2009 Aston Martin Dbs 6 Speed Low Miles on 2040-cars

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Channeling Bond in a 2005 Aston Martin Vanquish S

Spectre is nearly upon us, the next episode in the James Bond series bringing with it a conceptual peek at the future of Aston Martin courtesy of the DB10. As for how much Bond's new ride predicts the DB11 that will be offered to civilians, "elements" is the most concrete word we've heard to describe the bridge from one to the other, and that doesn't tell us much. Still in the dark about where Aston Martin is going, we recently got the opportunity to remember where it's been. Some friends of Autoblog at Regency Car Rental in LA told us we could borrow their 2005 Aston Martin Vanquish S, so we spent the day hunting nefarious types on twisty Malibu roads, then cruising the Valley looking for a tuner shop that could install a minigun. The Vanquish played a role in the 2002 film Die Another Day, back when Pierce Brosnan made a living as the roguish, rakish MI6 asset. The film rekindled the union between the agent and Aston Martin after a three-movie interlude in which Bond drove BMWs, including, oh-so-briefly, a Z3. Returning with a bang – make that thousands of large- and small-caliber bangs – Q Branch fitted the hero car with rockets, guns that could shoot incoming projectiles, machine guns, an ejector seat, and invisibility camouflage. On the chicest streets in the sleekest LA neighborhoods the Vanquish S still passes the look-at-me test. The Vanquish S we picked up from Regency didn't have any of that, but as indicated by that S at the end it did have more power and performance than the standard Vanquish in the movie. Horsepower from the 5.9-liter V12 went from 460 to 520 in the S, and this model also got stiffer springs, new suspension geometry, quicker steering, and 19-inch lightweight wheels. Exterior modifications were a wider, more curved grille, a front splitter (not present on this car), and a larger rear spoiler. On the most chic streets in the sleekest LA neighborhoods the Vanquish S still passes the look-at-me test – everywhere we went, men and women paid attention to our arrival. As for us, we're split on its looks right down the middle of the car. We've been fans of the front since the day of the reveal, especially the front fascia and headlights, but we're still not sold on the rear, starting from where the vertical line in the door where the sheetmetal expands into those trademark haunches. We didn't encounter anyone else with such reservations.

Aston Martin DBX spied looking like a finished product

The Aston Martin DBX is inching closer to its December reveal, and today we get to see the SUV in its most finished form yet. One of our spy shooters managed to catch a DBX out and about with production headlights, taillights, door handles and rear fascia. It’s great to see the DBX like this, because until now weÂ’ve only seen it in the mule-like form that Aston wanted us to see. Taking a look at the rear end is where things really start coming together. Instead of the odd, pod-like taillights, some slick and thin light fixtures extend from the ducktail spoiler into the rear fender. They look proper on the rear end of the SUV. Just a bit below these are the two exhaust outlets. ThereÂ’s still plenty of camouflage about, but the exhaust tips and molding around it appears to be production-spec. ItÂ’s interesting to see the exhaust so high up on the rear bumper in an SUV, and they also stick out a fair amount. Just watch for the flaming hot tips when loading and unloading items directly after driving it. We also gain a better understanding of what the grille is going to look like up front. Instead of the wire mesh weÂ’ve been looking at before, this maw has actual slats and a defined shape. The headlights look like production units, and there are cutouts for possible foglights down there, too. Instead of the unfinished rear door handles, Aston appears to have installed the electric pop-out units weÂ’ve been seeing in the front for awhile. There are more creases and muscular lines visible all over the vehicle that were covered up previously, too. As September quickly approaches, the DBXÂ’s reveal in December isnÂ’t that far out anymore. A few more months will pass, and then the first Aston Martin SUV will be out. There will be plenty of Mercedes-Benz part sharing, but weÂ’re still excited to see what an Aston SUV ends up like

The Windsor Castle Concours d'Elegance in pictures, courtesy of Bentley

Bentley went to the Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance as the main sponsor and showed off six of its best among the gathering of "60 of the finest motor cars in the world," including the 4¼-liter Bentley 'Embiricos' Special built for a Greek shipping magnate and gentleman racer in the 1930s.
Even better, for us at least, is that when Bentley decided to capture the moment it took pictures of most of the metal on the lawn, not just the Bentleys. Thanks to that, we have a high-res gallery that's home to rarities like the Vauxhall 30-98 Type OE Boattail Wensum Tourer, beauties like the Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, long-tail Ford GT40, Maserati Tipo 60 Birdcage, Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, a sinister Ferrari 250 GTO and the even more sinister Rolls-Royce Phantom Aerodynamic Coupe, among others. All you need to do now is click and enjoy.