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Aston Martin debuts electric, all-wheel-drive DBX concept

This is like no Aston Martin you've seen before. Oh, sure, it's a coupe, and a luxury grand tourer, at that. But what's so unique about this new DBX concept is what's underneath that slick sheetmetal. Not only is this Aston all-wheel drive, it uses an all-electric powertrain. Yep, it's an Aston EV. Aston Martin says the DBX was created to "defy conventional thinking about the luxury GT segment," with CEO Andy Palmer saying, "The DBX Concept is a challenge to the existing status quo in the high luxury GT segment. It envisages a world, perhaps a world not too far away, when luxury GT travel is not only stylish and luxurious but also more practical, more family-friendly and more environmentally responsible." Powertrain wise, this is a huge departure from what we currently associate with Aston Martin. It doesn't have an engine compartment, because it's powered by electric, in-wheel motors. It has drive-by-wire electric steering, carbon ceramic brakes (okay, that sounds like Aston), a KERS energy recovery system, and cameras in place of actual mirrors (because it's a concept, of course). Design-wise, the DBX has a sort of high-riding coupe look to it, which makes its all-wheel-drive setup clearly evident. It's not super swoopy or revolutionary in terms of its design, instead perhaps more evolutionary than anything. It almost looks like it could be headed for production, even though Palmer put the kibosh on that thinking, saying, "This is, clearly, not a production-ready sports GT car, but it is a piece of fresh, bold thinking about what Aston Martin GT customers around the world could request of us in the future." In any case, it's certainly a fascinating and surprising debut from the British automaker. Check it out, above, and read more details in the press blast, below. ASTON MARTIN DBX CONCEPT CHALLENGES CONVENTION - DBX Concept redefines the luxury GT segment for the 21st Century - World debut for idea of first all-electric, all-wheel drive, Aston Martin - Sophisticated design and innovative engineering to broaden appeal 3 March 2015, Gaydon: Aston Martin today challenges the nature of luxury GT travel in the 21st Century with the debut at the 85th Geneva International Motor Show of the innovative DBX Concept. Created to defy conventional thinking about the luxury GT segment, the DBX Concept widens the appeal of the iconic British luxury brand and reaches out to a more diverse global audience than ever before.

Aston Martin previews a bespoilered Vantage; could it be a new AMR?

Aston Martin has teased a new sports car from its official Twitter account. The image shows the car's silhouette with a big green and lime swoosh above it. The car appears to be a Vantage variant, with the addition of a rear spoiler and Y-spoke wheels. It's also finished in the same Aston Martin Racing Green as its 2021 Formula One race car livery. The spoiler and colors evoke the new Vantage safety car that made its debut over the weekend at the pre-season test in Bahrain. That car features an AMRG paint job with a Lime Essence pinstripe along the front air splitter, side skirts, and rear diffuser. It's also equipped with a rear wing not found on standard Vantages. Like the car in the shadowy teaser, it also wore the optional vaned grille as opposed to the standard mesh. Could Aston Martin be taking a page from the General Motors playbook and making a pace car edition Vantage? That would be uncharacteristic of the British marque, so perhaps a new Vantage AMR is more likely. The previous AMR was limited to 200 units and, despite having the same power as regular Vantages, made waves for letting you row your own gears with a seven-speed manual. Since then the stick shift has been made standard for the Vantage, but the AMR boasted many other features that set it apart — carbon ceramic brakes, carbon fiber trim, forged wheels, a mechanical limited-slip differential, and 200 fewer pounds of curb weight. On the other hand, the F1 pace car's menu of modifications seems like it could easily form the basis for a new AMR. The Vantage safety car increased output of its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 by 25 horsepower to 528. The peak torque of 505 lb-ft was unchanged, but Aston Martin claims it could be sustained for longer. Additionally, the transmission was strengthened, the chassis stiffened with underbody bracing, and modifications were made to suspension, steering and dampers. It's not clear whether the pace car's bespoke splitter is on the teaser car. Aston Martin gave no information to accompany the teaser, so we'll just have to wait until March 22, when the car is scheduled for a full reveal. Aston Martin VantageDBXOfficial Safety and Medical cars of Formula One03 View 28 Photos

Aston Martin Rapide AMR spied testing at the 'Ring

At last year's Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin launched its AMR line of limited-edition, high-performance models. The first two models presented were a Vantage AMR Pro designed only for the track, and a Rapide AMR that's was a slightly hopped up version of the Aston sedan. Though they were fully revealed back then, it seems Aston Martin has still been doing a bit of testing, since one of our spy photographers caught the Rapide AMR at the Nurburgring. The car is most certainly a test vehicle, since the hood and front bumper are unpainted. It's also missing its florescent green stripe down the middle. But it looks like there haven't been any visual changes to the bodywork compared to the show car. It is also missing four massive exhaust tips at the back. Still, it should have the same 592-horsepower V12 under the hood with a louder exhaust system and plenty of carbon fiber bits inside and outside of the car. This may be one of the only times we ever see one of these cars at the famous German race track, or any race track for that matter. Only 210 Rapide AMR cars will be built, meaning collectors will probably be squirreling them away into garages and only bringing them out for the occasional car show or Sunday drive. Hopefully Aston will also record and announce a lap time for the big-engine sedan, since we doubt anyone else will try to set a record time. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Aston Martin Rapide AMR spy shots View 13 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Aston Martin Luxury Performance Sedan aston martin rapide aston martin racing aston martin amr