03 Aston Martin Vanquish Only 36k Miles Gps Sport Seats Premium Sound In Az on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin One-77 designer gives back to teacher who changed his life

It's a pretty fair bet that we've all had "that" teacher. The educator that stood out above all the others while we were in school and not only taught us, but made us into a better person – our very own Mr. Feeny, Mr. Belding, Mr. Holland or even Mr. Miyagi. The Windsor Star has the story of one such teacher and her troubled student that went on to help design some of the most desirable cars in the auto industry. Karlene Berry spent 30 years as a teacher, and among her many, many students is Michael Lehti, the product of a broken home and self-described has having "never been the greatest academic." What Lehti could do, though, was design cars. With the help of Berry's class, he overcame his early obstacles and went on to work with the design team on the Aston Martin One-77 (pictured above) and the RUF CTR3, among other vehicles. With Lehti and Benson's old school closing, the pupil reached out to his teacher 32 years after graduation to say "thanks" and pay tribute for her impact on his life. Head on over to The Windsor Star, and check out this inspiring story. Featured Gallery Aston Martin One-77 News Source: The Windsor StarTip: Mike Read This Aston Martin aston martin one-77

Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato expected to fetch over $16M

Classic car collectors will want to head to New York on December 10. That's where RM Sotheby's will be holding its Driven by Disruption sale, with some of the most desirable pieces of automotive history on the docket. And arguably the most tempting of them is the 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato pictured here. The start of a long and distinguished partnership between Aston Martin and Zagato, the DB4 GT is considered by many (ourselves included) to be one of the most beautiful automobiles ever made. You can judge for yourself after looking over the images in the gallery above. Only 19 were originally made, of which this, the 14th example, was the only one delivered new to Australia. After undergoing a complete restoration in 2002, chassis number DB4GT/0186/R won first-in-class awards at both Pebble Beach and Villa d'Este. RM hasn't published pre-sale estimates for how much it expects to get for this one, but in correspondence with Autoblog, a spokesperson for the auction house revealed that "it is expected to fetch in excess of $16 million USD when it crosses the podium in December." That would eclipse by order of magnitude the prices fetched at auction for previous examples in recent years, which (according to the records at Sports Car Market) have traded hands for around $2.5 million. Of course, the Aston isn't the only classic automobile consigned for the event. With two months still to go before the auction takes place, RM has confirmed a 1955 Siata 208S Spider that's expected to fetch upwards of $1.5 million, a '53 Ferrari 250 Europa (~$4 million), and a '38 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante (>$2 million). Fans of more modern and rare equipment, however, may be more enticed by the Lamborghini Concept S previously announced for the auction, expected to go for as much as $3 million.

Aston Martin recalling majority of cars built since late 2007 over counterfeit Chinese parts

Back in June 2013, Aston Martin recalled just under 700 vehicles over faulty throttle arms that could break without warning. Bad news, for sure – and things just got a whole lot worse. According to Reuters, the British luxury brand now needs to recall 17,590 vehicles due to counterfeit plastic materials being used by a Chinese sub-supplier – that's roughly 75 percent of the company's output over the same period. Basically, here's how it boils down: with the exception of the Vanquish, Aston Martin will recall all left-hand-drive vehicles built since November 2007, and all right-hand-drive cars built since May 2012. Just as we told you in the recall notice from 2013, the accelerator arms in these cars may fracture, increasing the risk of a crash. Shenzhen Kexiang Mould Tool Co Limited, a Chinese company that molds the accelerator pedal arms in these affected models, was using counterfeit plastics, according to Reuters. These bad plastics were supplied by Synthetic Plastic Raw Material Co Ltd, of Dongguan. An Aston Martin spokesperson tells Reuters that there have been no reports of accidents or injuries in conjunction with this problem.