2006 Aston Martin Db9 on 2040-cars

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How to lease an Aston Martin for $1,900 a month, but drive it for free

A sad fact of life is that we can't always get what we want, but that doesn't mean it hurts to dream. For many drivers that yearning is for an exotic sports car that rests well outside their financial grasp. Aston Martin seems to be taunting those folks now with a way that makes the company's luxury GTs seem just a little more attainable. Ally Financial is the brand's new lease partner, and one of the announced deals offers a new V12 Vantage S coupe for $1,900 a month. For that money, customers get a vehicle capable of reaching 60 miles per hour in a scant 3.7 seconds thanks to a 6.0-liter V12 making 565 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque with a seven-speed automated manual gearbox. Still, $1,900 a month is hardly a bargain for most people, especially for a leased vehicle that eventually needs to be turned in. In fact the deal works out to $22,800 a year or about $63 a day. Of course, getting the chance to drive a V12 Vantage S for a little while might make the money worth it. That got us thinking: how could we offset the cost of this lease? There's a company called RelayRides that's essentially Airbnb for cars. People list vehicles, set a price, and the company covers the insurance. The renter is even supposed to replace any used gas, which might be a lot with the V12 Vantage. After browsing the service, normal transportation seems to hover around $50 a day, but high-end rides can go for a lot more. We found examples like a 2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class for $135, a 2013 Tesla Model S for $199, a 2006 Porsche 911 for $189, and a 2012 Cayman for $195. You can probably see where we are going with this: rent the Vantage to recoup some (or all) of the monthly payment. Hiring out the Aston Martin every day seems highly unlikely, and in that case you never get to drive. Instead, offer it at $190. Clearly, the coupe's not alone in this price range, and the Vantage only needs to be out of your hands for 10 days a month to repay itself. For the rest of the time, you're behind the wheel. Obviously this is not any kind of financial advice. Depending on the popularity of RelayRides in a given area, an owner might be forking over the whole month's $1,900 to Aston Martin. Explain in Comments, if you can think of any other legal ways to use the Vantage to pay back it's monthly lease.

Alfa Romeo 8C and GTV: Classic names revived as high-powered hybrids

BOLOCCO, Italy — There were grand plans for Alfa Romeo at FCA's last five-year plan. By 2018, we were supposed to get eight new products, including a new "specialty" vehicle. In reality, we've gotten the Giulia and Stelvio. At this year's follow-up, Alfa Romeo brand head Tim Kuniskis called the last plan ambitious, but he offered a new vision that was both more realistic and more far-reaching. Beyond doubling down on utility and electrified vehicles, by 2022 Alfa has plans to revive both the 8C and GTV names as high-performance hybrids. Since 2014, Alfa sales are up 160 percent, with an estimated 170,000 vehicles to be sold in 2018. The North American market counts for 16 percent of that, up from nothing back in 2013. Future products will focus on Alfa's current strengths: styling and performance. Look for new compact and full-size utility vehicles to slot on each side of the Stelvio. Plans for a larger sedan seemed to have been nixed, though a long-wheelbase version of the Giulia will make it to the ever-increasing Chinese market. The most exciting news obviously comes from the return of the 8C supercar and GTV sports car. We have few details, but what we do know looks promising. The 8C will use a carbon-fiber chassis with a mid-mounted twin-turbo V6. More than 700 horsepower will be sent to all four wheels thanks to an electrically-driven front axle. The car should hit 62 mph in fewer than 3 seconds. The GTV will be slightly more tame, though Alfa is promising more than 600 horsepower from its hybrid powertrain. The four-seater will also have all-wheel drive, torque vectoring and a 50/50 weight distribution. The brief teaser image shows a car that looks like a two-door Giulia, though it's unclear if we'll actually get a new coupe. Electrification, autonomy and connectivity are coming, too. Obviously, the 8C and GTV will get electrified powertrains, but look for each Alfa Romeo model to have some sort of electrification available. Look for six plug-in hybrids with all-electric ranges of more than 30 miles. Level 2 and 3 autonomous systems are coming, too. Related Video: Design/Style Earnings/Financials Green Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Coupe Crossover SUV Hybrid Luxury Performance Supercars FCA alfa romeo 8c

U.S. issues new tariff threat, this time against British-built cars

WASHINGTON — Britain is the United States' closest ally but their long friendship may be sorely tested as the two countries try to forge a new trade agreement after Britain's exit from the European Union. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday in London that he was optimistic that a bilateral deal with Britain could be reached as soon as this year. But Mnuchin gave up no ground after a second meeting with his UK counterpart, Sajid Javid. Javid has insisted that Britain will proceed with a unilateral digital services tax, despite a U.S. threat to levy retaliatory tariffs on British-made autos. Mnuchin told reporters after Saturday's meeting that such taxes would discriminate against big U.S. tech companies like Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The UK Treasury declined to comment on the private meeting. The divide highlights the challenges ahead as the Trump administration seeks a new bilateral agreement with Britain, part of a broader push to rebalance relations with nearly all its major trading partners. The stakes are high — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pegged the trade deal with United States as a way to ease the pain of breaking with Europe, Britain's largest trade partner. U.S. President Donald Trump, has promised a "massive" trade deal to support Brexit, the product of a populist movement similar to his "America First" agenda. The goodwill and special relationship the two countries have enjoyed for decades may not count for much, experts say. "Trump is not going to be doing Johnson any favors," said Amanda Sloat, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington. "He's not going to give him a trade deal without major concessions." Even before the digital tax issue arose, the Trump administration threatened to tax foreign car imports, which could hit British-made Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, and Honda Civic hatchback cars. Stiff U.S. trade demands include increased access for U.S. farm goods, concessions that will be difficult for Britain's entrenched natural food culture to swallow. The United States also wants Britain to change the way its National Health Service prices drugs and allow in more U.S. pharmaceuticals, which could prove politically unpopular for Johnson's government. Washington's demand that London block Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for national security reasons could also cloud talks.