13 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Sportpack Manual Transmission on 2040-cars

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2012 Pebble Beach Concept Car Lawn offers a tutorial in cars to come

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is a showcase for some of the world's most exquisite vintage vehicles, but if newer metal is more your speed, the Concept Car Lawn is the place to be.
This year saw models from Bugatti, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley as well as SRT, Hennessey, Infiniti and Lexus among others. The ultimate sampler platter of exotic and concept vehicles saw the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse mingle with the Lamborghini Urus Concept and the mighty Hennessey Venom GT, though we found ourselves particularly smitten with the BMW Zagato Roadster and the Aston Martin Vanquish.
Not that we could go wrong anywhere we looked. The 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed seemed perfectly content parked on the manicured putting green, as did the McLaren MP4-12C Spider. Get cozy with the full gallery below to see the smattering of metal on the lawn.

Aston Martin wants to be the Hermes of the car world

Aston Martin doesn't want its wealthy potential customers to perceive the brand as just another sports car maker. The company wants to transform those perceptions so that buyers see its products as luxury goods on par with high-end accessories. If this change can successfully bring in more cash, the business could consider an initial public offering in the coming years. "We seek to position ourselves as the automotive equivalent of Hermes, not as the counterpart of Ferrari." CEO Andy Palmer explained the change to Bloomberg, referencing the boutique French brand. The desire to change buyer impressions comes as Aston Martin pivots away from a focus predominantly on sports cars and more towards high-performance luxury vehicles. For example, the company already has sedans in the lineup like the Rapide and Lagonda Taraf. The future range will also reportedly include an electric Rapide and another Lagonda. The production version of the DBX crossover (concept above) will add one more segment around 2019. However, Aston Martin won't completely abandon coupes because the DB11 will arrive in 2016, and a new Vanquish and Vantage will eventually follow. For Aston Martin to have a future, Palmer believes the company needs to look in new directions, especially with models like the DBX. According to Bloomberg, execs there hope that appealing to more customers could help the business see a net profit in the next three years, which hasn't happened since 2010. To save even more money going forward, the business recently cut 15 percent of its workforce mostly from white collar employees. Featured Gallery Aston Martin DBX: Monterey 2015 View 16 Photos News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Aston Martin Crossover Luxury Performance Sedan aston martin rapide aston martin lagonda aston martin dbx

2017 Aston Martin Model Year Preview and Updates

In 2017, more than 100 years after the Aston brand was first launched, the upscale maker of British grand tourers is so much more than that 'Bond car'. The Vantage remains the choice of drivers with a penchant for track days, while the Vanquish, Rapide S and DB11 (photo above) are for those vacillating between a car and a turboprop. ASTON MARTIN DB11: An all-new replacement for the ancestral DB9, Aston's high-performance Grand Tourer features a new twin-turbo V12, of-this-century angularity and an all-digital dash. RAPIDE S: Aston's svelte four door coupe receives new infotainment and satellite navigation. VANQUISH: Only minor trim changes for 2017. The two-door GT continues to rely on a normally aspirated V12. V-8 VANTAGE: A production run of 100 GTS-badged V-8s will be built, foretelling the end of the run for Aston's most accessible model. V-12 VANTAGE: Aston's tightly-drawn GT is now available with a seven-speed manual.