2019 Aston Martin Vantage Coupe on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake finishes a quartet Q would envy

From A to Z in four steps - that being Aston Martin and Zagato, connected by carbon fiber links known as the Vanquish Zagato Coupe, Volante, Speedster, and the now-official Shooting Brake. When the automaker revealed the Zagato Speedster at Pebble Beach in August, the Shooting Brake remained a sketch. Today we get honest, photographic proof of what 99 future owners will soon park in their climate-controlled display spaces. Were it not for the objet d'art reverence paid to a Zagato and the bitsy production run, we'd expect to see the shooting brake frolicking through expensive enclaves just as often as a Ferrari GT4 Lusso. Aston Martin's 580-horsepower V12 provides useful intent up front, a "luxuriously trimmed rear cabin area with tailored luggage" carries its weight in back. In between, driver and passenger revel in a herringbone carbon fiber fascia, anodized bronze dials, quilted leather, and glass-inlay for the double-bubble roof inviting lots of light. The Shooting Brake goes into production next year, alongside the Speedster. As with the first three bijoux, every Shooting Brake has already found a home. When Aston Martin hands the last set of keys to the final buyer, these 325 special editions will mark the close of another chapter in an Anglo-Italian cooperation begun with the 1960 DB4 Zagato. Related Video:

Saudi wealth fund to become Aston Martin's second-largest shareholder

Aston Martin's shares jumped 20% on Friday after the British luxury carmaker announced an capital raising that will see Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) become its second-largest shareholder with an almost 17% stake. PIF's 78 million pound investment, together with a 575 million pound rights issue, will allow the 109-year-old company lower its debt and invest in new models. PIF will own a 16.7% stake in Aston Martin and will be entitled to two board seats, behind the 18.3% holding Chairman Lawrence Stroll's Yew Tree will have after the rights issue. The sovereign wealth fund, which owns stakes in electric carmaker Lucid Motors and British supercar group McLaren has been diversifying its oil-rich investment portfolio. For Aston Martin, the preferred ride of fictional secret agent James Bond which has gone bankrupt seven times in its history, the investment means it can secure its long-term future. Its current second-largest shareholder, German carmaker Mercedes-Benz AG will own about 9.7% after the capital raising. Debt-Ridden Inheritance "In 2020, I inherited a business in deep trouble that needed to be reset," Stroll told reporters. COVID-19 lockdowns and the disruption to global supply chains has slowed the company's recovery, he added. Half of the new capital will be used to repay debt that stood at 957 million pounds at the end of March. The company also pushed back the date at which it will start producing cash from 2023 to 2024. The carmaker said former owner Italian investment group Investindustrial and China's Geely had proposed up to 1.3 billion pounds in funds last week, which the board rejected. The pair would have injected 203 million pounds for a stake, making them the largest shareholder. Stroll said the proposal would have been highly dilutive to shareholders and believed it was a takeover offer in disguise. ($1 = 0.8446 pounds) (Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Tomasz Janowski and Louise Heavens) Earnings/Financials Aston Martin

2017 Aston Martin Vantage GTS is only for America

Earlier today, Aston Martin announced that a short run of V12 Vantage S models would come to the US with a manual. Just 100 will be built, but that's an exciting prospect nonetheless. The US is also getting a unique rationalization of the V8 lineup, spiking the low-price GT and more expensive S variants and consolidating them into one trim: the GTS, available in fixed and droptop versions. Basically, there's one trim, but two flavors thereof. Both offer the 4.7-liter V8 in the existing V8 Vantage, and both offer a choice of a six-speed manual or 7-speed single-clutch automated manual. The Sport flavor offers some styling baubles (think: carbon fiber) as well as the sport suspension that was optional on the older Vantage. Inside, the Sport is trimmed with either black or grey leather with either alcantara or leather detailing. The center stack face is carbon fiber, and the rotary controls are black. The Lux version skips the sport suspension bits, but adds in some gloss black exterior elements at the front splitter and rear diffuser, and brightwork at the front grille, headlamp surrounds, hood vent strakes, and window surrounds. The seats are leather, although the color is up to the buyer from an "extensive color palette". Controls are done up in satin chrome finish with piano black. The GTS is, like most Astons, a blank slate for too many styling options to list, but if you can write a check big enough chances are you can have it any way you'd like. Expect it to start at roughly the current V8 Vantage S's price, or right around $134,000. Related Video: