Martin

2009 aston martin v8 vantage

2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Reviewed

The lucky buggers over at Popular Mechanics recently got their hands on the revised 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. With a larger 4.8-liter, 420 HP engine and modified suspension, they find the $119,500 British sports car to be more refined, more focused, faster, and a welcome antidote to the "stuffy" DB9...if still not quite up there with the Porsche 911. Should you have the means, they highly recommend picking one up, as long as it comes with the optional Sport Pack.

[Popular Mechanics]

1:00 PM on Thu Jul 17 2008
By Wes Siler
1,202 views, 49 comments

Latest by NovaloadMissesPolar: Lovely, but I'm agreed on the color. Needs some depth. I still don't get all the silvery cars out there. "What are the choices?""There's Silver, Antique Silver, Pewter, Mist, Fog, Antique Fog, Silver Fish, Gravel, Rainy Day, Clouds, Cloudy Day, Silver more »

down on the street bonus edition

Forget The British Car Jokes: Panama To Alaska In An Aston Martin!

Imagine driving an Aston Martin or a Lotus from Central America to the Arctic! Impossible, you say? Jalopnik reader Arkyman was in Dawson City, Yukon (the boomtown Jack London made famous more than a century ago) and spotted these heroic Panama To Alaska Rally participants and their British steeds. Jump away to read Arkyman's description.

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4:40 PM on Mon Jul 14 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,478 views, 25 comments

i feel gassy

Prince Charles Converts Aston Martin To Run On Wine

There's rich, and then there's royalty. Lest you confuse the two, consider the fact that Britain's Prince Charles now drives an Aston Martin DB6 fueled by white wine. To be fair, the Prince's Aston actually runs on bioethanol distilled from surplus wine. It turns out EU countries cannot sell more than a set quota of wine, so any excess must be destroyed or turned into something else; motor fuel, for instance. The prince, wanting to do his part for the environment, elected to have his Aston converted to run on the stuff, since its CO2 emissions are 85% lower than those of gasoline. Don't expect this concept to catch on over here in the colonies anytime soon as even the cheapest box of Franzia is still more expensive than a gallon of ~~wine~~ gas. For the moment anyway. [This Is London]

8:45 AM on Tue Jul 1 2008
By Andrew Stoy
4,055 views, 43 comments

Latest by BingleBangleBungle: So, because this photo left me wanting, I went to check out DB6 photos elsewhere, and stumbled across this awesome shooting brake [www.supercars.net] more »

garage419

Garage419 Behind The Scenes At Lime Rock...And Behind The Wheel Of A Vanquish

Matt Farah, host of Garage419, chats it up with Grand Am drivers at Lime Rock Park during the last race on the original historic track surface. That's cool and all, but the footage of Farah blasting through Connecticut in an Aston Martin Vanquish is worth the click.

6:20 PM on Thu Jun 19 2008
By Andrew Stoy
638 views, 12 comments

racing news

Read Our Post About The 24 Hours Of Le Mans, Save 23 Hours And 58 Minutes (Spoilers)

For those who didn't watch the entire 24 Hours Of Le Mans by subsisting on a diet of Bawls and Pop Rocks this weekend, we've got a short wrap-up for you. We'll leave the salient details for below the jump, just in case there are some of you out there that TiVo'd the festivities and are planning to dole out the oil-burning goodness four hours at a time for the next week. Needless to say, some cars won. Others didn't. There was weather. If you want to know more you're going to have to click the button that says "more." More »

12:45 PM on Mon Jun 16 2008
By Matt Hardigree
2,738 views, 16 comments

Latest by n/a: Both Penske cars were invited. If you win the ALMS championship, you get an automatic invite. If you win Petit Le Mans, you also get an automatic invite. Penske won both. They decided not go. more »

choose your eternity

Project Car Hell: R33 Skyline GT-R or Aston Martin Lagonda?

Perhaps it was the terrifying rust coupled with warrior heritage, but somehow an American Hell Project managed to beat an obscure Warsaw Pact convertible in yesterday's Choose Your Eternity poll. Actually, it was a near-tie, but still a triumph for the red-white-and-blue over the, uh, blue-white-and-red. Today we're going to up the price of admission to the Gates Of Project Car Hell, though we've found a couple of high-buck cars available at (what ought to be) reasonable prices. Will you go with Late Malaise British super-luxury or Mangled Super Tokyo Hoonage? It's up to you: buy now, repent at agonizing leisure!
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5:20 PM on Tue Jun 10 2008
By Murilee Martin
6,197 views, 103 comments

Latest by SeanKHotay: As ToneLoc once said:Funky-wheeled A.Martin more »

2010 jaguar xf-r

2010 Jaguar XF-R Spotted Testing In Death Valley, Sporting Vantage Power?

When we last checked in with the 2010 Jaguar XF-R it looked as though there might be a powerful 5.0-liter V8 lurking under the hood. We've seen a lot of the XF-R, as seen below, but the actual motivation has been a point of contention. It is our good fortune then that a Fast Lane Daily source happened to spot a fleet of XF-R engine mules, posing as S-Types, doing some harsh weather testing in Death Valley, California. Witnesses suggested the mules emitted a sound similar to the V8 found in the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. That's not an insane suggestion given that Aston and Jag were under the same roof around the time this vehicle probably began development.

