Auto car sports

Now that the Aston Martin Cygnet has officially received the green light (previous post here ), the brand of James Bond has put together again CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez and design director Marek Reichman for the Cygnet PR video below. The 4-passenger Cygnet, based on Toyota's iQ city car, is meant to provide Aston Martin owners something more practical for daily use within cities and still offer said owners the level of exclusivity they desire. That means it can be ordered with all the same interior and exterior colors, leathers, and materials found on any other Aston. While based on a Toyota, the Cygnet will officially be manufactured as its own standalone model - a coach-built compact, if you will - in Warwickshire, England. An official announcement has not been made regarding the power train, but it will likely get the iQ's standard 3-cylinder (possibly with a sport intake/exhaust setup). By Phil Alex _______________________________ VIDEO _______________________________

It's officially official; Aston Martin today confirmed that the Toyota iQ -based Cygnet luxury city car is to go into production with sales to start in 2011. The British automaker said details on pricing and specification will be announced by the end of this year. However it is believed the Cygnet will cost between £30,000-50,000 in the UK, or about US$47,500-79,000 / €34,000 -57,000 at the current exchange rates, and will initially be sold only to existing Aston customers. Originally shown as a pre-production concept car at this year's Geneva Salon in March, the Cygnet is an Aston Martin-flavored version of the Toyota iQ city car with unique styling cues such as the front grille, bumper designs, exterior trim and alloy wheels, plus a high-luxury interior with details inspired by the automaker's supercar range. "It is time to think differently. Aston Martin is honest and we don't make compromises" says Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. "Whatever we do, we ...

British sportscar maker Aston Martin has notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a safety recall 1,090 DB9, V8 Vantage and DBS vehicles built between 2007 and 2008. In a letter sent by Aston Martin to the NHTSA, the British carmaker reported that the camber bolt that holds the front bottom suspension arm was not made to specification and "could crank along its shank" (shaft). According to the company, this would allow the lower control arm to move freely, affecting the driver's ability to steer, and thus increasing the risk of a crash. The letter went on to say that drivers may hear a metallic rattling sound if the lower control arm had loosened in such a fashion. An Aston Martin spokesperson told Bloomberg news that the defect was detected through company testing, not through any customer complaints. He went on to say that the driver would still be able to steer, but may notice 'looser handling'. To rectify the defect, dealers will ...

Aston Martin has released a new video (part four of a series, apparently) detailing its One-77 mega-super-hyper car flagship as well as showing it out on the track. Specifications? Sure thing. The 7.3-liter V12 has been officially certified at 750 horsepower and 750 Nm (553.2 lbs-ft) of torque making it -according to the company- the most powerful naturally aspirated road car engine in the world today. Throughout the video you'll see some beautiful details of the million-dollar (actually £1.25 million) Aston flagship, including the side mirror mounts molded into the door shells and close-ups of the wraparound jewel-like tail light. Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin, says, "The One-77 is approaching a production reality and of course, there is considerable excitement in the project. Now the next steps are all about details and refinement to complete the composition. I know the final car will demonstrate what the Aston Martin team is capable of." Come 2011, sheiks, ruler...

Meet Aston Martin's new LMP1 racer with which the British firm plans to compete in the 2011 edition of the famed Le Mans 24 Hour race. Pictured here in a teaser sketch dressed in Gulf Oil livery, the new race car is being designed from the ground up with an Aston Martin open cockpit monocoque chassis and a new purpose-built race gasoline engine. The automaker said work on the new chassis and powerplant has been progressing for several months at Aston Martin Racing's headquarters in Banbury, UK and the first of a limited number of six cars will hit the tarmac in early 2011. Aston Martin Chairman, David Richards said: "Having won the GT category twice at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008 and the Le Mans Series outright in 2009, we still want to achieve our ultimate goal of winning the 24 Hour race overall to bring the title back to Britain." "In recent years, it has been impossible for petrol cars to compete on equal terms with the diesels. However, we now have assurances f...

When you think about it, the £160,000 (US$247,000) Aston Martin DBS is a little too common. Sure it's a beautiful machine with a monster V12 under the hood, but everyone and his mother has one these days. Now, what the car connoisseur needs is something a bit rarer; something that's unique. A vehicle with real motoring history coursing through its corroded veins. A fixer upper, even. Fortunately - for one buyer at least - such a car exists. At Barsons' British Heritage Sale at Sandown Park, a very rare Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk III drophead coupe went up on the auction block with an asking price of £80,000-£100,000 (US$123,000-US$154,000). Not too extravagant; one could easily afford a spanking-new Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster or Coupe for that measly amount. By the conclusion of the sale, however, this particular DB2/4 had fetched the rather more Barsons'-esque price of £206,866 (US$318,875). The Aston, once owned by company founder David Brown and which had spent the ...