1997 - Aston Martin Db7 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin reveals new AMB 001 motorcycle, its first

Aston Martin has taken the wraps off a limited-edition lightweight racing bike called the AMB 001, its first-ever motorcycle, at EICMA in Milan, revealing a sculpted, vaguely retrofuturistic melding of form and function that is the first offering from a new partnership with English bike maker Brough Superior Motorcycles. Featuring a double wishbone front fork, the track-only bike represents a marriage of Aston’s design and Brough SuperiorÂ’s engineering. ItÂ’s inspired by AstonÂ’s current crop of mid-engine sports cars, presented in the brandÂ’s racing colors of Stirling green and lime essence with matte black wheels, forks and brake assemblies mixed in with unadorned carbon fiber. The latter material features on the signature fin, which derives its design from the side strake on Aston cars and which runs atop the bike along the length of the gas tank, under the saddle and out back. Another carryover is the same stainless-steel ultra-light wings that feature on the Valkyrie sitting under the lacquer of the bodywork on the nose and tank. There are also aerodynamic wings attached to the cowl on the front of the bike that harken to the S-curve on the front of an Aston Martin to apply downforce. Carbon fiber figures in the body structure, and titanium and billet aluminum feature elsewhere. The hand-stritched saddle is made of Oxford tan leather. The bike is powered by a V-twin turbocharged engine that makes its first appearance on a Brough Superior bike. It makes 180 horsepower, although thereÂ’s no information offered on top speed. The bikeÂ’s dry weight is just under 397 pounds. Just 100 examples will be built at the Brough Superior plant in Toulouse, France. Starting price is 108,000 euros (about $119,809 at current exchange rates), including a 20% VAT, with first deliveries expected in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Aston Martin reveals new prototype Vantage GT3 race car at Le Mans

Aston Martin is rolling out a prototype version of its new Vantage GT3 at the Michelin Aston Martin Racing Le Mans Festival race this weekend. The race car is a replacement for the V12 Vantage GT3 but won't be homologated for competition until March 1, 2019. It's also showing — but not racing — a new Vantage GT4. Both are based on the Vantage road car. The Vantage GT3 has a dry weight of 2,745 pounds and is powered by the same 4.0-liter turbocharged V8, but the Aston racing tuners have tweaked output to 535 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, up from 503 hp and 505 lb-ft. It also keeps the road car's lightweight aluminum chassis but adds a steel roll cage, Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox, Alcon motorsports multi-plate clutch, Ohlins four-way adjustable dampers, Alcon brakes and Bosch Motorsport ABS. It's being helmed by driver Ross Gunn. Aston introduced the V12 Vantage GT3 seven years ago. It's the brand's most successful customer car and most recently won the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and British GT series. Aston is keeping the Vantage GT4 on display in its paddock for potential customers and race fans. It's also set to be homologated on March 1, 2019. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin Vantage GT3, GT4 Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Coupe Racing Vehicles aston martin v12 vantage aston martin vantage gt3

Aston Martin DB10 based on V8 Vantage

If you looked at the new DB10 that Aston Martin revealed just a few days ago and thought as we did that it looked an awful lot like a reskinned Vantage, there's good reason for that. According to Automotive News, a reskinned V8 Vantage is exactly what the DB10 is. Instead of basing the limited-production spymobile on the new architecture it's developing and fitting it with the new engine it's sourcing from Mercedes-AMG, the DB10 is built around the same VH platform and V8 engine as the aging Vantage. Though it's evolved over the years, the VH platform dates back to the V12 Vanquish that launched way back in 2001. The second generation of that platform underpins the Vantage on which the DB10 is reportedly based, powered by a version of Jaguar's AJV8 engine that dates back to 1996. What is new about it is the design language that the new DB10 previews. More than any recent concept – like the DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo, CC100 Speedster or the most recent Zagato one-offs – the DB10 is said to embody the new direction in which Marek Reichman and his team plan to take the company's styling, moving away from the current theme it has employed for the past couple of decades. So while the DB10 you see here may not be packing much in the way of new technology, the subsequent models that will follow its lead hopefully will.