2023 Aston Martin Vantage 2dr Rdstr on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster revealed with 690 horsepower

Aston Martin kicked off the week with one V12 convertible, and it's finishing it out with yet another one. But unlike the DBR22, the V12 Vantage Roadster has a folding soft top and will be available at the end of the year. It's not quite as powerful as the DBR22, but it's no slouch, and is practically as fast as its coupe twin. Performance upgrades to the V12 Vantage Roadster are essentially identical to the coupe. It has a twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 making 690 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. Power goes through an eight-speed automatic transmission to a mechanical rear differential. In practice, the Roadster reaches the same 200-mph top speed as the coupe, and it's only 0.1 second behind it to 60 mph at 3.5 seconds. Major weight savings have been found throughout. The exhaust is an ultra thin stainless steel system as part of multiple weight saving measures including the carbon ceramic brakes with six-piston front calipers and four-piston rears. The body has been widened by 1.6 inches and features a carbon fiber front bumper, hood, fenders and side sills, as well as a composite rear bumper and trunk lid. A new grille and hood vent improve cooling, and a splitter and diffuser help with downforce. The coupe's large rear wing isn't included as a nod to classier design, but it's available as part of aerodynamic package. Optional forged wheels can save even more weight, along with optional carbon fiber sport seats. Production of the Roadster starts in the third quarter of this year, with deliveries coming later. Only 249 will be built. That makes it rarer than the coupe, of which Aston built 333 examples. All the Roadsters have been spoken for, and Aston didn't give pricing. Related Video:

King Charles' electric I-Pace goes to auction next month

Never mind the Bentley State Limousines, the Aston Martin DB6 Volante that Queen Elizabeth II bought him on his 21st birthday, or the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI valued at more than $600,000. The car of the moment, if we’re talking about the garage of King Charles III of England, is a far more ordinary — and all-electric — Jaguar I-Pace purchased in 2018 by His Majesty “for his personal use." The royal Jag is set to be auctioned off March 2 at the famed Ascot Racecourse; estimated selling price is as high as $88,000. If you miss out on the auction of a president's former ride, here's one from a king. The SUV, notable as the first all-electric vehicle to be embraced by the royal family, is the range-topping I-Pace EV400 HSE all-wheel-drive luxury five-seater that the king — prince of Wales at the time — bought in September 2018 for $75,000. According to the auction site, the Jag was "purchased with his own money." Charles had Jaguar install a fast charger at Clarence House, his residence. The vehicle was returned to a Jaguar dealership after two years — itÂ’s not clear if it had been leased — with only 3,000 miles on the clock. Subsequently, the SUV was sold to one Karen French of Oxfordshire. She said in a statement offered by Historics Auctioneers, “This I-Pace was exactly what I was looking for and pretty much on my doorstep. It was only when I agreed to buy it that I discovered its extraordinary history — I was absolutely thrilled. Having driven it over 30,000 miles,” she added, ”I decided in the New Year that it was time for a change.” Noted by the auctioneers in typical British understatement, the high-specification car was uniquely finished in Loire Blue and remains the only I-Pace “to be painted in this colour, whilst those inside the car enjoyed a sumptuous, contrasting leather interior in, fittingly, Light Oyster Windsor.” A revised Jaguar I-Pace is scheduled to arrive next year. Regarding the KingÂ’s affection for automobiles — British automobiles — he reportedly overseas a fleet worth more than $17 million. And while heÂ’s fond of driving conventional vehicles, he told the BBC some years ago that “my old Aston Martin, which I've had for 51 years, runs on — can you believe this — surplus English white wine, and whey from the cheese process.” Essentially the classic had been converted to run on E85 bio-ethanol. "The engineers at Aston said, 'Oh, it'll ruin the whole thing,'" Charles shared with The Telegraph in 2018.

Aston Martin fleet week: Next vessel to sail is a luxury submarine

Aston Martin's latest project aims to go beneath the surface, literally. It announced Thursday a partnership with a Florida-based developer of submersibles to develop a strictly limited-edition, deep-diving submarine code-named Project Neptune. The luxury brand is apparently making quite a splash at the Monaco Boat Show this week, having just revealed the AM37, a 37-foot, six-passenger, two-crew-member speedboat replete with natural teak sliding decks and custom-outfitted interior that will cost $1.6 million. For Project Neptune, the British marque is joining forces with Triton Submarines, which makes luxury submarines for superyacht-owning hobbyists as well as more robust models for scientists and filmmakers that are capable of exploring the deepest parts of the ocean. Plans call for marrying Triton's Low Profile three-person platform with the automotive brand's design and engineering language, under the direction of its Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman. Aston Martin Consulting will oversee the project. No details yet, but Triton's existing 1650 Low Profile three-person sub, its lightest model, weighs 8,800 pounds and can dive to 1,650 feet. A 30 kWh battery powers four 5-horse thrusters, and it can stay submerged for up to 12 hours. The most dramatic part of Triton's design is its incredible bubble shape — a spherical, transparent pressure hull. Some of Triton's more rigorous designs can reach depths of 7,500 feet. A Triton sub reportedly starts at a cool $3.3 million, and it's certainly nice, with stitched leather seats. But that, of course is a crude version compared with Aston Martin's panache and uber-exclusive materials. Pass the caviar, won't you, old boy? Related Video: Weird Car News Aston Martin Luxury submersible