Aston Martin's first show as a non-ford entity showcases a new flagship alongside variants of two established models. The Vanquish-replacing DBS may have debuted in "Casino Royale," and showed up at Pebble Beach this year wearing yellow pants and sipping a G&T, but it had its coming out in Frankfurt. Aston boss Ulrich Bez entoned, "The king is dead. Long live the king," referring to the erstwhile Vanquish, which he called less refined than the DBS, just a paragraph after lavishing praises on Ford for its former supportbux. Perhaps more of a draw for Aston-loving journos were the two special editions, the V8 Vantage N400 and Aston Martin DB9 LM, which celebrate GT racing victory. The special Vantage comes with 400 horsepower (and as a roadster), metallic orange paint and a kiss from the design gods. The DB9 comes only in silver, and only one will be allotted per dealership.

Contact information for this author is not available.