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2012 Pebble Beach Concept Car Lawn offers a tutorial in cars to come

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is a showcase for some of the world's most exquisite vintage vehicles, but if newer metal is more your speed, the Concept Car Lawn is the place to be.
This year saw models from Bugatti, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley as well as SRT, Hennessey, Infiniti and Lexus among others. The ultimate sampler platter of exotic and concept vehicles saw the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse mingle with the Lamborghini Urus Concept and the mighty Hennessey Venom GT, though we found ourselves particularly smitten with the BMW Zagato Roadster and the Aston Martin Vanquish.
Not that we could go wrong anywhere we looked. The 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed seemed perfectly content parked on the manicured putting green, as did the McLaren MP4-12C Spider. Get cozy with the full gallery below to see the smattering of metal on the lawn.

Aston Martin and Daimler continue talks on SUV project, CEO required

The Aston Martin Lagonda SUV concept revealed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show didn't earn the plaudits the company is used to when it reveals new models, and it has lived an uncertain life ever since. Thought to have been scrapped along with the entire revival of the Lagonda brand, then thought to have been resurrected due to Chinese, Middle Eastern and Russian demand, another year passed before we heard more definitive talk about an Aston Martin expansion when AutoCar reported that the Lagonda could be built on one of Mercedes-Benz's AMG SUV platforms.
A report in Automotive News Europe indicates plans have gotten serious, its unnamed sources saying that the English carmaker is talking to Daimler "to extend their cooperation to building an SUV." Neither Daimler, Aston Martin nor Investindustrial, the managing partner among Aston Martin's ownership consortium, would comment. But with Investindustrial having pledged to expand the range, competitors like Bentley, Maserati and Lamborghini getting into the SUV racket and clear demand from current and future customers, it's easy to believe Aston Martin is working hard to put the pieces together.
One further potential bump on the road to an Aston SUV is the company's search for a new CEO. Ulrich Bez relinquished to top spot at the company at the end of 2013, and Aston reportedly will not finalize its model strategy without a new CEO in place.

Aston Martin DB11 arrives with 600 horsepower, stunning design

The drapes have been removed from the new DB11, billed by Andy Palmer, Aston Martin's chief executive, as "not only the most important car that Aston Martin has launched in recent history, but also in its 103-year existence." Well, they all are, Andy. Aston Martin is such a small company that it bets the farm with each new model. That's part of its appeal, for Aston's one constant is the svelte beauty of its cars, which (lest we forget) are the company wheels for one Commander James Bond. So the DB11 is important, make no mistake. It goes on sale this autumn and will cost $211,995 in the US. It's the tenth car (there was no DB8) in a lineage that began in 1948 with the DB1 – the first car to bear the initials of then owner, David Brown. Just 15 DB1s were made, but the DB line has been the most successful model for Aston Martin over the years, including such cars as the DB5 and DB7 as well as the 2003 DB9, which was the last all-new Aston Martin. This totally new DB11 is a clean-sheet approach from design director Marek Reichman, with a new aluminum bodyshell, suspension, cabin, and a Mercedes-Benz-based electronic architecture, which runs the systems. View 24 Photos To save fuel the engine will close down one bank and run as a 2.6-liter straight-six when the extra power is not required. The heart is a brand-new, 5.2-liter V12 boosted with two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries twin-scroll turbochargers with water-to-air inlet-charge coolers. It punches out 600 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 516 pound-feet of torque from 1,500 rpm. Maximum speed is said to be 200 miles per hour with 0-62 acceleration in 3.9 seconds. The new engine drives the rear wheels via a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Aston moved from the previous 6.0-liter naturally aspirated unit to a 5.2-liter biturbo to improve the part-load efficiency and EPA fuel economy figures. "In downsizing we want the emissions and we want the economy, but more than those, we want the torque," says Ian Minards, director of product development. To save fuel the engine will close down one bank and run as a 2.6-liter straight-six when the extra power is not required, but to prevent the exhaust catalyst from overcooling, the electronics switch between two banks. "It's undetectable," says Minards. Minards' team spent three years creating this car. "It's been a little bit daunting," he says.