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2017 Aston Martin DB11 First Drive

England's history is filled with war. The last 70-plus years of peace and prosperity are an anomaly. Aston Martin, the nation's only independent carmaker, has similarly weathered strife – often of the financial variety – for most of its existence. Now Aston seeks stability. Its plan calls for new vehicles, a crossover even, and some electric propulsion for good measure. This is still a few years away. To get there, Aston will rely on its specialty, the sports car. Enter the 2017 Aston Martin DB11. While the company transitions, the latest in the DB line is already transformed. It's the successor to the 13-year-old DB9 (the DB10 was James Bond's car in Spectre) and has a new V12 with twin turbos cranking out 600 horsepower. The car is based on a new aluminum architecture that's lighter and stiffer than the DB9's, so the DB11 handles better. Naturally, the design is striking. That's not a cliche. Is all of this enough to sway some Ferrari, Porsche, and Bentley loyalists to Aston's fold? We've come to the gorgeous Italian region of Tuscany to find out. Taking the wheel on a sun-drenched morning, we head for Monte San Savino where a rustic lunch awaits. The V12 immediately grabs our attention. The note is buzzy at first, grows agitated, and then the sound morphs into a growling shout. Naturally aspirated engines are more visceral, but the DB11's turbo 12 is nothing to scoff at. The car sounds best in Sport Plus mode, which gives the engine and eight-speed transmission their most aggressive character. We lay on the throttle and the DB11 shoots forward, its long hood pointing the way through the countryside. The names of the villages roll off the tongue as the signs blur. Montisi. Montalcino. Trequanda. Florence and Pisa lay tantalizingly just outside of our route. Romantic as they sound, it's easy to resist Italy's magic. Its drivers are frickin' crazy. Thankfully, the DB11 has quick reflexes. The steering is moderately weighted, and the suspension stays flat and controlled even when we urge the car aggressively through tight curves. The sticky 20-inch S007 Bridgestone tires stay planted and keep us confident. Things only get unruly during hearty acceleration that causes the tail to come out. It happens rather easily. Most of the time the ride is a comfortable experience, as we expect from a grand tourer. With the sedate GT mode locked in, we examine the cabin. Our DB11 has subdued black leather accented by gold stitching.

2020 Aston Martin DBX pricing, interior revealed

We’ve gotten the rundown on the 2020 Aston Martin DBX's performance specs and heard the sound of its V8, seen the grille and learned about its dog-friendly Pet Pack and other accessories. There's also all those spy shots of mule versions running about. Now we have our first image of the interior and details on pricing of AstonÂ’s first SUV ahead of its Nov. 20 unveiling in Beijing. First up, the price. And it ainÂ’t cheap, but you knew that, because itÂ’s an Aston Martin. The off-road-capable luxury crossover will start at $189,900 here in the United States. That puts it in the rarified air of competitors like the Lamborghini Urus, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and the Bentley Bentayga. For that kind of cheddar, youÂ’d better be riding in style. The interior photo, taken from the rear seat looking forward, shows a butterscotch-colored cabin, with stitched leather seats, what appears to be an Alcantara headliner, backseat climate controls with vents in the center console and on the B-pillars and, up front, a large touchscreen framed in an oval-shaped cluster. Aston says the bridged center console offers storage space below for handbags or other large items. ThereÂ’s also a huge, full-length glass roof and broad side windows, and weÂ’re told — but offered no concrete measurements — of class-leading front and rear legroom, and an abundance of space throughout. Aston says it did extensive customer research and carefully consider the ergonomics needs of a broad range of male and female occupants, with more than six months alone dedicated to determining the exact and best position of the driver within the vehicle and a "Female Advisory Board" to help dictate the layout of dashboard controls. Aston also wants us to know that it gave special consideration to backseat passengers and children. The decision to use an all-new platform and its longer wheelbase allowed designers to optimize cabin space while keeping the low roofline. The DBX will produce 542 horspower and 516 pound-feet of torque from the twin-turbo 4.0-liter borrowed from Mercedes-AMG, making it the most powerful version of the engine used in an Aston. Order books open after the reveal later this month.

Aston Martin building 28 Goldfinger DB5 reproductions — complete with gadgets

The Lego iteration of the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 featured in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger" is a pretty cool toy for any Bond fan, what with its full suite of movie gadgetry. But for the well-heeled 007 fan, Aston Martin has something even more special in store. The car company announced that it will build a grand total of 28 full-size reproductions of the famous movie sports car. It won't simply be a DB5 in the correct color, either. The company is teaming up with the special effects supervisor from the most recent James Bond films, a man who, according to IMDb, has been working on Bond movies at some level since " The Spy Who Loved Me" and was the special-effects supervisor on the the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy and the two latest numbered installments of the " Star Wars" series, to build the cars with "functioning gadgets such as revolving number plates and more." The "and more" part has us particularly intrigued. We imagine the tracking computer and bulletproof shield are simple enough. But the hideaway machine guns and ejector seat might be tricky. Regardless, you won't be able to deploy any of the gadgets on public roads, as Aston Martin explicitly states the cars won't be street legal. We're sure that won't keep Aston from finding buyers for these dream DB5s. The price tag probably won't deter serious buyers, either. The company says each car will sell for 2,750,000 pounds, which comes to $3,510,000 at current exchange rates. Of the 28 cars, 25 will be sold directly to customers. The remaining three will include one for Aston Martin, one for EON Productions, the company that produces Bond movies, and one that will auctioned for charity. Aston estimates the first cars will be delivered in 2020. Related Video: Featured Gallery James Bond's 1964 Aston Martin DB5 View 61 Photos News Source: Aston Martin, IMDbImage Credit: RM Auctions / RM Sotheby's TV/Movies Aston Martin Coupe Special and Limited Editions Classics aston martin db5