[Fast Lane Daily]

2:20 PM on Mon Jun 2 2008
By Matt Hardigree
2,228 views, 14 comments

Latest by layabout: The front is so fugly. more »

racing news

Aston Martin Preps For Repeat Le Mans Victory, We Gawk At Familiar Colors

As if the pair of victorious Aston Martin DBR9 race cars aren't delicious enough, this year they're rocking Gulf Oil livery. With the 24 Hours Of Le Mans just two weeks away, teams have been testing their cars on La Sarthe in advance of the big day and we've got a batch of photos of cars 009 and, appropriately, 007. In addition to these beauties, Aston Martin is also powering an LMP1 Prototype being entered by Charouz Racing. Photos and press release below.

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10:40 AM on Mon Jun 2 2008
By Matt Hardigree
1,431 views, 18 comments

Latest by Shapeshifter: @Novaload: I'm pretty sure a Gulf colored DBR9 (or any kind of Aston Martin) at LeMons would be cheating, somehow. more »

aston martin v8 vantage

New Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Now With A Little More V8

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is a gorgeous car, but anyone who's ever driven one has always been left with a feeling that the V8's bark was bigger than it's bite. It's more of a show dog than a hunting dog. Sure you could send the Vantage off to Prodrive for some performance tuning, or if you didn't mind sitting around for awhile, you could wait for the mighty V12-powered Vantage RS to come out. But nobody with a need for more speed wants to wait. So now, the old 4.3-liter V8 is being enlarged to a bigger 4.7-liter V8. More »

5:40 PM on Fri May 30 2008
By Mark Arnold
2,856 views, 27 comments

Latest by n/a: @janus12: I was being facetious. It's an insane amount of power. Next time I should do better with the irony. ;) more »

quantum of solace

Daniel Craig Crashes Aston Martin DBS Into Quarry

Filming a sequence that's believed to form the climax of a chase scene for the new Bond film "Quantum of Solace," Daniel Craig and the rest of the Bond crew deliberately crashed an Aston Martin DBS into an Italian quarry. That crash should conclude a 15-minute pre-title credits scene in which Bond is pursued through the Italian Alps by bad guys in Alfa Romeos. All of the previous inadvertent crashes, the degree to which the Aston appears destroyed in these photos and the elaborate filming taking place at dramatic locations across Italy point to this chase sequence being a doozy.

[Via MI6.co.uk]

6:00 AM on Tue May 27 2008
By Wes Siler
5,062 views, 43 comments

Latest by my favorite car is a motorcycle: If Bond is going to smash cars, why couldn't they be BMWs? surely that would have improved their appearance. As much as i hate all things digitally animated, this appears to be one instance where it might have been justified. more »

aston martin rapide

Aston Martin Rapide Captured On Video At Nürburgring

As the development timing of the pending crop of super saloons converges, the Nürburgring is getting crowded these days and the Aston Martin Rapide is one seeing track time. Now it's been snagged on video and it certainly makes a fun sound. From the looks of things, it's going to be quite a battle royal when the Rapide, RS6 Sedan, and Panamera hit the streets. To treat yourself to a lovely auditory assault, head on over to MotorAuthority.

11:00 AM on Fri May 2 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
1,886 views, 20 comments

Latest by NovaloadMissesPolar: So how long is the wait in the on-ramp to the 'Ring these days? Might be easier to report on which cars aren't there. more »

quantum of solace

Second Car Accident Befalls Bond Film Stuntmen

It's not easy being a stuntman on the set of the new James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace." If you'll remember, earlier this week we told you about that stunt driver taking Bond's Aston Martin DBS into the drink (and the subsequent video aftermath) in what's being described as a highly dangerous "delivery-related" stunt. Now they've seen another car accident. Although this time it wasn't the DBS, it was double trouble as two of the men all about stunts were involved. Reportedly,

"the accident happened when the car used by two stuntmen rammed into a filming lorry and then into a wall on set near the picturesque Lake Garda in northern Italy..."

