2008 Aston Martin Vantage Sport Shift-well Maintained! Nice! on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin Vantage with a manual transmission due next year

In 2016, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told Car and Driver that that Aston Martin would continue to offer manual transmissions and will always have at least one hand-shaker in the lineup. For the keepers of the dying manual light, it's been a long wait since the V12 Vantage S went out of production last year, but dawn will break over Gaydon in summer 2019. Aston Martin chief engineer Matt Becker told Road & Track at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that there'd be a stick shift in the V8 Vantage by "this time next year." That might seem like a long wait when there are already prototypes on the road, but the small company has a large engineering job. The Mercedes-AMG 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 sitting in the Vantage's engine bay has never been paired with a manual gearbox, so Aston Martin has to create the software and the driveline hardware from scratch to make it work. On top of that, the company wants to make sure the package delivers the thrills the row-your-own crowd seeks. Becker said the car won't be a pushover, tuned so that "It reminds you that you have to know how to drive." Depending on uptake, one could hope that the DB11 using the same Mercedes-AMG engine would also undergo a manual transformation. Road & Track didn't get the details on what kind of transmission we could expect. We figure the options are a traditional six-speed, a Corvette-style seven-speed, a Porsche-style seven-speed, or the dogleg seven-speed used last in this year's V12 Vantage V600, of which there were only 14 units. Speculation on product plans puts the manual transmission first in the V8 Vantage pipeline, followed by a Vantage roadster and a V12 Vantage. Other models will certainly fill out the portfolio, Becker saying this first Vantage "is the starting point." Having applied the hardcore AMR moniker to the Valkyrie AMR Pro, DB11 AMR, and Rapide AMR, the Vantage seems a lock for the same extreme makeover. Related Video:

Aston Martin DB11 already has over 1,400 pre-orders

It's barely been a month since Aston Martin revealed the new DB11 at the Geneva Motor Show. The company hasn't even announced all the details yet, but it reportedly has already topped 1,400 pre-orders for the new model. "I think we're at more than 1,400 orders now," Aston chief Andy Palmer told the Motor Report, "which is great for a car that we've not really released the whole details about, and isn't available to be purchased until September." That's impressive considering that the company only sells around 4,000 vehicles each year. View 42 Photos Aston plans to ramp up production to 7,000 units annually, and the arrival of the new DB11 represents a major step forward for the niche automaker. It replaces the DB9 that's been on the market since 2004 and has – alongside the Vantage that's nearly as old – served as the basis for most of the vehicles the company has made over the past decade. However, the DB9 is built on a new platform and uses a new engine and transmission (among other components) supplied by Mercedes-AMG. Its 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 drives 600 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic. Aston's latest is slated to reach US dealers in the fall, with a price tag starting at $211,995. That represents only a small increase over the base price for the DB9 GT, which starts at just under $200,000. Rival Bentley's Continental GT tops out in Speed spec just a bit higher at $227,600. Related Video:

Dog sent packing after eating owner's $130,000 Aston Martin

When is Man's Best Friend not really Man's Best Friend? As a Somerset, England man found out, it's when she's taking a few bites out of your $130,000 Aston Martin. Royston Grimstead left his home one morning, only to return to find the wheel arch of his British convertible chewed to bits, courtesy of one of his dogs. Luce, the four-year-old Border Collie/Spaniel mix guilty of the damage, may have had motive, according to Grimstead. According to the 42-year-old man, he was already trying to find a new home for the adorable dog, claiming it didn't get along with his other canines. "She must have overheard me because she's normally friendly and never really chewed on anything before," Grimstead said. Luce has found a new home, and according to the Bridgwater Mercury, Grimstead's insurance will cover the damage. Hopefully, Grimstead has now learned a valuable lesson from all of this: Always take the Aston Martin to work. News Source: Bridgwater MercuryImage Credit: Bridgwater Mercury Auto News Aston Martin Luxury Performance