2023 Aston Martin Vantage V12 on 2040-cars

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F1 to offer track rides with Alonso, Verstappen, Hakkinen

It's not often that a Formula 1 fan gets to experience what an F1 track feels like from the point of view of a racing driver. An in-car camera just goes so far, and tracks are not always open for the public, or even for track days. Now, a special Hot Laps program announced by Formula 1 and Pirelli means some lucky participants are able to take part in ridealongs on the same F1 tracks where all the racing action happens. The first two manufacturers that have announced their participation are Aston Martin and McLaren, and as a result the Vantage and 720S will be used in the program. More car manufacturers have reportedly signed up, and they will be named in the near future. The first Hot Laps will be driven at the 2018 Bahrain GP. The best is still to come. The professional racing drivers that have enlisted for the Hot Laps program are Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen for Aston Martin, and the McLarens will be driven by Mika Hakkinen, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne. Imagine being taken for a ride by such wheelmen! Just doing a grocery run with Alonso behind the wheel would probably be exciting enough, let alone getting a track experience. Of course, the one thing that hasn't yet been mentioned is the price. We can't imagine a lap can be very modestly priced in this case, but it will sure be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Unless you can afford two laps, that is. Related Video: Motorsports Aston Martin McLaren Luxury Performance Pirelli Max Verstappen lando norris

Aston Martin and Zagato will offer $7.9M limited edition sold only in pairs

Aston Martin and Zagato are planning to collaborate for a limited production run of a couple of incredible cars it's calling the DBZ Centenary Collection. There will be 19 DB4 GT Zagato Continuation cars and 19 DBS GT Zagatos made. These cars are only to be sold as pairs, meaning you get one DB4 and one DBS (based on the 2019 DBS Superleggera) when you buy. So why are Aston and Zagato doing this? Well, Zagato reaches its 100th anniversary in 2019, so a celebration is clearly in order. Aston Martin and Zagato have quite the storied recent and not-so-recent past. You might remember that Aston unleashed 25 DB4 GT Continuation cars sans Zagato earlier this year. The idea is the same here, but Zagato gets included on this project. Back in 1960, Aston Martin and Zagato had planned to make a 25-car run of Zagato-bodied DB4s. When demand wasn't high enough, it was cut off at 19, which explains why it's making 19 cars today as well. Aston and Zagato created those DB4s to race against others like Ferrari in the '60s, and the Continuation DB4 Zagato will be sold as a race car as well. Set to be built at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell, England, the goal is to make the new car resemble the old as accurately as possible. At the same time, Aston is benefiting from modern engineering to make the car even better looking. So while it still uses a tubular frame and thin-gauge aluminum body panels, Aston also uses digital scanning technology to ensure the bodywork is absolutely perfect in fitment and consistency. Looking at the mechanical side of things, we've got an inline-six engine that makes 380 horsepower hooked up to a four-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential. That's significantly more power than the 331 hp DB4 Continuation that Aston made before. The commitment to looking and feeling the part is there, but we really wonder how the driving experience differs from that of a Zagato from the '60s. That's only the first half of the pair. Wealthy owners will also receive a DBS GT Zagato. It's unclear exactly what that car will look like just yet, because Aston has only provided us with what looks like a rough design sketch. It says we'll see a fresh take on the "double-bubble" roof, new grille and a truncated tail to differentiate it from the run-of-the-mill DBS Superleggera. As a reminder, the DBS Superleggera has a 5.2-liter turbocharged V12 that makes 715 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque.

Aston Martin CFO departs as stock hits a record low, losses deepen

LONDON — Aston Martin shares slumped to a record low on Thursday after the British luxury carmaker said its losses ballooned last year and its chief financial officer would leave by the end of April. The firm, famed for being fictional agent James Bond's car of choice, posted a pretax loss of 104 million pounds ($135 million) last year compared with 68 million pounds in 2018 following a 9% decline in sales to dealers. Aston Martin is in the midst of restructuring after announcing last month that a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll would buy up to 20% of the company and existing shareholders would inject more cash. Its shares, which were listed in October 2018, have been on a steady downward trajectory ever since and hit a record low of 328 pence following the announcements on Thursday, more than 80% lower than their flotation price. "The big difference between last year and this year is the strength of the balance sheet," Chief Executive Andy Palmer told Reuters. "We're in a very different place and have therefore an ability to properly ... destock and that means get the balance right between supply and demand." Chief Finance Officer Mark Wilson will step down from his role no later than April 30 but had not been fired, said Palmer. Coronavirus impact China, Aston's fastest growing market, was a rare bright spot last year with sales rising 28% but the company, like the rest of the industry, has seen demand drop due to the coronavirus outbreak. The virus has infected more than 80,000 people and killed about 2,800, the majority in China, confining millions to their homes, disrupting businesses and delaying the reopening of factories after the extended Lunar New Year holiday break. Aston has seen disruption to the arrival of certain parts but said it had not had to stop production at its factories, with components secured until at least the end of March because it has no direct suppliers in China. "Since almost the first weeks of the New Year we've had issues with those Tier 2 and Tier 3 (suppliers) which have meant that our supply chain guys have had to be on it constantly," said Palmer. "We're ironically benefitting from the fact that we built up a Brexit stock," he said, in a reference to extra components the firm held in case Britain's departure from the European Union led to additional delays in the movement of goods.