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Dany Bahar plans Aston Martin shooting brake at Modena-based tuner

You can't keep a good man down, or so the saying goes. The jury may still be out on whether Dany Bahar was a good thing for the automotive industry – with some portraying him as an overambitious opportunist and others pitting him as a genuine car guy against the bean-counters – but he's not about to stay down for long. Bahar, for those unfamiliar, was a top executive at Red Bull, serving as right-hand man to Dietrich Mateschitz right around the time that the energy drink company was getting into Formula One and NASCAR. He was then poached by Ferrari to serve as its commercial chief and brand director before taking up the reins as CEO of Lotus. Things didn't go quite so well for him there after new owners fired him, accused him of misappropriating company funds and canceling just about every one of his ambitious (or perhaps overambitious) projects to take Lotus into the modern age. But now he's back on his feet. According to Car and Driver, Bahar's new project is a tuning house and coachbuilder called Ares. Similar to an outfit like Mansory (with which Bahar, incidentally, fostered close ties while at Lotus), Ares is out to make high-end vehicles like the Range Rover Sport, Rolls-Royce Wraith and Lamborghini Huracan that much more unique. But the biggest project Ares is planning to undertake is to turn the Aston Martin Rapide S and Bentley Continental GT into shooting brakes for wealthy customers. Ares wouldn't be the first outfit to do so, Bertone having made a wagon version of the Rapide and Touring having offered an extended-roof Continental. But to show he's not messing around, Bahar has assembled a top team at Ares. Wolf Zimmermann, who worked for Mercedes-AMG before becoming Bahar's R&D chief at Lotus, is handling the technical aspects. 24-year-old Romanian designer Mihai Panaitescu, who is said to have worked on those aborted Lotus projects, is handling the style aspect. And the whole outfit is being based in Modena, Italy – the city that is home to outfits like Pagani, Maserati and nearby Ferrari. Predictably enough, Ares will launch initially in China, Russia and the Middle East, but reportedly plans to make it to the US sometime early next year. Featured Gallery 2014 Aston Martin Rapide S: First Drive View 32 Photos News Source: Car and DriverImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Aftermarket Aston Martin dany bahar aston martin rapide s

Jaguar C-X75 and Aston Martin DB10 spied drifting during Spectre shoot

Based on the cars alone, the 24th James Bond film, Spectre, is set to be one of the biggest and most impressive in the long-lived franchise. While we're stuck waiting until November to see the automotive extravaganza on the big screen, a lucky bystander managed to catch two of the movie's four-wheeled stars filming on the streets of Rome. Italian YouTuber Marchettino, well known for his videos from Ferrari's Fiorano test track, caught the video of the Aston Martin DB10 and Jaguar C-X75 filming in the dark of the Roman night, with the Aston sliding its way around a turn and the Jag giving chase. Not surprisingly, the DB10's Vantage-derived V8 features prominently. This is, of course, not the first time news regarding this chase scene has graced our digital pages. Spectre star Daniel Craig sustained a minor injury in the course of this filming, after the DB10 he was riding in hit a pretty significant pothole. We've also caught 007's Aston filming in the UK. News Source: Marchettino via YouTube Celebrities TV/Movies Aston Martin Jaguar Coupe Performance Videos spectre jaguar c-x75 aston martin db10

'Q by Aston Martin' bringing unique creations to Monterey

Want an Aston Martin unlike any other on the road? You'll need to look to Q, and no, we're not talking about the inimitable Desmond Llewelyn. No, we're referring to Aston's in-house customization shop, a one-stop destination that can set your Vantage or Vanquish even further apart from every other vehicle on the road. Aston Martin is bringing four new Q-customized cars to next week's festivities in scenic Monterey, CA, covering the gamut of the brand's portfolio. At the lead is the Aston Martin flagship, the hardtop Vanquish. Finished in an eye-catching – and decidedly un-Aston-like – Abor Orange, the Vanquish boasts unique carbon fiber work, with a twill that's twice the size of your average CF. Inside, a new print has been emblazoned on the Obsidian Black leather, which Aston says is styled after the helix of a carbon molecule. For those who want to stand out and experience the wind in their hair, Q is also bringing out a pair of Aston Martin's Volante variants. The Vanquish Volante wears Frosted Silver paint, 10-spoke alloys and a Chestnut Tan interior. The DB9 Volante, meanwhile, sports perhaps the oddest style of this quartet, with Ashen Blonde exterior paint and, um, a pink interior. It's actually called Blush Pearl, and it's complemented by Piano Ice Mocha on the center stack. Finally, Q has turned its eye on the V12 Vantage S, decking it out in amethyst paint with a Monterey Pearl grille. The cabin sports the same Obsidian Black leather found on the Q-fettled Vanquish, but rather than the helix design, the Vantage S sports bold, Vivid Purple leather accents. The contrasting bits include the seat stripe, headliner, portions of the steering wheel finish and glove box liners. Take a look both up top and below for galleries of all four customized Astons, and then scroll down for the full press release from Aston Martin.