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Aston Martin Rapide puts the future on display at CES

Aston Martin looks to be on the verge of a technological revolution. That includes a new platform, powertrain, design language... the works. And at CES, it's showing how its next generation of vehicles will incorporate new infotainment technologies, as well. Stemming from a partnership recently signed with Chinese company Letv (which we're not sure how to pronounce either), this Aston Martin Rapide S is decked out with bright tech. It has a 13.3-inch high-def touchscreen display in the center console, a 12.2-inch display in the instrument cluster, new speed-recognition technology, and remote services. All the features come from Letv's Internet of the Vehicle program. Few of these features are ground-breaking, but everything being relative, it's a big step for Aston Martin. After all, the British automaker makes almost all of its models based on a platform that dates back fifteen years, a V12 engine that's even older, and no transmission with more than a single clutch. But that's all about to change with a new generation on the horizon, and this demonstrator hints at just one way in which we'll soon see that transformation take shape. Related Video: LETV AND ASTON MARTIN REVEAL THE AUTOLINK RAPIDE S AT CES 6 January 2016, Las Vegas USA: Leading global technology company Letv and luxury sports car brand Aston Martin today revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show the first results of their collaboration – an Aston Martin Rapide S incorporating the latest Letv Internet of the Vehicle (IOV) system. Aston Martin and Letv signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on December 3rd 2015 to confirm research projects that include the development of connected electric vehicles through to manufacturing consultation on future electric vehicles. The ideation and engineering of the Aston Martin Rapide S project has been led by the Letv IOV team and has focused on a new concept for the centre console and instrument panel. The center console is now a 13.3 inch HD touch screen and the instrument panel is now a 12.2 inch screen incorporating electronic instrumentation and gauges. The original human-machine interaction (HMI) has also been updated by integrating Letvs latest speech recognition technology. Letv first showed its Autolink system in November 2015, the first time the technology company had released a product specifically developed for automotive applications.

Aston Martin lead designer doesn't fear the future

Marek Reichman is the chief creative officer of Aston Martin, so he oversees the creation of some of the world's most desirable vehicles. This includes not only the production cars from the venerable British brand, like the DB11 coupe and convertible, or the all-new Vantage, but also "Specials." These limited-edition, extremely expensive, outrageous and drool-worthy custom vehicles are developed by Aston's special advanced engineering skunkworks, like the Vulcan and Valkyrie. And, now, with the revival and reimagining of Lagonda as an electric and autonomous ultra-luxury sub-brand, he's also responsible for creating a full line of vehicles to fill out its offerings — a limousine, a coupe and an SUV. Speaking at the global launch of the brand's new Vantage — long its best-selling vehicle and the entry-level gateway into the Aston universe — Reichman is cautiously optimistic about the future of the traditional sports car. In part, because he believes that some humans will always crave speed and feel. "Washing clothes became automated, building refrigerators became automated. Everything becomes automated, because we see it as advanced," Reichman says. "But there will always be a segment of the population that wants that experience. That engagement." Of course, as technology advances toward the alleged inevitability of our electric and autonomous future, and rules regarding who can own or drive what kind of car lead or follow, this segment may become increasingly restricted. Reichman lives in Oxford, England, which will become the first city in Europe to completely ban carbon-emitting vehicles in the start of the next decade, so he is well aware of these impending changes. "At the high performance end it might become the province of the rich, who will need private spaces to use these vehicles," he says. "But what will happen with the Morgans or the Lotuses of the world — the more accessible brands? There may still be a place for them." View 17 Photos This sense of possibility stems from Reichman's belief that the next generation can hold simultaneously divergent ideas. "I think there is always going to be a space for the personal need and desire for performance driving. I see it even in kids today," he says. "They believe in the world of electrification. That that is their inevitable future.

Aston Martin DB5s from 'No Time to Die' sampled by Carfection

The excellent Henry Catchpole might have just made the most persuasive argument for restomods using one of the world's and pop culture's most celebrated classics. The Carfection host spent a day at Silverstone with no less than four takes on the Aston Martin DB5 — one of them the showstopping original in gleaming Silver Birch with the license plate BMT 216A, three of them stunt cars used in the next James Bond installment "No Time to Die." Catchpole starts off in the stock vintage two-door, its 4.0-liter straight-six sending about 282 horsepower and 287 pound-feet of torque to the live rear axle to move about 3,300 pounds. It's a thrill to run through apexes, but perhaps more for its pedigree than its prowess; at one point, Catchpole wonders, "How on earth he did some of those car chases with seats like this, I've got no idea." Of course, Bond only had to outrun a couple of even older Mercedes sedans in "Goldfinger." The host then slides into the shotgun seat of one of the ringers, with one-time Subaru-driving rally ace Mark Higgins behind the wheel. Higgins has been a stunt driver in four Bond films now, starting his tenure in a Land Rover Defender in "Quantum of Solace," working his way up to drifting the one-off Aston Martin DB10 at around 90 miles per hour through St. Peter's Square in The Vatican. Higgins explains a bit of what went into the DB5-looking stunt cars built for "No Time to Die," one of them built on a ladder frame chassis dressed in carbon fiber body panels, powered by a modern straight-six engine, suspended with Ohlins dampers. The directive was to get repeatability in tricky environments, and hey, more power and less weight is never a bad thing, either.  When Catchpole takes the track again behind the wheel of the stunt car, you'll want to turn on the closed captions. Even if you don't, Catchpole's barely audible exclamations and facial expressions make it clear which car he'd rather take home, and which he'd leave for the "misogynist alcoholic womanizer of a secret spy with really pretty unresolved violence issues." If all goes well, we'll see both in action — plus two more — when "No Time to Die" hits theaters in November. Related Video: