Aston Martin Extremes

by Mike -

Aston Martin is one of the oldest car companies still in business today. Up until 2000 they had produced less than 15,000 cars since the founding of the company in 1913.

Above is their new super car, the one-77. It has a 7.3 liter V12 that produces 750 hp and will accelerate from 0 to 62 MPH is less than 3.7 seconds with a top speed of 220 MPH. 

It has a rear mounted six speed automated, manual paddle shift transmission. Only 77 will be produced and you can imagine that it is very expensive.

The one-77 technical specifications are below.

Aston Martin has had a troubled financial history with many ownership changes. They were acquired by Ford in 1994. Ford sold most of their ownership to a group headed by David Richards in 2007. 

I do not know the actual numbers but I suspect that Aston Martin has produced well more than 15,000 cars since 2000.

An Aston Martin driven by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959.

Their other new car is the Cygnet shown below - the other extreme from the one-77.

This is a car with a much different purpose than the one-77. Although, it still has the signature Aston Martin grill shape. 

The Cygnet has a 1.33 liter 4-cylinder engine that produces 97 hp and accelerates from 0 to 62 MPH in 11.8 seconds. It has a manual six speed transmission with an optional constantly variable transmission. Top speed is 106 MPH. 

The Cygnet technical specifications are below.

There may be some people who will own both a Cygnet and a one-77 - two cars for different purposes and different driving moods.

I have written about Aston Martins at these links: DB7, V12 Vanquish, V8 Vantage and DB4 GT Zagato.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Below is the Rapide, a four door sedan introduced in 2010.

Aston V12 Vantage meets Gulf LMP1 Race Car

by Mike -

This is a commercial but a cool commercial.

Pretend it is not a commercial.

A Fantastic Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

by Mike -

The Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato is one of the most recognizable cars in the world even though there were only 19 originally made.

The body was styled by Ercole Spada at Zagato and is considered to be one of the most beautiful cars ever.

The engine is a straight 6-cylinder DOHC 3670 cc displacement and the transmission is a 4-speed manual producing 314 hp, a 0 to 60 mph acceleration of just 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 154 mph. 

What a jewel.

Some of these cars were raced at The 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1961, 1962 and 1963. They also raced at other European races in the early 1960s.

That door handle looks just like the handles in the Bizzarrini.

This perfect Aston Martin was parked next to my Bizzarrini GT 5300 at the Presidio of San Francisco Concours d'Elegance in 2009. I have seen this car at other car shows in Northern California and I always stop and look every time. It is owned by a well known California Aston Martin collector, a very nice gentleman.

Doesn't it look great next to the Bizzarrini? Aston Martin racing green and the silver of the Bizzarrini are a great compliment.

I wonder which one would win a race?

James Bond did not drive this Aston, pity. Although I have noticed that many of the cars driven by James Bond have accidents and I could not stand to see that happen to one of these. So, maybe it is not such a pity.

The judges are taking a very close look and the closer you look the better this Aston looks. It won first in class.

Some of these pictures were taken by my friend Michael Menetto.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

by Mike -

We first saw the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage at Pebble Beach in August 2005.

I was able to sit in the car to determine if there was enough headroom, which was a problem with our DB7. The fit was excellent in the new Vantage and later that year we ordered one. 

It arrived in the summer of 2006 and we just happened to specify the same unusual exterior blue slate color as the one we saw at Pebble Beach.

Blue leather interior with silver contrast stitching.

A manual six speed transmission was the only option, which is just fine with me. This is still my favorite steering wheel on any modern car that I have driven.

The engine sits way back in the chassis like the Bizzarrini and has a wonderful sound especially at high RPM.

The push button starter in the center of the dash is just fun.

I was impressed with the handling and the reliability of this car. It is also one of the most beautiful cars made today.

At 380 bhp it was under powered for me and I thought some of the interior materials were too cheap for a car in this class. We had fun but after two years we moved on.

I wrote about our DB7 and my trip to the Aston Martin factory here and here. 

The new V8 Vantage and V8 Vantage S are described on the Aston Martin web site.

Click on the images for a larger view.

The specifications for the 2006 V8 Vantage are below.

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish - Part 2

by Mike

There are many V12 Vanquish cars for sale today, they range in price from around $80,000 to around $150,000. Not a bad value considering what you get and that the original MSRP was more than $230,000.

My biggest complaint was that they made most of them with the paddle shift transmission. Aston Martin Works Service, however, would convert a car to manual shift for a price. This first car shown here has had that conversion.

The 2003 car below is at Autosports Designs in New York for $117,500 and has 16,000 miles.

Below is a 2006 Vanquish S black car in Florida listed on eBay for $119,900. It has only 12,500 miles.

Here is a silver 2003 with 18,383 miles for only $78,799 in Arizona listed on the duPont Registry.

As with many other late model cars do not expect any value appreciation. A pre-purchase inspection and history review are important.

Below is a Vanquish brochure.

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish - Part 1

by Mike

Aston Martin introduced their new flagship super car, the V12 Vanquish, in 2001. Featured in the James Bond movie, Die Another Day, the Vanquish was well received and was produced until 2007.

The Vanquish was a fun and fast car to drive but, in my opinion, suffered from the use of the paddle shift transmission instead of a manual shift transmission. Although, it was a better paddle shift transmission than that offered on the Ferrari 575M.

Below are pictures from Aston Martin literature and technical data from Aston Martin.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Part 2 will be about cars for sale.