2012 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Base Hatchback 2-door 6.0l on 2040-cars

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249 reasons you want to go to Goodwood Revival

At its most basic, Goodwood Revival is a long weekend worth of car races featuring cars made before 1970. There are lots of those, though, including some pretty great ones all over the world. But nothing is like Goodwood Revival because it's so much more than "just" vintage car racing.  First, you have to look the part. Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in period clothing from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a strict dress code enforced should you want to enter the paddock. The goal is to create a more authentic atmosphere to match the cars and the meticulously restored and recreated paddocks, grandstands and other facilities of the reborn Goodwood circuit. Now, the dress code was relaxed this year since the Saturday was literally the hottest Sept. 9 on record in that part of England, and the organizers didn't want people dropping dead because they needed to wear an ascot. Some people definitely took the "relaxed" bit too far, but there was still plenty of atmosphere maintained. It really does make a big difference, as those "relaxed" individuals were often akin to seeing a Starbucks cup in a scene from "Game of Thrones."  You can see what I came up with below along with former Autoblog editor Reese Counts and various other Goodwood attendees. Second, there's the parking lot. But I'll let this entire separate post detail that. Third, there's the enormous carnival-like area featuring vintage-looking rides and various boutiques. Both of those are on the outside portion of the track, and honestly, you could easily just spend your entire day in the parking lot and carnival/shopping area without even crossing over into the circuit area. There you'll find more shops, food and drink opportunities, plus obviously, race car paddocks and the track itself.  Fourth, there are airplanes! I heard there are fewer than in the past, but they're there and they're cool. The Goodwood circuit started out life as the perimeter road around the World War II airfield RAF Westhampnett.  Fifth, with all of the above, Goodwood Revival really is fun for the whole family. It isn't just a bunch of old guys sitting around in lawn chairs. There are plenty of women and adorably dressed children, including babies in vintage prams. It's also not an event that's exclusively for the uber rich, even if they are certainly in full force given who has the sort of money needed to go vintage racing.

Aston Martin and Lotus each issue recalls

A pair of head-turning high performance cars are catching some attention off a different kind, in the form of safety recalls. Aston Martin and Lotus have issued recalls for the V12 Vantage Coupe and Evora, respectively.
Aston Martin's affects 169 examples of the 2009-2012 V12 Vantage Coupe. It concerns the tire-pressure monitoring system, and is less a malfunction than it is a compliance issue. The TPMS does not alert the driver until the front tire is more than 25 percent below the recommended cold tire pressure. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 138 states that the alarm must sound when tire pressure is "equal to or less than either the pressure 25 percent below" the recommended cold inflation pressure. To address the issue, Aston Martin will notify owners and reprogram the software, free of charge.
As for Lotus, 80 supercharged Evoras have been recalled, all built between February and September, 2011. The problem involves an engine-mounted oil feed pipe, which could rupture, causing loss of engine oil or a possible fire if the oil sprays onto a hot engine.

Aston Martin to cut up to 500 jobs to reduce costs

LONDON — British luxury carmaker Aston Martin plans to shed up to 500 jobs as it seeks to bring its cost base into line with reduced sports car production levels, it said on Thursday. The job cuts come just days after Aston Martin's second-largest investor reduced its stake in the company, and a week after it confirmed that Tobias Moers, CEO of Mercedes-AMG, would become chief executive on August 1, replacing Andy Palmer. The 107-year old firm said the job losses reflected lower than originally planned production volumes and improved productivity across the business. An employee and trade union consultation process will be launched in the coming days. Aston Martin, famed for being fictional secret agent James Bond's car of choice, has seen its share price plummet since floating in October 2018. Last month it posted a deep first-quarter loss after sales dropped by almost a third due to the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak. "The measures announced today will right-size the organizational structure and bring the cost base into line with reduced sports car production levels, consistent with restoring profitability," it said. It said its first sports utility vehicle (SUV), the DBX, which is key to boost volumes and appeal to new buyers including more women, remains on track for deliveries in the summer and has a strong order book. Aston Martin is also reducing costs and removing non-critical expenditure in other areas, including contractor numbers, site footprint, marketing and travel. It said the restructuring is expected to deliver total annual savings of about 38 million pounds ($47.6 million). Restructuring costs are expected to be about 12 million pounds. Shares in Aston Martin, down 78% over the last year, closed Wednesday at 68.9 pence, valuing the business at 1.05 billion pounds.