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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:

Motor Trend pits Aston V12 Vantage S against Jaguar XKR-S GT in battle of the Brits

With the recent increase in higher-performance versions of already high-performance vehicles, like Mercedes-Benz and its AMG Black Series, the public is now gaining even greater access to speed and maneuverability. Two of the most recent sports cars to get their wicks turned up include the Jaguar XKR-S GT and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S.
Both of these cars are the pinnacles of their lines, with the Jag lording over the XKR-S, XKR and XK while the Aston rules over the standard V8 Vantage S and V8 Vantage. Motor Trend has opted to pit the two rivals together for some thorough testing, and it just happened to bring along a few video cameras to capture all the action.
There's nearly 19 minutes of super hot sports car action below, so scroll down and enjoy.

Aston Martin sues supplier Envisage over copyright infringement

Automakers don't make the entire cars themselves. They typically design and engineer them, outsource many of the components to outside suppliers, and put them together at assembly plants. Farming out work to those suppliers can result in some leaks in the automaker's intellectual property, but while that's typically covered in extensive legal documents, disputes can arise. And in this case, it's arisen between Aston Martin and one of its suppliers. That supplier is the Envisage Group, a British firm based in Coventry that has, among its various clients, performed design work for Aston since 2007 and supplied parts and tooling since 2011. That means it has access to certain proprietary information regarding Aston and its products, and now the automaker is claiming the supplier has taken unlawful advantage of that access and its copyrights to further its other businesses. Among its other services, Envisage operates a coachbuilding operation that handles the production of vehicles like the Eagle's customized Jaguar E-Types and the Speedback GT for David Brown Automotive. The latter, pictured here, bears more than a passing resemblance to classic Astons, and the company name itself suggests a certain affiliation as well. However both Aston Martin and David Brown Automotive insist that the lawsuit is unrelated. In correspondence with Autoblog, the latter sent the following statement: Following speculation in recent press reports that David Brown Automotive and Speedback GT are the subject of, or involved in, legal proceedings by Aston Martin Lagonda Limited against Envisage Group Limited, David Brown Automotive can confirm that it, and its products, are in no way implicated and the production of our vehicles continues unaffected by the litigation. According to the report from the Telegraph, the lawsuit filed with the UK's High Court makes specific mention of badges, wheels and headlights belonging to Aston Martin that Envisage has allegedly used in promoting its services. Featured Gallery David Brown Automotive Speedback View 18 Photos News Source: The TelegraphImage Credit: David Brown Automotive Design/Style Government/Legal Aston Martin lawsuit court david brown automotive david brown automotive speedback