Amazing Carbon Fiber Amv8 Vantage Coupe - Track Or Show on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin CEO dreams of an electric future for James Bond

With an endless stream of leggy models, futuristic weapons, and a dashing wardrobe, James Bond can rightfully be associated with indulgence. But his car of choice may soon take on a more ecologic bent by way of electric motor and some batteries. So says Andy Palmer, who is predicting an electric vehicle in Bond's future. EVS are 'almost as inevitable as death and tax.' - Andy Palmer Palmer, of course, is CEO of Aston Martin. As he said in a recent interview with CNBC, mass adoption of electrified vehicles is "almost as inevitable as death and tax," and that will extend to Bond – James Bond – as well. Take a look at CNBC's one-minute video clip with Palmer here. The fictional character has been linked to Aston Martin since the third James Bond film, 1964's Goldfinger. In it, the spy, then played by Sean Connery, drove an Aston Martin DB5. Most recently, Aston Martin built James Bond's DB10 especially for the 2015 film Spectre. The lure for the spy would be less the environmental statement and more the fact that electric cars have a ton of torque and can take off like a shot, says Palmer. He should know, having joined Nissan in 1991 and playing a key role in the development of the Nissan Leaf. He also pushed Nissan to add an electric powertrain to the Infiniti LE with the goal to do so by 2014, but by that year he'd left Nissan for Aston Martin. As for the UK automaker, it said last year that it was working with investment firm ChinaEquity on fitting the Aston Martin Rapide with an electric powertrain by 2017, and the car may have as much as 1,000 horsepower, too, which should be plenty for Bond. The company may also be working on an all-electric DBX SUV.

Next Aston Vantage will be the only way to get an AMG V8 with a stick

With only a few exceptions, most of them factory customs, AMG hasn't built cars with manual transmissions. It just isn't the way things are done in Affalterbach. But now that Mercedes's in-house speed shop will be supplying engines to Aston Martin, the world will be treated to cars with three pedals and overengineered German V8s wrapped in a pretty British package. We're into it. The news comes from Car and Driver, which spoke to Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer about the new Vantage among other things. Palmer confirms to C/D that the Vantage will continue to offer manual and automatic transmissions when the next-gen car arrives featuring the AMG 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. In its most potent form, the eight-cylinder makes 503 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque in the AMG GT S. Figure on a little more from the Aston-ized version, just for fun. The current V8 Vantage GT makes 430 hp and 361 lb-ft from its naturally aspirated 4.7-liter. While some may lament the new engine's forced induction, that added power and the thoroughly modern behavior of the AMG engine should be welcome. While the AMG V8 is currently only planned to go into Aston's entry-level car, C/D does mention a possibility of it (and perhaps its three-pedal transmission) making its way into other cars as an economy option for certain markets. If a V8 DB11 were to be offered, don't expect it to show up here, though. There's also no word on who will supply the manual for the AMG-Aston mashup, but it likely will be a transaxle like the current Vantage. Ex-factory manual AMGs aren't totally unprecedented. Pagani has built some three-pedal cars with its massaged AMG V12s. Compared to those, however, these manual Vantages can be considered mass-production cars. And really, any increase in the number of sticks mated to AMG engines can only be a good thing. Related Video: News Source: Car and Driver Aston Martin Mercedes-Benz Coupe Performance mercedes-amg confirmed aston martin v8 vantage aston martin vantage

2020 Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato launches with 760 horsepower

The 2020 Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato has finally been revealed in real life, following renderings shown this summer. And with the reveal come additional details, such as the fact that it bears the most powerful version of Aston's twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 at 760 horsepower. That's an increase of 45 horsepower over the DBS Superleggera. That engine is wrapped in some stunning Zagato-designed bodywork. The fluttering multi-piece grille and rear-windowless roof are the big attention getters, but the fine details impress, too. The front and rear Aston badges are made of 18-carat gold. The interior is unique to the Zagato, featuring a new dashboard and center console. The geometric parts shown in the console are 3D-printed and can be produced in carbon fiber, aluminum, or in the case of the Centenary Specification car above, stainless steel with a real gold coating. The seats also are finished in leather and dotted with Zagato Zs. If those special parts aren't special enough, Q by Aston Martin is willing to work with you to make further modifications. Only 19 DBS GT Zagatos will be built, and all of them have to be purchased as a pair with a DB4 Zagato continuation car. Each pair starts at $7.9 million. Everyone that orders up a pair will have the cars delivered by the end of the year.