2011 Aston Martin Vantage -manual 6-spd,prem Audio,sat Radio,cruise,b/t,clean! on 2040-cars

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Top Gear caught filming Best of British near Buckingham Palace

YouTuber and car-fan extraordinaire Shmee probably had very little trouble tracking down the Top Gear film crew recently, as the group was putting together an episode that could accurately be described as "excessive." With its flag-waving (literally) Best of British theme, the TG guys gathered a jaw-dropping array of British cars, and parked them all right in front of Buckingham Palace to make extra sure that the point was driven home.
Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May were outfitted with a trio of Jaguar F-Types festooned with gigantic Union Jacks, with which to survey the landscape of British motoring glory. In the video below, you'll see that this includes any number of Mini, Aston Martin, Lotus, McLaren, Land Rover, Bentley and Rolls-Royce models (just to name a few), as well as a healthy dose of weird stuff that most people would never guess at being built in the UK. The lawnmowers and military vehicles are especially cool.

2015 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster

Aston Martin previewed its most powerful, quickest-accelerating and fastest production roadster ever at this year's Pebble Beach Concours. The 2015 V12 Vantage S Roadster is essentially a convertible version of the V12 Vantage S Coupe, which we reviewed last year, a model that drops the automaker's most potent powertrain into its smallest chassis. Unlike the outgoing V12 Vantage Roadster, this new S model boasts a more powerful engine, a new transmission, new adaptive suspension and more luxurious appointments along with freshened styling. While last year's beloved six-speed manual gearbox is gone – a thought that continues to bring tears to our eyes – everything else about the updated roadster piques our interest. We recently spent a full day in the mountains and deserts surrounding Palm Springs with a China Grey (with red carbon fiber accents) version of the British automaker's latest. Driving Notes Mirroring its coupe sibling, the Vantage S Roadster features an all-aluminum monocoque platform with lightweight aluminum body panels. To replace stiffness lost when the roof was removed, a rigid cross member has been added to the open platform. The Roadster's power-operated soft top is fully automatic in operation, opening and closing in about 20 seconds at speeds upwards of 30 miles per hour with the touch of a switch. When tucked away, the entire assembly is hidden cleanly beneath an integrated hard tonneau cover. So as not to be mistaken for its predecessor, Aston Martin has upgraded the model's signature grille from aluminum to carbon fiber with black or titanium silver mesh, with or without body-color accents. The lightweight, forged aluminum, 10-spoke alloys are also new, as is the obvious scripted red "S" on the trunklid. Inside, occupants will find additional grippy Alcantara on the seats and new patterns in the stitching. There are also a slew of upscale options and access to Aston Martin's bespoke Q treatment available. Aston's famed, naturally aspirated, 6.0-liter V12 has been upgraded with a larger throttle body, dual variable valve timing, a revised intake manifold, an improved fuel pump and fully machined combustion chambers. Combined, the improvements are enough to warrant a new AM28 engine designation. On a dyno, the engine cranks out 565 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque.

Say hello to the Aston Martin 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service' DBS Superleggera

There's the fact that the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera has become the carmaker's most popular canvas for special editions of late. There's the fact that Aston Martin has a longstanding relationship with the production company behind the James Bond film franchise. And there's the fact that Aston Martin is working with the Bond franchise at the moment, with the Rapide E and who knows how many other Warwickshire products to star and cameo in Bond 25. And that's how we arrive at the fact of the Aston Martin "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" DBS Superleggera, which celebrates the sixth film in the franchise. From now on we'll call this coupe the OHMSS DBS Superleggera, which, when pronounced "Oh Ms. DBS," is a wonderful acronym. We didn't make that up, either — the first five letters are etched onto the strakes on the front fenders. In 1969, George Lazenby as James Bond drove an olive 1969 DBS in the film. This being a turbulent time for the franchise, the car had no gadgets and didn't appear in any action scenes. The best it could do for fighting was a 4.0-liter inline six cylinder with either 282 horsepower or 325 hp depending on whether it had the SU or more potent Weber carburetors. Now that we live in an era of all-action-all-the-time, the DBS Superlegerra celebrates the film's semicentennial with a 712-hp, 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12. Olive paint dresses up the carbon fiber bodywork and the cantrails and roof that are usually black. The hue gets contrasted by a six-bar horizontal grille and a delightfully ornate set of diamond-turned wheels. The interior is wrapped in Pure Black leather set off with Alcantara in the same kind of gray blend found in the 1969 DBS. The seats get outlined in red piping, matching the red-trimmed glovebox in the movie where Bond retrieved his disassembled Armalite AR-7 rifle and telescopic sight. If a buyer wishes, he can order a custom black drinks case for the trunk, designed to fit two bottles of bubbly and four flutes. Aston Martin will make 50 examples of the Oh Ms. DBS priced at GBP300,000 (about $380,000). That's around $72,000 more than the standard GT, and we'd recommend splurging on bulletproof rear glass for the new DBS, too. That will still be an easier bullet to take than the track-only, GBP2.75 million Aston Martin Goldfinger DB5 Continuation Gadget.