2019 Aston Martin Vantage on 2040-cars

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Fisker sues Aston Martin for $100M over The Force 1

We were expecting Henrik Fisker to bring The Force 1, his next vehicle design, to next week's Detroit Auto Show, but that might not happen. In December an attorney for Aston Martin sent Fisker a letter asking the Danish designer to either not show his car in Detroit or to change the design. Fisker responded to that letter by filing $100-million civil extortion lawsuit against Aston Martin in a California Federal court, naming company CEO Andy Palmer, chief spokesman Simon Sproule, and chief creative officer Marek Reichman as defendants. Based on the overhead-view sketch, the English carmaker believes that The Force 1 is "strikingly similar to several of Aston Martin's cars, including the DB10" from the movie Spectre. At the same time the carmaker's letter to Fisker admitted that it doesn't know what the final design will look like, but it appears that the carmaker's intent to "protect its valuable rights if necessary" could not make way for patience. Or perhaps Aston Martin is trying to prevent another Thunderbolt episode before it starts. That incident last year involved the carmaker suing Fisker over his reimagined Vanquish, with the two settling the matter out of court. Fisker says The Force 1 has isn't based on an Aston Martin, and as part of the lawsuit submitted a design breakdown of both the DB10 and The Force 1. Fisker's latest is apparently in partnership with VL Automotive, the company that's been threatening to release a V8-powered Karma sedan for years now, and the Detroit show organizers say they've been working with VL, not Fisker. The lawsuit seeks the $100 million for punitive and compensatory damages and court costs, alleging that Aston Martin's actions "would subject [Fisker] to public humiliation, embarrassment in the industry, and significant financial losses." The public allegations go even further, Fisker's lawyer Jonathan Michaels saying that the English brand, "In an effort to protect itself from further market erosion... conspired and devised a scheme to stomp out Henrik Fisker's competitive presence in the luxury sports car industry." News Source: Wall Street Journal Design/Style Government/Legal Detroit Auto Show Aston Martin Fisker Coupe Luxury Performance lawsuit Henrik Fisker spectre aston martin db10

Giving this '67 Aston DB6 the James Bond treatment only required drilling one hole

Paul is a Brit living in Southern California and still connected to his native land by, among other things, being a collector of all things James Bond. That led to him buying a 1967 Aston Martin DB6, having lusted after a DB-series car since he was nine, and fitting it with every "accoutrement" from James Bond's 1964 DB5 in Goldfinger and Thunderball. Getting features like the slicer wheel caps, console-activated oil slicks, blast shield and radar screen fitted required Paul to find his own Q-Branch director, this one named Brian Uiga, a gent who had done the same with his BMW 7 Series. As for what it took, Paul said, "We got together and planned the project and set a budget, and... the plan didn't work and the budget was toast." Still, they got it done - including the ejector seat - and it only required drilling one hole. You can see the result in the video below.

Aston Martin to keep V12 alongside new AMG V8

Aston Martin is embarking on a brave new future. After thirteen years basing the bulk of its lineup on the VH architecture, Aston is developing a new platform, and is partnering with Mercedes-AMG to develop a new V8 engine and electronic systems. But what will happen to the old platform and engines once the new ones arrive? You might think that they'd be retired, but that won't necessarily be the case. At least as far as the AM11 V12 engine goes. The 6.0-liter engine was developed by Cosworth, based on a Ford block, and first appeared on the DB7 Vantage way back in 1999, but still powers everything Aston offers, save the V8 Vantage. It's evolved heavily over the past decade and a half, rising in output from 420 horsepower to 565, but Aston is one of the only British automakers still offering a V12 these days (Jaguar no longer does, Bentley's is actually a W12 and while Rolls-Royce does, its vehicles are mostly of a decidedly more sedate nature), and will surely want to carry on that legacy. That's why Aston spokesman Matthew Clarke revealed in correspondence with Autoblog, "Our 6.0-liter V12 engine will remain, with ongoing development, at the heart of a number of our flagship models for the foreseeable future," long after the new engine being developed with Mercedes arrives. Just which models will receive the new eight-cylinder engine and which will keep the twelve remains to be seen, but we get the feeling Aston's eight-cylinder range will broaden to include more than just the Vantage. As for the VH architecture, you can expect it to sail off into the proverbial sunset once the new platform is ready, though we wouldn't be surprised to see it phased out more gradually than abruptly. A 13-year tradition doesn't end overnight, after all.