More »

8:40 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Ray Wert
5,304 views, 27 comments

Latest by n/a: Hehe, a lorry's a truck. more »

concept cars

M-Zero Concept Is A Multi-Father Bastard Child

What happens when you combine a BMW 6-series, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin DB9 and a hint of Audi R8? Well, you get the M-Zero, a conceptual design by Maël Oberkampf (and not officially BMW). It's supposed to represent a BMW "synthesis" between some of the luxury manufacturers out there, but it seems predominantly a BMW, most apparent by the badging. The Audi R8 reference comes because that is the look and feel the designer was going for with this design. It's kind of like getting Shakira's ass with Megan Fox's body and Eva Longoria's face.
[Tuvie]

1:00 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Travis Hudson
3,373 views, 30 comments

Latest by rimplestultskin: the front end is not all that great, but the back is pure hotness. more »

offbeat news

The Wreckage Of The HMS Aston Martin DBS

We know this has to be as painful for you to look at as it is for us to write about. Footage has surfaced of James Bond's Aston Martin DBS after the Italian police fished it out of Lake Garda. If you recall, the driver of the car lost control while in transit to the set, sending both he and the car plunging into the murky depths, falling to a depth of 150 ft before our anti-hero was able to rouse himself and make his way, frog-like, to the surface. That sounds like some serious James-Bond-like action, but unfortunately, it won't be relegated to the "bloopers" reel as no one was around to record the action. Well, except for this gruesome post-mortem. Oh Aston Martin DBS, you are beautiful, even in death. [CarDomain Blog]

7:50 PM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
6,837 views, 64 comments

Latest by n/a: Speaking as a diver, if the driver took a breath in the car and headed for the surface from 150ft, the air in his lungs would expand, causing him to either explode on the way up or else hit the more »

novelties

The FabulousTiny Cars of Captain Martin

Sounding as much like a purveyor of alcohol as an automobile, Captain Martin, that's Captain James Vernon Martin to you buddy, was something of a fanatic about micro-cars and did his share of them in the early part of last century. His obsession saw the development of as many as six different tiny cars and the precursor of the Michelin Tweel. Captain Martin's story is told in this interesting four page article from Special Interest Auto and we're wondering if any of these tiny little beasties are still floating around.

[Hemmings Auto Blogs]

4:45 PM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
872 views, 15 comments

Latest by aduthie: @teargas: The Lane Motor Museum built that Stationette, finishing it in time for Amelia Island this year, for the "Cars You Never Knew Existed" category. I'm not sure if they started totally from scratch or not, but to see it more »

news

James Bond's Aston Martin DBS Swan Dives Into Italian Lake

It seems the lusty power of the Aston Martin DBS, a rain-soaked night and an over-zealous stunt driver conspired to result in James Bond's car taking a swim in Lake Garda in Italy. According to the Daily Telegraph, a stunt driver for the latest film Quantum of Solace, lost control while bombing along some narrow roads and managed to fly off the road. While the car was a quantum of sogginess, the driver managed to escape a similarly water-soaked fate, but probably decidedly less marketable as a stunt driver. We're thinking it's excusable to lose a car when you're rehearsing or performing a stunt in front of the camera and crew. It's probably less acceptable when you're merely attempting to deliver the car to the set. Even less acceptable is that it's the only car available for filming.

8:20 AM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
7,070 views, 45 comments

Latest by n/a: a bit late to the party, but it was not the only car nor a stunt driver. [www.autocar.co.uk] Autocar really is quite good for a lot of things, even silly news like this. more »

sultan of brunei

A Garage Fit For a King: The Best Of The Sultan Of Brunei's Amazing Car Collection

Ferrari wagon-izations and hypercars bathed in magnetizing yellow are just a couple hints the Sultan of Brunei is perhaps the most Jalopnik head of state in the whole world. Like us, he seems to have a maddening obsession with odd cars. However, what sets him apart is his seemingly unending pot of money with which to manifest his wildest automotive fantasies. Although word on the streets of Bandar Seri Begawan is his fiscal fortunes have depleted as of late, before he sold off some of his assets, he and his family created what may be the most impressive car collection the world has ever seen. Although we already knew this, it wasn't until we were surfing the pages of our fave super car photo site that we realized the sheer height of awesome the collection truly achieved. Not only did they gather production cars, they commissioned the creation of entirely new models from manufacturers like Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Bentley. Hit the jump as we walk you through the crème de' le' crème of the massive collection of automotive exotica found in the garage of the Sultan of Brunei. More »

12:30 PM on Tue Apr 15 2008
By Mark Arnold
21,691 views, 92 comments

Latest by donkeyassman: The rolls has a backseat big enough to preform an abortion in more »

celebrities

Kobe Bryant Jumps Over Aston Martin?

Say what you will about Kobe Bryant, you can't deny the guy has some serious jumping capability, or "mad hops" as they say. But can he really jump over an Aston Martin DB9 Volante? More importantly, did he actually jump over it, or was it all a slickly edited fake? We're skeptics, but what do you think?
[kb24.com]

10:20 AM on Fri Apr 11 2008
By Mark Arnold
10,293 views, 66 comments

Jalopnik

Production 2010 Chevy Camaro Revealed!

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