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Aston Martin DBX Bowmore Edition is distilled luxury with a whisky theme

Aston Martin, one of the best-known British carmakers, is joining forces with Bowmore, one of the best-known Scotch whisky distillers, to create a limited-edition version of the DBX. Designed by the company's Q division, the Bowmore Edition is a cocktail of modern luxury and old-school craftmanship for car and whisky enthusiasts alike. It takes a well-trained eye to tell the Bowmore Edition apart from the regular DBX in traffic. It's painted in a relatively subtle color named Bowmore Blue, though buyers can alternatively order Xenon Grey. Black brake calipers and black wheels come standard, but our favorite exterior feature is on the side strakes. They gain copper inlays cut out of the original Bowmore still. Q by Aston Martin badges round out the list of visual tweaks. Buyers can choose between a single- and a two-tone interior. Both feature copper and blue tweed inserts created by the Islay Woollen Mill that's located on the same island as the Bowmore distillery. More still-sourced copper accents are found on the bottom of the front cupholders and on the sill plates, and each car comes with an array of edition-specific accessories, including a tweed picnic basket and a leather holdall bag. Aston made no mechanical modifications to the DBX Bowmore Edition, so please don't pour single malt in its fuel tank. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 engine borrowed from Mercedes-Benz and tuned to develop 542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. It spins the four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission. The DBX posts a 4.2-second sprint to 60 mph and it can tow up to 6,000 pounds when properly equipped, which represents about 2,000 bottles of whisky — or a few hundred less if you factor in the trailer. Q by Aston Martin will build 18 units of the DBX Bowmore Edition. Deliveries will take place in the fourth quarter of 2021, but customers won't simply be handed the keys before being sent home. They'll first travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, where they'll pick up their SUV. They'll then take a 170-mile road trip through the fairy tale-like Scottish countryside before boarding a ferry for Islay for a three-night stay. Participants will eat, sight-see, visit the Bowmore Distillery, and hand-fill their own bottle of 39-year-old whisky straight from the cask, which is not bad as far as souvenirs go. Pricing hasn't been released yet, but the standard DBX starts at about $190,000. Related video:

Zagato receives a pair of 600-hp Aston Martin V12s for its private collection

Enthusiasts who missed their chance to buy the limited-edition Aston Martin V12 Zagato released in 2012 are in luck. British manufacturer R-Reforged received permission from both brands to build 38 more cars, split evenly between coupes and convertibles, and it has just completed the first prototypes in its Warwick, England, facility. Fittingly, the first pair was ordered by Andrea and Marella Zagato, and it's headed for the coachbuilder's private collection. The roadster is finished in a darker shade of gold, while the coupe is painted silver, and each color shows up again on the center console. Both cars ride on the same center-locking 19-inch wheels, and they receive a plaque in the engine bay that certifies they were built specifically for Mr. and Mrs. Zagato.  R-Reforged didn't settle for copying and pasting the original blueprints. It made small but significant changes to the cars, including giving the front end a new-look splitter and redesigned fenders. Zagato's signature double-bubble roof remains, but the rear end gains active aerodynamic components that keep the car planted on the ground at autobahn speeds without altering its lines. Carbon fiber body panels help offset the system's weight. Power still comes from a 5.9-liter V12, but it has been tuned to develop 600 horsepower, an 80-horse increase over the original V12 Zagato. Suspension and chassis modifications make the car lower and wider, too. Just 19 pairs will be built in the coming months, and pricing for the duo starts at $2.2 million. Twelve workers make each car by hand, so building one takes up to 16 weeks. R-Reforged told Autoblog there are still some build slots left, but the catch is that the coupe and the convertible are exclusively sold as a pair, which is good news for people who buy supercars like they buy flip-flops. From there, anything is possible. Buyers can request that both cars be built to the exact same specifications, or they can work with the design team to personalize each one.

This Aston Martin DB9 with 104,000 miles on it makes us happy

The typical Aston Martin DB9 for sale has something like 14,000 miles on it, but 4,000 is pretty typical and a "high-mileage" example would be less than 40,000. And remember, the DB9 went on sale 16 years ago, lasted until 2016, and there isn't as much correlation between age and mileage as there are with other cars. Also remember, Aston Martins usually sit in garages collecting far more dust than, quite obviously, miles. Which is why we're oddly proud of this 2005 Aston Martin DB9 for sale that has 104,854 miles on it ... and the original owner who had the audacity and awesomeness to drive it that much. Good job, buddy. The second owner, prior to selling it to selling dealer, put only 4,000 miles on it since 2015. This plucky Aston-that-could is painted in what seems to be California Sage green with a Cream Truffle interior. With all those miles, such a light-colored leather is definitely showing its age and there's plenty of wear on the driver seat (especially the side bolster), but it's actually not that bad. The leather seats of cars with far fewer miles can look much worse. In fact, the interior in general looks great for such a high-mileage car, a testament to its owner's maintenance and Aston's materials and build quality. As mentioned earlier, it's rare that the latter gets tested so rigorously.  Now, would buying an Aston Martin DB9 with 104,845 miles on it be a good idea? Sure doesn't seem like it. Then again, buying a used Aston Martin always seems like it would be an expensive proposition, and maybe actually being driven has kept it in better working order? Maybe? The CarFax does show consistent service over the years. Of course, that could mean it was breaking all the time, but would you really keep something around that was breaking all the time?  Ultimately, the problem here is the price: Motor Car Classics in New York is asking $39,900 for it. A quick scan of Autotrader reveals DB9s with exponentially fewer miles for around the same money or even less. That includes Volante convertibles. This 2005 is only $4,000 more and has 36,000 miles. This one is also $4,000 more, but has 14,000 miles. However, pricing cars like this is very difficult and certainly none of those other DB9s were as well loved and enjoyed as this audacious green trooper.