the 1500-cc light car class at Brooklands in 1923. The red example with Aston Martin lettering, "The Italian Progettista", is a call to the Ulster, which Aston calls its most iconic pre-war racecar. It finished third overall at the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished fourth in the RAC Tourist Trophy Race. The "David Brown Era" Vantage seen in yellow and green is inspired by the DB3S from the '50s. The red, white, and blue Vantage, dubbed "The Group C Monster", celebrates the AMR1 racer. At the time of development in 1989, the AMR1's use of a kevlar and carbon fiber monocoque was cutting-edge. The "Le Mans Winner" Vantage wears the Gulf livery and nods to the endurance racing series that Aston Martin has participated in since 1928. Lastly, the Lime Essence and Stirling Green Vantage is a hat tip to the current Vantage GTE racecar that competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The special-edition models also debut a new aero kit that will be available on all Vantages. Thanks to a carbon fiber rear wing, dive planes, an extended front splitter, the kit produces an additional 428 pounds of downforce at 190 mph. Each car has lightweight wheels, the Sports Plus Pack, and interior carbon fiber features for additional weight loss. Aston Martin has yet to announce pricing or availability, but all six special-edition cars can be seen next to the Central Feature throughout the Goodwood events.

At St. Moritz, the Ferraris and Bugattis are small wonders

The Little Car Company is once again taking to glitzy St. Moritz in the Alps to show off an array of scaled-down automotive classics that will include a Bugatti Baby II, Ferrari Testa Rossa J (for junior) in both base and Pacco Gara models, and an Aston Martin DB5 Junior. The elegant, electrified miniatures, all available for test drives, will be assembled at the upcoming International Concours of Elegance at St. Moritz this Friday and Saturday to entertain the rich and famous, and others perhaps not so well positioned. The Little Car Company is a U.K.-based firm that has re-created everything from a pint-sized Bugatti Type 35 to a life-sized dune buggy based on a Tamiya R/C kit from the 1980s. Their cars run on electric power. Other models are put on static display, and one of those at St. Moritz is to be its newly launched Bentley Blower Jnr. "A step into new territory for the brand," the company says, the Blower Jnr is an 85 percent scale electric version of the British manufacturer's legendary original, and is The Little Car Company’s first road-legal automobile. Said CEO Ben Hedley, "This year will be the third time that we have participated in this wonderful event, so it is only right that we bring even more unique pieces for guests to get behind the wheel of, but also that we bring something new for guests to look at: the Bentley Blower Jnr." Operating for about five years, the Little Car Company hand-builds licensed products in entertaining partnerships with some elite manufacturers. Its cars are aimed mainly at collectors but can be driven. Among its recent offerings, the Testa Rossa was launched in 2021 as a 3/4-scale replica of the legendary "red head,” powered by a 12kW battery and able to reach a top speed of 47 mph, Little Car Company planned to build only 299 examples of the Testa Rossa. One of them was on display at Harrods in London just before Christmas, priced at just about $100,000. A terrific gift, but youÂ’ll need a bigger tree.   Featured Gallery The Little Car Company at St Moritz Design/Style Aston Martin Bentley Bugatti Ferrari Electric

Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG bicycles: Luxury branding has no bounds

Luxury automobile companies are never quite satisfied with building high-end cars. They often stray into other types of branded merchandise that can have little to do with cars, such as the BMW Active line of clothing and accessories. Splitting the difference between branded merchandise and actual vehicles are these two limited-production bicycles from Mercedes and Aston Martin. The bike above is a collaboration between Mercedes-AMG and German bicycle brand Rotwild, a builder that has been around since 1996, according to the company's website. The bicycle in question is the R.S2 "Beast of the Green Hell." It's inspired by the Mercedes-AMG GT R sports car that was promoted with the same nickname. It uses a carbon frame and wheels, as well as disc brakes. It's also painted in green and black to match the Green Hell Magno color available on the GT R. Only 50 of them will be built, and each will carry a pricetag of over ˆ7,000, or nearly $8,300 at current exchange rates, including tax. View 4 Photos The second bicycle is from Aston Martin and another German bicycle company, this one called Storck Bicycles. This bike company has also only been around since 1995. The bike is called the Fascenario.3 Aston Martin Edition, and it will be a bit less rare than the Mercedes bicycle, with 107 total units. It's still a cool vehicle, though, featuring a carbon frame and wireless shifters. In total it weighs 13 pounds. It does lack the disc brakes of the Mercedes bicycle, though. Pricing hasn't been announced for the Aston Martin bike, but don't expect it to be cheap. Related Video: Featured Gallery ROTWILD R.S2 Limited Edition Mercedes-AMG GT R bicycle View 9 Photos Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin Green Weird Car News Aston Martin Mercedes-Benz Performance mercedes-amg