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Aston Martin recalling all DB11s over Daimler steering column

Aston Martin has become the latest carmaker to be caught up in a major recall of faulty Daimler steering-column components that can cause unintended airbag deployments. The British sports car maker is recalling all 3,873 DB11 coupes built since late 2015, when production of the flagship model began, Aston Martin spokesman Kevin Watters confirmed. He said repairs would be carried out to "address an issue with the DB11 steering column upper." Daimler last year recalled more than 1 million Mercedes-Benz cars fitted with steering-column parts also supplied to Aston and Nissan. The Japanese carmaker's Infiniti brand recalled 17,500 affected vehicles. The issue is unrelated to a global recall of faulty Takata airbag inflators that have been blamed for 20 deaths. Inadequate grounding in the Daimler units leaves their circuitry vulnerable to electrostatic charges that can trigger unintended airbag deployments, according to earlier warnings. Mercedes reported "a handful of instances where drivers suffered minor abrasions or bruises" as a result of the problem. No Aston Martin customers have reported any such incidents to date, the company said, adding the necessary repair work would be carried out free of charge in less than two hours. Reporting by Laurence FrostRelated Video:

London man keys $150k Aston Martin while pushing stroller

Police are looking for a man who was caught on a dashboard camera keying a supercar last month while out for a stroll with a child in east London. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage was sitting in a parking spot in the London borough of Hackney. It was minding its own business – with its dashboard camera running – when it caught the eye of man passing by. Not unusual for a sleek sports car, but what happened next was unexpected. Instead of admiring its British design from afar he angled the pram off the curb and walked toward the car. Footage shows he then took an object out of his pocket and dragged it along the side of the Vantage's aluminum body panel. The owner of the Vantage told the BBC the damage cost over $14,000 to fix. In terms of cars to destroy, this vandal has excellent taste. The Vantage is small, light, and agile. The most affordable version, the V8 Vantage GT, comes with a full leather and Alcantara cabin, with thick contrasting stitching, combined with real carbon fiber and wood finished in piano black. It can sprint from zero to 60 mph in about 4.6 seconds. News Source: BBC Auto News Weird Car News Aston Martin Videos viral video vantage scratch

Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro production car revealed

Three years ago, Aston Martin showed what it had in mind for an extra-serious AMR Pro version of the Valkyrie hypercar. It was part of a splashy Geneva display with other supercars, and it was leading into Aston's plans to take the Valkyrie to Le Mans. Then there were financial issues, a postponement of Le Mans competition, and that whole pandemic thing. But now, the regular Valkyrie is going to reach customers soon, and Aston Martin has revealed the production version of the Valkyrie AMR Pro. Aston notes that this AMR Pro Valkyrie was developed using a lot of what the company learned from the race car program, and even going a bit beyond since the AMR Pro doesn't have to meet the rules for Le Mans. The company also brings up an expected lap time of 3 minutes 20 seconds at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the track used for 24 Hours of Le Mans. For reference, Toyota's LMP race cars with no production car roots have lapped between 3 minutes 14 seconds and 3 minutes 17 seconds. Besides being an impressive theoretical time, the racing reference has us hoping the company will one day enter the Valkyrie in the recently created hypercar class. Setting aside the Le Mans connections, the Valkyrie AMR Pro really does have some major modifications compared to the standard car. The chassis is made lighter with additional carbon fiber, such as for the suspension control arms, as well as Perspex windows. The whole car is 10.5 inches longer overall due to more aggressive aerodynamic aids that double the amount of downforce the Valkyrie produces. With it, Aston claims the Valkyrie AMR Pro can produce cornering forces as great as 3G. The wheelbase is 15 inches longer, the front track is 3.8 inches wider, and the rear track is 4.5 inches wider. As for the powertrain, the Valkyrie AMR Pro will still use a version of the 6.5-liter Cosworth V12, but unlike the standard version, the AMR Pro will ditch the electric motor and its related components. This is a move to further reduce weight. Power will also be down slightly to 1,000 horsepower. Of course, that's still a lot of power, and the 11,000-rpm redline will remain. When Aston initially showed the AMR Pro, it said it would only build 25 examples. That seems to have increased, as now Aston says it will build 40 examples, plus two prototypes. A price hasn't been given, nor has availability, but apparently deliveries will start at the end of this year, not long after the regular cars reach owners. Related Video: