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Xcar takes us behind the scenes of Aston Vantage video shoot

Xcar makes some of the best car videos on the internet, which is why we enjoy bringing them to your attention whenever they surface. And if you've taken the time to watch any of them, it probably won't surprise you to find out they don't just come together all on their own. Like any production, the producers at Xcar do their homework, take their time to set up, shoot and reshoot segments, and surely spend plenty of time in post-production as well. It's a labor of love, but as you can see from this latest "behind the scenes" video, it's not always pleasant. This video shows us what it was like to put together the video with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster released a couple of months ago. The talents behind the video series took the unusual decision of filming the drop-top supercar in the sleet and snow of the Welch countryside, enduring some punishing conditions in the process... but it all proved worth the effort for the video that resulted.

Aston Martin seeks ‘big brother’ despite first profit in years, IPO talk

Aston Martin just reported that it earned $121 million (or GBP87 million) in 2017, its first profit in eight years, and it's preparing for a possible initial public offering, eyeing a valuation as high as $6.95 billion (GBP5 billion). It has a strategy to begin converting its fleet to hybrid and electric powertrains. Nevertheless, the low-volume British luxury marque says it needs a helping hand to survive the wave of autonomous driving technology sweeping the automotive industry. CEO Andy Palmer tells Bloomberg it's looking for a "big brother" partner to help it with the billions of dollars in capital requirements posed by the dawn of driverless cars. "We are making a new kind of company, a company that can survive on 7,000 to 14,000 very highly priced, very profitable cars a year, but it can survive because of its partnerships," Palmer told Bloomberg TV. "It can be very profitable on that 7,000 to 14,000 cars a year but only by having a big brother that can help it out." Palmer said Aston Martin already has a partnership with Daimler AG, which owns a 5-percent stake in the company, to develop autonomous capabilities, but more help is needed. One assumes he is envious of competitors like Rolls-Royce and Bentley, which benefit from the corporate parentage and financial resources of BMW and Volkswagen, respectively. Sales grew 48 percent in 2017 to nearly 5,100 units, Aston's highest sales volume in nine years, on the strength of the DB11 sports car, which starts at $211,995. It was enough for Palmer to proclaim in a release, "The financial turnaround of Aston Martin is now complete." While it shops around for a sugar daddy, Aston Martin is busy building a new factory in Wales, set to open in 2019. It has launched new models like the DB11 Volante and Vantage, plus the limited-production DB4 GT Continuation model. Further out, the company is building 155 examples of its first electric car, the RapidE, due in 2019, and it's developing an electric version of the DBX crossover, also for 2019. Palmer has said Aston Martin will offer all six of its vehicles in hybrid variants by 2025, with 25 percent of its vehicles to be fully electric by the end of the 2020s. Related Video: Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Autonomous Vehicles Electric Luxury aston martin rapide aston martin vantage aston martin db11 aston martin dbx aston martin db11 volante

'Top Gear' takes us inside the Aston Martin Project 003

"Top Gear" magazine's Jack Rix might be the ideal lad to lock in a room with a cool car and a camera. After taking us on tours of the Mercedes-AMG One and Honda Urban EV concept, he's wandered into another anteroom with the Aston Martin Project 003 and Vanquish. When we saw the mid-engined coupes at the Geneva Motor Show, it looked like Aston Martin programmed the Valkyrie family's design language to "softer" on the RMB-003 and "softest" for the Vanquish. We wanted more details. Cue Mr. Rix. The deputy editor fills us in on trivia like the combined weight of the Project 003 headlights and taillights being less than the weight of a single DB11 headlight. He also shows us how the NASA-aided FlexFoil wing works, and where the potential rear-view cameras would be mounted. Then he gets inside an interior that's "a bit more civilized" than that on the Valkyrie for not putting hip level beneath knee level. However, notice that here, too, the seat is built into the carbon fiber tub — the end of the seat bolster is flush with the footwell. And check out those vents that triple as speakers and ambient lighting. Rix can only walk around the Vanquish, since that car's not due until 2022, a year after the Project 003. Nevertheless, there are plenty of Easter eggs to share, like how design elements from front-engined Aston Martins have been integrated throughout the mid-engined bodywork. As a bonus feature, Aston Martin has taken a separate look at Valkyrie development through the eyes of high-performance test driver Chris Goodwin. The racer explains how he's using the Red Bull Formula 1 team's simulator to tune the Valkyrie road car's handling, active suspension, and aerodynamic systems. Goodwin was McLaren Automotive's test driver and worked on the Speedtail, so it could mean something when he says of the Valkyrie, "It's going to be a substantial gap between this car and what's currently available on the market."