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Aston Martin finally drops the veil on its new Lagonda sedan

Aston Martin has finally released the floodgates, delivering official images of the all-new Lagonda sedan, the company's latest expression of its long-serving VH architecture and 6.0-liter V12. Set for an extremely limited production, the hand-built Lagonda's William Towns-inspired, carbon-fiber exterior has been a point of conversation since the new sedan first crept in front of a camera's lens some four months ago. While that evolved exterior isn't exactly new, we are getting our very first look at the Lagonda's beautifully crafted cabin. Aston Martin's Q branch had a big hand in the cabin work, adding wide swaths of leather and elaborate hand-stitching to the Rapide-based interior. Unlike the Rapide, though, those rear thrones look considerably more accommodating, particularly in regards to rear headroom. From a performance perspective, we have it on good authority that the Lagonda is currently exceeding 175 miles per hour in testing and that this first production model weighs no more than the Rapide, which we're guessing is thanks to the aforementioned carbon-fiber body. The first deliveries of the Lagonda are slated to begin during the first quarter of 2015. We're hoping we'll have much more info as that date approaches. Until then, we have ten images of the new Lagonda, several of which feature the beautiful, Q-spec interior. Have a look and then head down to Comments and let us know what you think.

2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S coming to US with manual

A few years back, the lovely Aston Martin V12 Vantage was available with an honest-to-goodness six-speed manual transmission. It was capable of instilling serious cognitive dissonance. "If I sell the cars, the furniture, and remortgage the house twice ..." That sort of thing. The package is back, in a sense. For the 2017 model year, Aston will produce the V12 Vantage S with a seven-speed manual transmission. And not the automated manual business supplied by Graziano, that has attracted my ire for being about as subtle as a kick in the pants. There's a human-operated clutch and a proper manual lever. It gets better, at least if you're a manual-transmission geek. Aston fitted a dogleg box to this car, meaning first gear is to the left and down, below reverse and where second gear would sit in a traditional H-pattern floor shifter. Less traditional is the throttle-blipping function, which will make downshifts smoother for those unable or unwilling to heel-toe. If AMSHIFT, which is Graydon's code-word for the system, is not your thing it can be disabled or used in any driving mode. More good news: there's no real penalty for choosing the manual over the Sportshift III transmission. The two cars are mechanically the same, offer the same performance metrics and top speed, and are offered at the same basic price. New for 2017 but not exclusive to the manual are many exterior and interior cosmetic options, like brightly-colored exterior accents, in line with Aston's recent styling trends. As the subtitle suggests, there is a serious catch for Americans. It's not that we won't get the V12-manual combination – we will! – it's just that there won't be very many of them. It'll be a no-cost option in the rest of the world. If you want one, let's hope you've stopped reading this article the first few lines and hopped on the phone with your local Aston dealer to get a place on what looks like a very short list. Related Video:

Aston Martin losses shrink, still amount to nearly $10k per car

Aston Martin's current lineup may be the best it's ever been, but that doesn't mean the automaker is making money off its Vantage, DB9, Vanquish and Rapide dream machines. In fact, the company lost $41 million in 2013, but that pretax figure is actually a third lower than in 2012. Revenue was up a promising 12.6 percent, according to Reuters. The Kuwaiti-owned British manufacturer blames its losses on the still troubled global economy, acknowledging that it's seen a small recovery in the ultra-high-end segment of the market. Global sales were up from 3,800 to 4,200 in 2013. To put it all in perspective, $41 million in losses on 4,200 units works out to around $9,700 lost per vehicle sold. That's no way to run a railroad. While the company's CFO, Hanno Kirner, told Reuters the company is hoping for a big bounceback by 2016, Aston's fortunes in the United States remain uncertain due to a new federal side-impact standards. The company has filed for exemption, although the jury is still out on the success of that petition.