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The Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro is a Le Mans-derived supercar

The Aston Martin Vulcan is a car filled with superlatives. It's one of the fastest and rarest cars in the world, with just 24 of the 820-horsepower track-only supercar in existence. The car packs a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V12, a 6-speed sequential transmission, and some of the most visually striking bodywork of any modern performance car. Aston Martin is now offering an AMR Pro performance pack with tech derived from the automaker's Le Mans-winning racecars. The main difference between the original car and the Vulcan AMR Pro model is aero. The car gets a whole host of upgrades that help channel air over, under, and around the car better than before. The car's other big change is a shorter gear ratio. The goal was to make the Vulcan AMR Pro more planted and more responsive in an effort to reduce lap times. The front wheel arches get louvred carbon-fiber panels to extract air and reduce lift. Dive planes have been added to the nose, complimented by a large splitter. Both will help front-end lift and improve steering response. More efficient use of carbon fiber means the engine cover weighs about 11 pounds less than before. Out back, the Vulcan AMR Pro gets a new dual-plane rear wing. It's far bigger and more elaborate than the standard car's wing, featuring a 20mm Gurney flap. The slotted endplates feature 15mm Gurney flaps. It simply looks the business. Aston Martin says all of the additional aero bits increase downforce from 2,323 lb-ft to 2,950 lb-ft. That's a huge increase on any car, much less one that was already packed with aerodynamic tricks. By comparison, the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE that was the class winner at Le Mans only has 2,290 lb-ft of downforce. The Aston Martin Vulcan was a car designed without limits, restraints, or regulations. It's a track-only car, but it's not built for any racing series. It's simply meant to go around a track very, very fast. With the AMR Pro pack, those 24 owners should be happier than ever. Related Video:

The Windsor Castle Concours d'Elegance in pictures, courtesy of Bentley

Bentley went to the Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance as the main sponsor and showed off six of its best among the gathering of "60 of the finest motor cars in the world," including the 4¼-liter Bentley 'Embiricos' Special built for a Greek shipping magnate and gentleman racer in the 1930s.
Even better, for us at least, is that when Bentley decided to capture the moment it took pictures of most of the metal on the lawn, not just the Bentleys. Thanks to that, we have a high-res gallery that's home to rarities like the Vauxhall 30-98 Type OE Boattail Wensum Tourer, beauties like the Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, long-tail Ford GT40, Maserati Tipo 60 Birdcage, Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, a sinister Ferrari 250 GTO and the even more sinister Rolls-Royce Phantom Aerodynamic Coupe, among others. All you need to do now is click and enjoy.

Aston Martin reveals Vanquish Zagato Speedster, confirms Shooting Brake

Today is a big day for fans of Zagato-bodied Aston Martins. The company has revealed the production version of the Vanquish Zagato Volante (the gray car above), a soft-top version of the beautiful Vanquish Zagato Coupe. It has the same 580-horsepower V12 as every Vanquish Zagato has, as well as a customized interior covered in so many "Z"s you'd think it was actually an Aston Martin Zoro. It's in production now, but every example has already sold out. It isn't the only open air Zagato to be shown today, though. Aston announced it is expanding its line of limited production Vanquish Zagatos with a Speedster and an upcoming Shooting Brake. View 7 Photos The Speedster (the red car shown here) makes its full debut this week, and unsurprisingly it looks both gorgeous and very similar to the Zagato coupe, and especially the Zagato Volante convertible. The key difference is that this open-top Zagato has dual cowls finished in exposed carbon fiber that flow back from the seats. Zagato says these are reminiscent of the "double-bubble" roof the company is known for, but seeing as this is also a traditional speedster cue, it seems more like marketing serendipity. That doesn't make it less beautiful, of course. It's also the rarest example of the Vanquish Zagato, as only 28 examples will be built, while the Coupe, Volante, and Shooting Brake will each be made in batches of 99. Like the Volante, all Speedsters have been sold. There's yet one more Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato that hasn't entered production, and presumably hasn't sold out yet: the Shooting Brake. As one would expect from a car with the Shooting Brake moniker, it will be a sporty wagon. It will still be a two-seater, which means it should have an impressive amount of cargo space. That storage can be accessed via a powered hatch, and it can be filled with custom made luggage from Aston Martin. The long swooping roof also features the double-bubble design, and consists of plenty of glass to let in light. Though the car hasn't had a real-life reveal yet, Aston Martin has provided a rendering shown above to illustrate what it will look like. We're rather smitten with the look. We also expect to see the production car revealed next year when production begins. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante View 14 Photos Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Convertible Hatchback Wagon Luxury Supercars zagato aston martin vanquish aston martin vanquish zagato