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Aston Martin considers building DBX in Macedonia

To build the new DBX crossover, Aston Martin is preparing to expand production outside of its home in Warwickshire. It just hasn't decided where the new plant will be. But while it has narrowed its search to just a few locations, one site that was previously discounted is now reportedly back in the running: Macedonia. The former Yugoslavian republic to the north of Greece has been soliciting car companies for manufacturing projects for years. And though it doesn't currently have any final assembly plants, it does have numerous component suppliers located within its borders. According to Automotive News, the Balkan country boasts relatively low wages and an educated workforce – a hard mix to come by. Perhaps best known as the birthplace of Alexander the Great, Macedonia was initially short-listed among 18 other locations as a potential site for the new Aston plant. The British automaker initially ruled it out as it whittled its list down, but Reuters reports that the country has since come back with a more attractive proposal with greater incentives from the government, putting it back in the running. Other locations under consideration include two locations in the UK, one in the Middle East, and one here in America. The Alabama site would be conveniently located near the plant in Tuscaloosa where Mercedes builds many of its crossovers, which could be a huge advantage – especially if the DBX borrows some of its underpinnings from Daimler. The last Aston Martin built off-site was the Rapide, which was previously manufactured by Magna Steyr in Austria until 2012 when Aston moved production in-house to Gaydon. The Cygnet was also manufactured by Toyota in Japan alongside the Scion iQ on which it was closely based, but the finishing touches were put on by Aston in Gaydon until the model was discontinued. Other European automakers also operate plants in the region. The Volkswagen Group and Peugeot SA manufacture in Slovakia. Renault and Smart build their city cars in Slovenia. Mercedes and Audi run assembly plants in Hungary. And Fiat builds in Serbia and in nearby northeastern Turkey, where Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, and Renault also have plants. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Aston Martin Plants/Manufacturing Aston Martin Crossover Luxury Performance aston martin dbx macedonia

Aston Martin-Red Bull 001 details: 175 units, $3M, 0-200-0 in 15 seconds

The Aston Martin AM-RB 001 is starting to sound like it will be the most extreme hypercar ever made. We're basing that on a series of new comments made by Red Bull Racing's resident aerodynamic genius and chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal's Dan Neil. Newey shared many interesting nuggets, so we'll try to provide a simple summary of how frighteningly potent the AM-RB 001 is. The new hypercar should hit 200 miles per hour in around 10 seconds, while a massive set of brakes will cut that speed to zero in half the time – in other words, zero to 200 to zero in just 15 seconds. That kind of stopping power sounds physically painful. Certain versions of the 001 will make up to 4,400 pounds of downforce, and if that's not enough to keep the car pasted to the pavement through 4G bends, Newey hinted that the active suspension will rely on the ground effect more than any other car. "I studied aero at the University of Southampton," Newey told Neil. "My final-year project in 1979 and '80 was on ground-effects aerodynamics applied to road cars and sports cars." Beyond the performance stats, Newey verified some of the broader questions about the 001's availability. For one, Aston Martin and Red Bull will build 175 examples of the potentially record-breaking hypercar, with 150 designated for road use and another 25 limited to the track – they're the ones that will enjoy the 4,400 pounds of downforce and full-on 4G cornering ability – so the chances you'll ever encounter a 001 in the wild are almost nil. And buying one? Plan on spending at least $3 million. Newey, along with Aston Martin Chief Designer Marek Reichman and Project Engineer David King, reveal more about the 001 in the piece, including some of the philosophical and design principles behind a $3M hypercar. It's very much worth a read, if you can get around the WSJ's pay wall. Related Video:

All 25 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars

There is no shortage of lists ranking the best James Bond movies. Ditto lists about the best or worst James Bond cars. I know, I've written some of them. As such, why not combine the two ideas into one new list that ranks all 25 official James Bond movies based exclusively on their cars, or more accurately their car content. I would then pull from my 25 years of James Bond nerddom plus the excellent "Bond Cars: The Definitive History" and our interview with long-time Bond special effects supervisor Chris Corbould to provide tidbits and factoids about the cars and their roles in the movies. And yes(!), this list now includes "No Time to Die," which impresses by adding plenty of car content to the series. It's now available on Blu-ray and download. To determine the list, I considered the inherent coolness of the cars as well as their importance to Bond, film and car history. I considered their importance to the story as well as the quality/excitement of the chases and scenes they participated in. Finally, I tried my best to divorce the car content from my opinions about the movies in general. That my personal list of best James movies looks nothing like this shows I was at least partially successful.     25. 'Moonraker' There are virtually no cars in "Moonraker." None. Oh, there's a gondola on wheels that makes a pigeon do a double-take, but that's not the same thing as a car. Neither is a golf cart. Or an ambulance. Or a space shuttle.   24. 'From Russia With Love' The literary James Bond mostly drove an ancient Bentley, and "From Russia with Love" is the only film in which it appears. It stays parked and the coolest thing that happens (by 1962 standards) is 007 answers its car phone. Thereafter, we get some old cars (even by 1962 standards) driving around Istanbul and a yellow truck. So yeah. Classic Bond film, a must-watch, just not for its car content.   23. 'Dr. No' History records that the first "Bond car" is the Sunbeam Alpine in "Dr. No." The car itself was literally borrowed from a Miss Jennifer Jackson of 53 Lady Musgrave Road in Jamaica for 10 pounds per day for two days during filming. Also, the stunt where it drove under an excavator blocking the road was entirely conceived because the filmmakers showed up to the road they intended to film on and discovered an excavator blocking the thing. Sadly, those are really the only two things interesting about the Alpine, which is a pretty small and dainty thing by Bond car standards.