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Roger Moore's 1970 Aston Martin DBS sells for $900k [w/video]

Think of Roger Moore zipping around Europe in an Aston Martin thwarting evil plans, and you'll probably think James Bond, right? Wrong. Because though 007 has driven a variety of Astons in the various films over the years, none of those were in the Moore era. He drove a Chevy Impala in Live and Let Die, a Mercedes in The Man With The Golden Gun, a Lotus Esprit in both The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, a Range Rover in Octopussy and a Ford LTD in A View to a Kill. But that wasn't the only jet-setting do-gooder Moore played. He drove a Volvo as Simon Templar in The Saint, but after that and before his Bond days, he got his turn behind the wheel of an Aston in a television series called The Persuaders! The show starred Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair and Tony Curtis as American playboy Danny Wilde in a TV series that ran on both ITV in the UK and ABC in the US. It sadly only ran for one 24-episode season, but remains a cult classic. The series was as much about the cars as it was the stars, with Curtis speeding around Europe in a Ferrari 246 GT Dino and Moore in this yellow 1970 Aston Martin DBS. And it just sold at auction. As Octane pointed out when it drove the car for its September 2013 issue, the car was loaned to the show's producers and, though it packs the 4.0-liter inline-six of the DBS, was fitted with the wheels and badges of the Aston Martin V8 that followed – just without the eight-cylinder engine. It was sold to a private owner after the show finished filming and then bounced around different owners before collector and enthusiast Mike Sanders bought it and subsequently sold it to one Ed Stratton. Ed brought it back to show spec, took it to Villa d'Este, had Moore and Curtis sign the inside of the trunk lid, and now put it up for auction. The star of Bonhams' 15th annual sale at the Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell this past weekend, the DBS sold for a record GBP533,500 – equivalent to almost $900k at today's rates – contributing to GBP8.7 million ($14.6m) in total sales that day. Find the press release below, along with a video of a pretty great scene from The Persuaders! with both Moore and Curtis. ROGER MOORE'S 'THE PERSUADERS!' ASTON MARTIN SETS WORLD RECORD FOR A DBS SOLD AT AUCTION 17 May 2014, The Aston Martin Works Sale In its 15th year Bonhams Aston Martin Works sale totals at GBP8.7 million Roger Moore's 'The Persuaders!' Aston Martin DBS sets world record for DBS sold at auction, selling for GBP533,500.

So we think the Aston Martin DB11 Volante is coming in Spring 2018

Most automakers go out of their way to disguise new cars. There's camouflage and body cladding and if a spy photographer does get close enough to get a snap, engineers usually greet them with certain hand gestures. Aston Martin is not most automakers – instead of hiding the new DB11 Volante, it headed to the Arctic Circle in an undisguised car with a "DB11 – Opening Spring 2018" sign on each door. Subtle, guys. The new images of the droptop DB11 should assuage the emotions of critics of the hardtop model's odd roofline. The addition of a fabric softtop improves the car's look immeasurably, giving it a much more conventional profile. Where the sloping, floating roof on the DB11 coupe fights for visual attention with the rear haunches, the convertible top is innocuous, blending in favorably with the strong line over the rear wheels. We can't wait to see this car with its roof down, because it will look stunning. But as is the case with most convertibles, the roofline is the only place where changes happen. Below the beltline, the Volante shares its fascia and, rather unfortunately its weird side vent, with the hardtop model. And of course, the droptop is also sharing its engine with the coupe. We expect the same 5.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V12 and eight-speed automatic when the DB11 Volante debuts. Normally, this is the point in a spy photo story where we'd speculate about when and where a new car will debut. But since Aston Martin helpfully scrawled part of that info on the side of the car, it's not really necessary. The Aston Martin DB11 Volante will debut in spring of 2018, a period that lines up neatly with the Geneva Motor Show. Related Video:

UK offers Aston Martin military base to produce DBX in Wales

The British government is doing its best to encourage Aston Martin to build the DBX in the United Kingdom. To that end, Prime Minister David Cameron made a public offer to the automaker Thursday to make use of a military facility in Wales to produce the crossover. The location is St Athan, a Royal Air Force base and Ministry of Defence facility with space left vacant since a planned military academy earmarked for the site was canceled less than five years ago. One of its empty hangars is what Cameron offered to Aston Martin, according to the BBC. The facility is located near the airport in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, a little over two hours from the company's headquarters and principal manufacturing site in Gaydon. If Aston takes the bait, the site would be used to manufacture the DBX that would become the company's first crossover. Rivals Jaguar, Bentley, Maserati, and Lamborghini are all planning to launch their first crossovers, as well. Aston showcased a concept version of the DBX at the Geneva Motor Show this March, but the production version is expected to go a bit more mainstream, ditching the electric powertrain and two-door layout in favor of more conventional propulsion and four-door setup. The company is also said to be considering opening a new facility in the United States, specifically in Alabama near the Mercedes plant there, to handle production of the DBX. Other locations within the UK are also said to be under consideration, but Aston has yet to make a decision – or at least an announcement – on where the crossover might be assembled. When Aston previously branched out with the launch of the Rapide, it contracted Magna Steyr to handle assembly on its behalf in Austria, before moving production back home. The contract manufacturing facility is the same to which the Jaguar Land Rover is expected to entrust assembly of the F-Pace crossover. It's also where the G-Class is built for Mercedes, which in turn similarly hired AM General recently to assume production of the R-Class crossover. Related Video: