2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe Casino Royale on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin SUV production to start in late 2019

Aston Martin has confirmed it's upcoming SUV will begin production at a new factory beginning in late-2019. The high end sport-utility will be similar in size and design to the DBX Concept, which Aston Martin first exhibited in Monterey back in 2015. Since it first debuted three years, the market for exotic and hugely expensive sport-utilities has gotten red-hot and highly competitive. New models in this rarefied segment of the sport-utility world now include the Lamborghini Urus, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and Bentley Bentayga. The plant where Aston will build its SUV is based in St. Athan, Wales, on the site of a former Royal Air Force base. A total of three former aircraft hangars are being combined, to create this new facility. This factory is only part of a larger expansion plan that will add roughly 1,000 new employees to Aston Martin's ranks, stationed throughout its existing facilities in Gaydon and Newport Pagnell, along with the new St. Athan-based site. "We are delighted at the progress being made at the St Athan site. The team have done a fantastic job in advancing the facility and I was incredibly proud to chair our first Board meeting at the new plant," said Andy Palmer, Aston Martin's president and CEO. Showing how important adding a truck is to its future business model, Aston confirmed a total of 150 employees will be assigned solely to "pre-production preparations" related to the company's upcoming SUV. Related Video:

Aston Martin DB11 gets back to work at the Nurburgring

The Aston Martin DB9 has been around for over a decade now. Classic though its styling may be, that means it's ripe for replacement. Fortunately that's just what Aston Martin is working on, as you can see from these latest spy shots. Snapped undergoing development at the notoriously grueling Nurburgring, this prototype appears to have ditched the camouflage worn by the last one we saw in favor of the black body cladding from our earlier shots. That makes it tough to tell anything about its final design, but if precedent proves anything, it ought to be pretty striking once the production bodywork is put in place. The new DB11 (or whatever it's ultimately called) is being built on a new platform that's set to replace Aston's long-serving VH architecture that has adapted over the years but essentially dates back to the V12 Vanquish that debuted way back in 2011. Aston is expected to keep using its even longer-serving 6.0-liter V12 engine on certain models, but the new DB11 is more likely to get the new twin-turbo V8 being built for it by Mercedes-AMG.

Aston Martin Vantage gets fresh new nose from Revenant Automotive

BMW's second-generation 4 Series has become the poster child of the shift towards oversized grilles, but Aston Martin jumped on this bandwagon before many when it revealed the current-generation Vantage in late 2017. Its wide, low grille continues to split opinions in 2020, and a British engineering firm thinks it has a better solution. Revenant Automotive redesigned the Vantage with a smaller, subtler grille. It's mounted higher on the front fascia than the original car's, it has black horizontal slats, and it's shaped like a grille Aston's designers could have drawn in-house. It doesn't look aftermarket, which is highly unusual in this corner of the industry. The twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 engine still needs air to stay cool, so stylists chiseled an air dam into the bottom part of the bumper and concealed it with black trim. The end result is a cleaner, more low-key look. Aston Martin integrated the Vantage's grille into its bumper, so installing Revenant's new-look part is relatively straight-forward. The transformation requires removing the original bumper, probably selling it on eBay for a hefty sum, and bolting on the new one. There is no cutting, sanding, welding, taping, gluing, or riveting required. Revenant's redesigned Vantage bumper is on sale now in the United Kingdom, and it can be shipped to the United States, though the company told Autoblog pricing depends on how it's configured. It's hand-made, and it's available in exposed carbon fiber at an extra cost. Looking ahead, the firm plans to expand its range of aftermarket Aston Martin parts by branching out into paint work and trim pieces, among other areas. It told us it's even planning on redesigning the car's rear end, though it's too early to tell what it will look like yet. Related Video: