2009 Aston Martin Vantage Mansory Package Automatic 2-door Coupe on 2040-cars

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Win an Aston Martin Vantage GT Roadster from Daniel Craig and a bunch of puppies

Puppies! Oh, and Daniel Craig. Minus a few barks and whimpers, he's the one doing all the talking in the video above. Maybe you should listen to what he has to say – as the actor currently playing James Bond, the man knows a thing or two about Aston Martins. And he's offering to give away one lovely, lightly customized Vantage GT Roadster along with an all-expenses-paid trip for you and a friend to meet him at some undisclosed location. Cool stuff. The deal is part of a promotion from Omaze, the same fundraising outfit that made a bunch of money for the Paul Walker Foundation last year. As was the case with that promotion, you have to make a donation in order to be in the running to win the Aston Martin. This time, the charity is the United Nations Mine Action Service, which works in 18 countries and territories around the world "to reduce the threat and impact of landmines and other explosive hazards." Sounds like a worthy cause to us. The more money you donate, the more times you're entered into the raffle to win the car and a whole host of other prizes. All the details can be found here, but only if you can manage to pry your eyes away from the adorable little Golden Retriever puppies in the video up above... Good luck. Related Video:

So we think the Aston Martin DB11 Volante is coming in Spring 2018

Most automakers go out of their way to disguise new cars. There's camouflage and body cladding and if a spy photographer does get close enough to get a snap, engineers usually greet them with certain hand gestures. Aston Martin is not most automakers – instead of hiding the new DB11 Volante, it headed to the Arctic Circle in an undisguised car with a "DB11 – Opening Spring 2018" sign on each door. Subtle, guys. The new images of the droptop DB11 should assuage the emotions of critics of the hardtop model's odd roofline. The addition of a fabric softtop improves the car's look immeasurably, giving it a much more conventional profile. Where the sloping, floating roof on the DB11 coupe fights for visual attention with the rear haunches, the convertible top is innocuous, blending in favorably with the strong line over the rear wheels. We can't wait to see this car with its roof down, because it will look stunning. But as is the case with most convertibles, the roofline is the only place where changes happen. Below the beltline, the Volante shares its fascia and, rather unfortunately its weird side vent, with the hardtop model. And of course, the droptop is also sharing its engine with the coupe. We expect the same 5.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V12 and eight-speed automatic when the DB11 Volante debuts. Normally, this is the point in a spy photo story where we'd speculate about when and where a new car will debut. But since Aston Martin helpfully scrawled part of that info on the side of the car, it's not really necessary. The Aston Martin DB11 Volante will debut in spring of 2018, a period that lines up neatly with the Geneva Motor Show. Related Video:

UK car output falls 14% in March, may get worse with no-deal Brexit

LONDON — British car output fell for the 10th month in a row in March, hit by a slowdown in key foreign markets, and the sector stands to suffer a lot more if the country leaves the European Union without a deal, an industry body said on Tuesday. Output tumbled by an annual 14.4 percent to 126,195 cars in March, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Exports, which account for nearly four out of every five cars made in Britain, were down by 13.4 percent. The SMMT said analysis it had commissioned predicted output would fall this year to 1.36 million units from 1.52 million in 2018, assuming London can secure a transition deal with the EU. If Britain has to rely instead on World Trade Organization rules for its trade with the bloc, which include import tariffs, output is forecast to fall by around 30 percent to 1.07 million units in 2021, returning to mid-1980s levels, the SMMT said. The forecasts were produced for SMMT by AutoAnalysis, a consultancy. Prime Minister Theresa May has secured a delay to the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31, giving her more time to try to break an impasse in parliament over the terms of Britain's departure from the EU. Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt traveled to Japan earlier this month to try to persuade the Japanese government and Toyota, which has a big presence in Britain, that London was determined to avoid a no-deal Brexit. "Just a few years ago, industry was on track to produce 2 million cars by 2020 — a target now impossible with Britain's reputation as stable and attractive business environment undermined," SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said. "All parties must find a compromise urgently so we can set about repairing the damage and diverting energy and investment to the technological challenges that will define the future of the global industry." (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)