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Is your new-car warranty good at the race track?

We've all heard the horror stories. Your buddy knows a girl that was dating a guy whose best friend's brother once broke his brand-new, recently purchased performance car while making runs at a drag strip or laps at a track day, and the manufacturer wouldn't cover the repair under warranty. True story? Urban legend? Complete crap? Yes, no, maybe. One thing's for sure: Automotive warranties have always come with caveats. In 1908, an ad in the Trenton Evening Times clearly stated: "All Ford Cars Guaranteed for One Year." Although it changed over time, by 1925 the Ford New Car Guarantee only covered 90 days on material and 30 days on labor, and it clearly stated that that there was "No guarantee whatever on Fan Belts, Glass, Bulbs, Wiring, Transmission, Bands, Hose Connections, Commutator Shells, Rollers, Spark Plugs or Gaskets." Whether or not Ol' Henry would pay to fix your Model T if you broke it shaving a tenth off your lap time at the local board track seems to be lost to history. We're guessing no. But what about today? Do new-car warranties in 2017 cover cars when they are driven on race tracks? We researched the warranties of 14 auto brands to find out, and the answer is yes, no, maybe, depending on the brand, in some cases the model, and whether or not your car is modified from stock. Acura has been out of the high-performance car game for a number of years, but jumps back into the party in 2017 with its hybrid-powered $173,000 NSX supercar. And Acura's warranty, as well as Honda's, clearly states that it does not cover "the use of the vehicle in competition or racing events." View 33 Photos So we asked Sage Marie, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Honda and Acura. "If the car is stock, the warranty covers it on a track just as it does on the street. No question," he told us. "However, if the car is modified, say with slick tires or other components that would put higher stresses on the vehicle's parts and systems, then we would have to investigate the circumstances further." Marie went on to say the same would be true for any Acura model or Honda vehicle, including the new 2017 Honda Civic Si. This became a common theme. Chevrolet actually started this practice with the fifth-generation Camaro on the high-performance ZL1 and Z/28 models.

Aston Martin says Alabama is 'obvious choice' for US plant

Aston Martin is gearing up to be the next foreign automaker to build an assembly plant in the United States – and it looks like it'll be in Alabama. Speaking with Automotive News Europe, company CEO Andy Palmer said that he and his team will make a decision on the prospect of building its second factory, and that the Yellowhammer State was the "obvious choice" for its location. The possibility first came up on our radar last month, after Aston reportedly held discussions with representatives of state governments in the South. The plant would be earmarked to handle production of the DBX. Slated to be the company's first crossover, it was previewed in concept form at the Geneva show in March. "Our principal customers will be in the United States and China," Palmer said to ANE. However, the US would apparently be preferable to building a plant in China, from which it would be more difficult to export vehicles to other markets and where Aston would need to form a joint venture with a local manufacturer. The prospect of building its plant in the same state where Mercedes builds its SUVs would offer certain advantages as well: Aston has inked a deal with the German automaker to supply some systems and components. The British automaker has also long-been rumored to be considering building a crossover based on the same platform as the GL-Class (soon to be redubbed GLS), although that may or may not take the form of the DBX. Aston Martin is working toward ramping up production from the 4,000 units it sold last year to as many as 15,000. "If we went to three shifts" at the current plant in Gaydon, said Palmer, "we would be at 15,000 a year, so theoretically we could do it but you'd have no room for stoppage for maintenance. Related Video:

One-off Aston Martin DB9 Spyder Zagato Centennial up for grabs

There's a long and proud history of Aston Martins coachbuilt by Zagato, and while we wouldn't call them commonplace, most of them were put in serial production, however limited. But not this one. This one-of-a-kind DB9 Spyder was handbuilt by Zagato (along with a similarly styled DBS coupe) to celebrate Aston's centenary. Rather than remain in the private collections of either company, though, it was built in England, fitted with its customer bodywork (over the course of a year) in Italy, showcased back in England and then again at Pebble Beach before being delivered to its owner, who has kept it in California ever since. But now he's putting it up for auction. Equipped with a 6.0-liter V12, carbon-ceramic brakes and of course that unique coachwork, the DB9 Spyder Centennial edition has been consigned to RM Sotheby's for its sale in Monterey this coming August, two years after it was first shown there. It's anticipated to fetch between $380,000 and $450,000, which would be about double what Aston charges for a new DB9 Volante, but strikes us as a pretty solid investment considering just how rare this particular Anglo-Italian bird really is. Of course the Aston Zagato isn't the only notable vehicle RM has in store for Pebble this year. It's also highlighting a 1968 Maserati Ghibli Spyder that's billed as the first of its kind ever made, a US-spec Ferrari Daytona prototype, an early Lamborghini Countach and a rare 1973 Nissan Skyline GT-R. In short, RM's Monterey auction is already shaping up to be a notable one, and we're still a few months out with new consignments being added all the time.