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Aston Martin has a second mid-engined car coming

Aston Martin is expanding its exotic car horizons beyond GT cars into the realm of mid-engined sports cars. We're not talking about the upcoming Valkyrie hypercar, though. Instead, we're talking about a more mainstream mid-engined supercar designed to take on the Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Huracan, and McLaren 720S. Andy Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin, stated this specifically when discussing future product plans with Auto Express. According to Auto Express, Palmer said the car will be a competitor the 488, and will launch in 2020 as part of a plan to release a new model every year from now until 2023. Before the mid-engined car will be the rest of Aston's new GT line and the DBX crossover, and following the Ferrari fighter will be a pair of Lagonda models and the DB12. The 2020 launch date is a full year sooner than we were expecting for a sub-Valkyrie mid-engined car. Palmer cites a few reasons for going mid-engined. He explained that it's the segment standard, and that it's ideal for weight distribution. He also noted that going mid-engined will help bridge the gap between the top-tier Vanquish GT car and the Valkyrie. That's a gap with loads of room for another model, too, since the Vanquish will likely be comparable to the Ferrari F12berlinetta, which costs a bit over $300,000. The Valkyrie, on the other hand, will go for $3 million and have performance comparable to the LaFerrari and the Koenigsegg One:1. Related Video:

James Bond's Goldfinger Aston Martin still missing after 17 years

James Bond is inextricably linked with British motoring, especially Aston Martin, but the spy with a license to kill is missing one of his most famous cars. The original DB5 packed with gadgets for the movie Goldfinger has been lost for the last 17 years with no leads as to its whereabouts. This year is the 50th anniversary of the original release of Goldfinger – the third film that came out in the James Bond series. The movie was a smashing success in its day and forged the connection between the super spy and Aston Martin. After all, the car was every little boy's dream with machine guns in the front fenders, tire cutters in the wheels, an ejector seat and other amazing gadgets. After it's life on the big screen, the original gadget car eventually ended up in Boca Raton, FL, at least until 1997. That's when a real-life Auric Goldfinger heisted the DB5, and it hasn't been seen since. A recent report from WPTV from West Palm Beach, FL, talked to people from the area familiar with the caper and its status today. Assuming the car is still intact, Bond's Aston Martin would likely be worth several million dollars on the open market these days. For example, a DB5 that appeared in Goldfinger and Thunderball sold in 2010 at auction for $4.6 million. Check out the video for the full story on this long lost movie star.

Aston Martin recalls 7,000+ vehicles over seat heaters

We've seen vehicles being recalled for all sorts of reasons: ignitions switching off, airbags inflating prematurely, brake lines leaking fluid... but this latest one from Aston Martin is for the seat heater. So what, rich folks won't be able to drive their Volantes with the roof down when it gets cold, you say? Tragic though that would surely be, we're afraid this problem lies at the opposite end of the spectrum: seat heaters that won't turn off. The danger that poses, according to the statement below from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is that the seats could start to smolder. And that doesn't sound like fun. The issue affects just about the entire Aston range, including the DB9, DBS, Virage, V8 Vantage and V12 Vantage, covering the 2006-2014 model years and manufactured between July 3, 2006 and November 5, 2014. That's pretty much everything Aston makes, save for the four-door Rapide, the newer Vanquish, the rare One-77 and the overseas-only Cygnet. So you'd figure that would add up to a lot of vehicles, and we suppose it does, considering the niche market in which Aston competes. All told, the recall affects an estimated 7,256 units across the United States, the owners of which will need to bring their luxury GTs into their local dealer to have an additional circuit module installed that will cut the power to the seat heaters in case the control module fails. Featured Gallery 2013 Aston Martin DB9: Review View 28 Photos News Source: National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Recalls Aston Martin Convertible Coupe Luxury Performance aston martin v8 vantage aston martin db9 aston martin v12 vantage seat heaters