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Aston Martin launches AMR line with ultra-exclusive Vantage and Rapide

Aston Martin has taken to Geneva to launch a new line it calls AMR. According to the British automaker, this brand is designed to connect the company's racecars and road cars. In this quest, the models will feature performance and design upgrades to provide some of the look and feel of those racecars. Every model in the Aston family will get an AMR iteration, but the company will start with the Rapide AMR and the Vantage AMR Pro. The milder of the two, unsurprisingly, is the Rapide AMR. As with all future AMRs, the car was developed by the main branch of Aston, while the AMR Pro cars will be developed by the Aston Martin Advanced Operations department. Among the Rapide's updates is a massaged 6.0-liter V12 with a new exhaust that produces 592 horsepower. That engine will propel the car to a top speed of 210 mph. The car also features a new front bumper with a very tall grille. This look is shared with the Vantage AMR Pro, and it makes both cars look as though they've been told something astonishing, but it works. And, to be fair, the standard Rapide already had a tall grille. The nose is accompanied by 21-inch wheels, a new front splitter, side skirts, rear spoiler, and rear diffuser. Inside there is plenty of dark gray Alcantara with gray and lime green highlights throughout. These match the Stirling Green and lime green paint scheme on the outside of both cars. The cabin also has carbon fiber seats, center stack, and center console. View 20 Photos The Vantage AMR Pro kicks everything up a few notches. It's a track-only car, powered by a version of the V8 found in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 race car. In the AMR Pro, it produces 500 horsepower. The engine sits beneath a hood that is the same as what Aston uses on the World Endurance Championship cars. The rear wing is also taken from those racers. Other body modifications include a new splitter, fenders, side skirts, and rear diffuser. The car has additional performance upgrades in the form of an adjustable suspension, and center-lock wheels with Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires. Inside, the car has most of the same upgrades as the Rapide, but it also gets a roll cage. Aston didn't release pricing, but it did say how many of each car will be built. Not surprisingly, there won't be many of each. The company will build 210 Rapide AMRs, but just 7 Vantage AMR Pros. So if you want one, you'd better act fast. Otherwise you'll have to wait for AMR versions of other Astons. Related Video:

Ford GT dominates Le Mans qualifying, gets slapped with performance adjustment

Fifty years after Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon drove the Ford GT40 to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford is poised for a historic return to the Circuit de la Sarthe. The new Ford GT took the top two qualifying positions in the LMGTE Pro class, and four of the top five. Ferrari's 488 filled in the rest of the spots in the top seven, the first two from AF Corse. In other words, we're primed for a reboot of the classic Ford-Ferrari feud at this year's race. Or not, as the ACO, which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, announced sweeping pre-race Balance of Performance (BOP) adjustments this morning that make this year's GT class anybody's race. In LMP1, last year's overall winner Porsche locked up the top two spots with the 919 Hybrid and will lead the entire field at race start. Toyota's two-car factory effort followed with qualifying times 1.004 and 2.170 seconds behind the pole lap. Audi rounds out the manufacturer-backed LMP1 class in fifth and sixth. Full qualifying results can be found here. The storyline for the GT cars is perfect - some say too perfect. Ford's class-leading times came after BOP adjustment to the Corvette Racing C7.R before qualifying. BOP is intended to level the playing field in the class by adjusting power, ballast, and fuel capacity. (Check out this explainer video for more, or even just if you love French accents.) But the process is riddled with unknowns and ripe for accusations of sandbagging. That is, if the Ford cars were intentionally slow in practice they could hope for BOP adjustment to improve their race chances. On the Corvette side, last year's GTE Pro winner went from the top of the field to the bottom, barely improving from practice to qualifying. If you think Le Mans is as rigged at the NBA Playoffs, well, it's not that simple. Because if Ford and Ferrari held back until qualifying - the eighth-place Porsche 911 RSR is three-and-a-half seconds off the class pole time - it was a pretty dumb strategy. This morning, the ACO tried to put things back in order by limiting the boost in the Ford GT's twin-turbo V6 and adding 11 pounds of ballast. Ferrari was also given extra weight but allowed more fuel capacity. The Corvette and Aston Martin teams were both given breaks on their air restrictors, which will allow their engines to make more power. Both Ford and Porsche also received extra fuel capacity.

Aston Martin reveals new AMB 001 motorcycle, its first

Aston Martin has taken the wraps off a limited-edition lightweight racing bike called the AMB 001, its first-ever motorcycle, at EICMA in Milan, revealing a sculpted, vaguely retrofuturistic melding of form and function that is the first offering from a new partnership with English bike maker Brough Superior Motorcycles. Featuring a double wishbone front fork, the track-only bike represents a marriage of Aston’s design and Brough SuperiorÂ’s engineering. ItÂ’s inspired by AstonÂ’s current crop of mid-engine sports cars, presented in the brandÂ’s racing colors of Stirling green and lime essence with matte black wheels, forks and brake assemblies mixed in with unadorned carbon fiber. The latter material features on the signature fin, which derives its design from the side strake on Aston cars and which runs atop the bike along the length of the gas tank, under the saddle and out back. Another carryover is the same stainless-steel ultra-light wings that feature on the Valkyrie sitting under the lacquer of the bodywork on the nose and tank. There are also aerodynamic wings attached to the cowl on the front of the bike that harken to the S-curve on the front of an Aston Martin to apply downforce. Carbon fiber figures in the body structure, and titanium and billet aluminum feature elsewhere. The hand-stritched saddle is made of Oxford tan leather. The bike is powered by a V-twin turbocharged engine that makes its first appearance on a Brough Superior bike. It makes 180 horsepower, although thereÂ’s no information offered on top speed. The bikeÂ’s dry weight is just under 397 pounds. Just 100 examples will be built at the Brough Superior plant in Toulouse, France. Starting price is 108,000 euros (about $119,809 at current exchange rates), including a 20% VAT, with first deliveries expected in the fourth quarter of 2020.