2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Base Hatchback 2-door 4.3l on 2040-cars

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Vanquish 60th anniversary model has knobs made from classic Aston Martins

To celebrate 60 years at Newport Pagnell, Aston Martin Works is producing six different takes on the Aston Martin Vanquish in conjunction with personalization arm Q by Aston Martin, each themed to one of the previous six decades. The collectibles will come in coupe and convertible forms and wear exterior features that immediately identify them as anniversary cars, but their finest detail is in the cockpit: the metal for the console knob bezels will come from pistons taken out of six Aston Martins built in Newport Pagnell over the past 60 years. The first has been shown at the company's Christmas gathering for customers, and it represents the most recent decade, 2005 to 2015; its knob bezels come from pistons that once did duty in an original Vanquish. Working backwards through time, the remaining five cars will be ornamented by pistons from a V8 Vantage supercharged, a V8 Vantage X-pack, a V8 Coupe, a DB5 and a DB 2/4 Mk II saloon. One of the bezels in each car will be inscribed with the relevant model, the other bezels will feature 60th anniversary text. Elsewhere around the offerings, each will be ornamented with Anniversary Yellow side strakes and wheels, heavy weave carbon fiber, the Q symbol on the fenders, the new Aston Martin Works 60th Anniversary logo embroidered into its leather and embossed on its sideplates and duotone seats with yellow cross stitching. You must apply to the Works department to ascertain the price, or you can head below to read the press release, which is free. ASTON MARTIN WORKS 60TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION VANQUISH - Six bespoke models celebrate Aston Martin Works' 60th anniversary - Cars incorporate aluminium from Aston Martin pistons of relevant eras - Unique colour and trim treatments ensure ultimate exclusivity 12 December 2014, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire: Aston Martin Works – which marks its diamond jubilee in 2015 – is celebrating 60 glorious years at Newport Pagnell with the commissioning of six limited edition sports cars. The first of the cars is being revealed today, Friday December 12, at the Buckinghamshire-based firm's customer Christmas celebration, which also forms the start of 12 months of exciting anniversary activity at Aston Martin Works. The six bespoke cars, all versions of the current Vanquish super GT in either Coupe or Volante form, are being created in association with the luxury British brand's Gaydon-based design team, and its ultimate personalisation service: Q by Aston Martin.

Everybody's doing flying cars, so why aren't we soaring over traffic already?

"Where's my flying car?" has been the meme for impending technology that never materializes since before there were memes. And the trough of disillusionment for vehicles that can take to sky continues to nosedive, despite a nonstop fascination with flying cars and a recent rash of announcements about the technology, particularly from traditional automakers. Earlier this month, Toyota applied for an eye-popping patent for a flying car that has wheels with spring-loaded pop-out helicopter rotors. The patent filing says the wheels/rotors would be electrically powered, while in on-land mode the vehicle would have differential steering like tracked vehicles such as tanks and bulldozers. At an airshow in July, Aston Martin unveiled its Volante Vision Concept, an autonomous hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle it developed with Rolls-Royce. Aston says the Volante can fly at top speeds of around 200 mph and bills it as a luxury car for the skies. Audi used the Geneva Motor Show in March to unveil a flying car concept called the Pop.Up Next it developed with Airbus and Italdesign. If the Pop.Up Next, an electric and autonomous quadcopter/city car combo, gets stuck in traffic, an app can be used to summon an Airbus-developed drone to pick up the passenger compartment pod, leaving the chassis behind. Audi said that the Pop.Up Next is a "flexible on-demand concept that could open up mobility in the third dimension to people in cities." But Audi also acknowledged that at this point it has no plans to develop it. The cash-stoked, skies-the-limit Silicon Valley tech crowd is also bullish on flying cars. The startup Kitty Hawk that's backed by Google co-founder Larry Page announced in June that it's taking pre-orders for its single-seat electric Flyer that's powered by 10 propellers and is capable of vertical takeoffs and landings. The current version can only fly up to 20 mph and 10 feet in the air and has a flight time of just 12 to 20 minutes on a full charge. The Flyer is considered a recreational vehicle, so doesn't require a pilot's license. Uber says it plans to launch its more ambitious Elevate program and UberAIR service in 2023. "Uber customers will be able to push a button and get a flight on-demand with uberAIR in Dallas, Los Angeles and a third international market," Uber Elevate promises on its website.

Xcar tackles winter in an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster

The Aston Martin Vantage has an unusually long history, characterized by constant improvement. It was introduced ten years ago with a V8. Two years later Aston shoehorned in its ubiquitous V12, and more than five years after that, it upped the output. All the while it's offered Roadster versions of each iteration until we ended up with the fastest convertible the company had ever made. The resulting Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster will reach a highway gallop by the time you've finished pronouncing its full name, but exciting as it is, the prospect of driving a soft-top convertible channeling 565 horsepower through the rear wheels in the snow is, well... let's just say that, while such a car would be near the top of our list in most situations, it wouldn't be our first choice for winter transportation. That hasn't deterred the team at Xcar from taking on a British winter in this ludicrous drop-top. What they found was a roadster that's anything but perfect, but one they're glad exists – even if there are better choices for snowy climes.