In 2007, the Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar Co. bought 64% of the shares of the Aston Martin company. But about a month ago, rumors started to appear that Dar is looking to sell their Aston Martin shares. Reportedly, Dar wants to get US $800 million for its part in the Gaydon company, about the same they paid for it five years ago.
Okay, I think I have found my next watch. Jaeger-LeCoultre has announced their latest Aston Martin watch, the AMVOX7:
Yesterday, I reported about the colors of the first thirteen V12 Vantage Roadsters, which included one in the very nice Aston Color “Volcano Red”. Now the owner of this Volcano Red roadster, user “silverspeed” from the PistonHeads forum, also visited the factory, to see his car being created. And he kindly sent me his photos of the day, showing his car at the end of the production line. Wow, I think the V12 Roadster looks great in this color. Congrats, mr silverspeed!
Just some quick stats about the the V12 Vantage Roadster: Up until today, thirteen V12 Vantage Roadster customer cars have been produced. (not including the white, red and grey demo cars) These are the colors chosen by the first 13 lucky customers: 3 x Onyx Black 1 x Storm Black 1 x Jet Black 1 x Nero Black 1 x Hammerhead Silver 1 x Tungsten Silver 2 x Morning Frost White 1 x Volcano Red 1 x Elwood Blue 1 x Cobalt Blue (mine!) 88 to go 🙂
Have you already seen the new commercial for Sony’s Xperia T, the one they call “The Bond phone”? It features a black V12 Vantage (and its’s beautiful V12 sound).
Remember the unlikely story of the V8 Cygnet? Well, it gets even better, and even more unlikely. Autocar.co.uk reports that a V12 powered Cygnet could be possible. Their sources (who?) suggest that “a feasibility study has already been completed” and that it should be possible to fit the huge V12 engine in the tiny car. Very unlikely story if you ask me. Have you ever seen the engine bay of a Cygnet? No way a V12 engine is going to fit there. I mean, putting the 6 litre block into a Vantage was already a tight fit… Anyway, let’s hope some of it is true and that Aston Martin is indeed planning to put a more powerful engine into the Cygnet. And upgraded suspension. And improved brakes. And a better gearbox… Nah … I’ll just stick with the V12 Vantage…
Next year, in 2013, Aston Martin will celebrate its’ 100 year anniversary. Last weekend, Dr. Ulrich Bez presented the special centenary logo (shown on the left) on his race car, during the Nürburgring-based VLN series. The logo was designed by by Director of Design Marek Reichman’s team and will be used for all celebration events next year.
We’ve already seen the spy shots and spots, but now it has been officially revealed by Aston Martin: the new version of everyone’s favorite Aston, the DB9. That is, the favorite of everyone who have never driven the various Aston Martin models. Otherwise they would know better. Because let’s be fair, the DB9 might be beautiful and elegant, but it’s not really the most exciting car to drive. In fact, compared to say a Vantage or a DBS, I dare say that driving a DB9 is kind of boring. How it became so popular as everyone’s “dream car” is beyond me. Jeremy Clarkson maybe? Anyway, I digress… let’s look at the new DB9.
It’s only visible for about 2 seconds, but still a cool appearance. A DB5 owned by PistonHeads member bmt216a and his dad is featured in the new Bond-based Coke Zero commercial: “Unlock The 007 In You”. Here’s the video, the DB5 appears at 0:37 :
Quote: “You cannot beat a massive engine in a tiny car” … True that! Now go watch the video: