2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Base Hatchback 2-door 4.7l on 2040-cars

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2023 Aston Martin DBX 707 First Drive Review | Supercar SUV

OLBIA, Sardinia – What is the definition of a supercar? It varies from generation to generation, from country to country, and from brand to brand. ItÂ’s the type of complex question that could fuel pub talk until the taps run dry. Aston MartinÂ’s supercars have historically been the low-slung two-door kind, but the British firm submitted a different answer by releasing the 2023 Aston Martin DBX 707. ItÂ’s an SUV that serves supercar-like power, supercar-like acceleration, and a supercar-like price. Does it deserve a spot in this elite group in spite of its family-friendly proportions? I traveled to the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia to find out. On paper, the 707 is a DBX with a more powerful engine – thatÂ’s one way to sum it up but itÂ’s cruelly unfair. Dig deeper and youÂ’ll discover hundreds of changes made to differentiate the two models, both in terms of design and in terms of driving dynamics. The grille is 27% bigger (itÂ’s not just BMW riding this train), the side skirts have been redesigned, thereÂ’s a carbon fiber spoiler attached to the top part of the hatch, and the rear bumper is now vented. One of the most striking design cues is the rear diffuser: loosely inspired by the unit fitted to the Valkyrie, it sticks out far beyond the bumper and looks ready to pick a fight with every curb that comes its way. Aston Martin told me you can still fit the 707 with a hitch, so thatÂ’s a relief. Wait: tow? With this? Certainly! Bolt that hitch on it and you can pull approximately 6,000 pounds. While some of these tweaks are purely aesthetic, others allowed Aston Martin to hone the DBXÂ’s aerodynamic profile. Adding splitters to the front bumper stabilizes airflow, for example, and Sam Holgate, Aston MartinÂ’s chief designer for mid-engined models and SUVs, pointed out that the 707 has about 5% less lift than the regular DBX. “Mainly, that came out from the front of the car by venting air out of the arches, but then we got it back with the rear spoiler, so this car is completely lift-neutral front to rear, regardless of whether youÂ’re traveling at high or low speeds,” he told me. In a way, the 707 is a laboratory that incorporates some of the feedback that Aston Martin has received about the DBX since production started in 2020. Buyers wanted soft-close doors; itÂ’s got them. And, there is one improvement that Aston MartinÂ’s engineering team is particularly proud of.

Aston Martin DB5 re-creates life-size Corgi diecast toy car for 007 movie

To promote the upcoming James Bond film "No Time To Die," Aston Martin has turned a DB5 into a life-size toy car. In fact, the car itself is kind of a giant toy, one of the $3.6 million DB5 Goldfinger Continuation models that mimic the movie car with mock machine guns and rotating license plates. Now, it has a giant vintage Corgi Toys box to match. The original Corgi 007 Aston Martin DB5 toy debuted in October 1965, about a year after the "Goldfinger" movie showed Sean Connery behind the wheel of the gadget-infused spy-mobile. According to some estimates, the Corgi sold 4 million copies in four years, making it the best-selling toy car in history. Over the years, Corgi has retooled and re-released the model several times, selling over 20 million in total. The big box, unveiled at London's Battersea Power Station, re-creates Corgi's original release packaging complete with period artwork. In 1965, according to Aston Martin, the toy car sold for just 50 pence, the equivalent of just under $14 today when accounting for inflation. You can still get a new one for about $20, but first-release models can run up to $350 in good condition. The DB5 Goldfinger Continuation is one of just 25 cars built by Aston Martin's Heritage Division, the same outfit that brought you continuation models of the DB4 GT and DB4 Zagato. However, while those are faithful re-creations of the original cars, the DB5 Goldfinger is a little different. The cars are built as the original DB5s were, taking about 4,500 hours each and emerging from the same workshop in Newport Pagnell as the 1963 models did. In this case, the intriguing DB5 Goldfinger was developed in conjunction with Chris Corbould, the special-effects coordinator on the last 14 Bond movies and the individual responsible for modifying several of the picture cars. The cars have been outfitted with oil slicks, Browning machine guns that pop out from behind the lights, and a bulletproof shield that rises from the rear to protect the rear windscreen from villainous rounds. None of these things actually work — the oil is really water, the guns emit a bang-bang noise and flash some LEDs — but even so, the car is not street legal. It also comes with a rotating license plate holder and a roof panel shaped like Bond's ejector seat exit. There is, of course, no ejector seat.

Overnight action from the 24 Hours of Le Mans

We won't go into a recap here, but there are still leading positions being fought for in all classes - it's so close that leads are changing when a car goes into the pits. We'll let the recap wait until the end of the race, so for now enjoy some shots from last night's action at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.