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Aston Martin to display first DB4 GT Zagato Continuation at Le Mans

Aston Martin has announced its new DB4 GT Zagato Continuation series will officially debut at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race is this weekend, June 15-16, and the first completed vehicle of the 19-car continuation production will be displayed at Aston's premises trackside. The DB4 GT Zagato Continuation #1 wears Rosso Maja paint, a hue which is not that common on classic Astons, but suits its flanks well. The interior is done in black leather, and the car comes with full FIA-specification roll cage. It takes Aston's Heritage Division some 4,500 hours to build one of these cars, so the words "artisan craftsmanship" aren't lightly thrown around. But like Aston Martin announced earlier, it is using modern technologies such as a digital body buck to help build these cars, even if traditional aluminum panel beating methods are also still in use. The body of this first car was readied in April. The car's engine is a 390-horsepower, 4.7-liter straight six that is coupled to a four-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential. The manufacturer remarks that the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation is the most expensive new Aston Martin on sale, and that can't be far from the truth: Prices for the "DBZ Century Collection" start from 6 million pounds, or $7.6 million, and the price will include a matching DBS GT Zagato delivered in the fourth quarter of next year. Customers will receive their DB4 GT Zagatos during Q3 of 2019. Featured Gallery Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato Continuation View 19 Photos Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin

Aston Martin hits the open water with Quintessence Yachts

We know, we know: life is tough. You drive your Aston Martin Vanquish Volante from your mansion to the yacht club, and then what? Just get on board any old yacht? Of course not. You're going to need an Aston Martin speedboat, and fortunately that's just what we have here. Born of a partnership among the British automaker, Dutch boatbuilder Quintessence Yachts, and the naval architects at Mulder Design, is the upcoming AM37. The speedboat, as you might have guessed, measures 37 feet long – which is a little more than two Rapides parked end to end (or nearly four Cygnets). Though there's only three images, we can already see the vessel's design takes cues from Aston's luxury GTs, particularly in the driving console. It looks a lot sleeker, at any rate, than the Voyage design we saw a few years ago, and at least as cool as the 20-foot speedboat Ian Callum designed to go with the Jaguar XF Sportbrake. Full technical details have yet to be released as well, but Quintessence says the vessel will feature a "hi-tech composite structure allied to luxury sports car-like handling, performance and comfort." It'll also incorporate voice control and touchscreen display for the navigation and multimedia system. The yacht will be offered in two versions: the AM37 with a top speed of around 50 knots (the maritime equivalent of 57 miles per hour) and the AM37 S that'll top out at 60 knots (nearly 70 mph). That's mighty fast on the open water, with no stop signs or traffic gridlock to slow you down. Just the waves on the open water. We don't know what will motivate the vessel to such speeds, but we're hoping for a marine version of Aston's signature 6.0-liter V12. Maybe even two of 'em. It wouldn't be unheard of, after all: Lamborghini has made boat engines, and a Ferrari-powered hydroplane set a longstanding record in the 1950s. Far more than the usual branded wristwatch or luggage, we're looking forward to seeing this one (quite literally) launch. Driven to succeed: Quintessence Yachts and Aston Martin • Exciting sports car firm association creates a series of unique powerboats • Stunning style, advanced technologies and exquisite craftsmanship • Highest standards of yacht design and construction 29 April 2015, Gaydon: Quintessence Yachts is today unveiling the first details of an exciting association with famous luxury British sports car maker Aston Martin which will result in the creation of a unique series of stunning new powerboats.

Aston Martin DB5s from 'No Time to Die' sampled by Carfection

The excellent Henry Catchpole might have just made the most persuasive argument for restomods using one of the world's and pop culture's most celebrated classics. The Carfection host spent a day at Silverstone with no less than four takes on the Aston Martin DB5 — one of them the showstopping original in gleaming Silver Birch with the license plate BMT 216A, three of them stunt cars used in the next James Bond installment "No Time to Die." Catchpole starts off in the stock vintage two-door, its 4.0-liter straight-six sending about 282 horsepower and 287 pound-feet of torque to the live rear axle to move about 3,300 pounds. It's a thrill to run through apexes, but perhaps more for its pedigree than its prowess; at one point, Catchpole wonders, "How on earth he did some of those car chases with seats like this, I've got no idea." Of course, Bond only had to outrun a couple of even older Mercedes sedans in "Goldfinger." The host then slides into the shotgun seat of one of the ringers, with one-time Subaru-driving rally ace Mark Higgins behind the wheel. Higgins has been a stunt driver in four Bond films now, starting his tenure in a Land Rover Defender in "Quantum of Solace," working his way up to drifting the one-off Aston Martin DB10 at around 90 miles per hour through St. Peter's Square in The Vatican. Higgins explains a bit of what went into the DB5-looking stunt cars built for "No Time to Die," one of them built on a ladder frame chassis dressed in carbon fiber body panels, powered by a modern straight-six engine, suspended with Ohlins dampers. The directive was to get repeatability in tricky environments, and hey, more power and less weight is never a bad thing, either.  When Catchpole takes the track again behind the wheel of the stunt car, you'll want to turn on the closed captions. Even if you don't, Catchpole's barely audible exclamations and facial expressions make it clear which car he'd rather take home, and which he'd leave for the "misogynist alcoholic womanizer of a secret spy with really pretty unresolved violence issues." If all goes well, we'll see both in action — plus two more — when "No Time to Die" hits theaters in November. Related Video: