2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage 10 K Low Miles Convertible Soft Top Power Seat/lock on 2040-cars

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2013 Quail Motorsports Gathering wows with modern masterpieces

Pebble Beach is an outstanding event if you're interested in pre-war classics, but outside of the parking lots, it's a bit light on more modern stuff. The Quail, now in its eleventh year, leans far more towards the present day, and has become one of the must-attend events of the Monterey car week.
Like Pebble, though, it's a highly exclusive affair, with triple-digit ticket prices that usually sell out at the same rate as a Justin Bieber concert. If you're one of the lucky few to hold a pass, though, you'll be rubbing elbows with a who's who of the auto world. One of the highlights of this year's event was the appearance of one Michael Schumacher, who showed up alongside one of his Formula 1 cars. A retrospective was also held on Lamborghini's 50 years of production, as well as another celebration of Aston Martin's centennial. There was also a tribute to the late Martin Swig, one of the co-founders of the California Mille, who passed away last year.
The cars, not surprisingly, were epic. Lamborghini, Pagani, Spyker, Rolls-Royce, BMW, McLaren, Bugatti and Galpin Ford all showed new models to the public for the first time, while there were also appearances by Jim Glickenhaus and his Ferrari P4/5 and P4/5 Competizione, marking the first time the coach-built masterpiece and its racing offspring were shown together. Finally, the Petersen Museum showed off its wears, including the late Steve McQueen's gorgeous Jaguar XK-SS.

Aston Martin to race with solar power

Aston Martin may be more about luxury GTs than performance-obsessed supercars, but when it comes to racing, it's no holds barred. Aston Martin Racing has developed competition-spec versions of the Vantage and DB9, and even done a few LMP1 prototypes. But while some have been powered by V8s and others by V12s, the one underlying commonality is that they have all – in contrast with championship-winning diesel and hybrid prototypes – been powered exclusively by internal-combustion engines burning gasoline. That's what makes this announcement noteworthy. At Le Mans last weekend, the factory team announced a partnership with the Hanergy Global Solar Power & Applications Group that will see solar panels installed on the roof of the Vantage GTE it fields in the World Endurance Championship. Only the thin panels won't be powering the wheels, boosting the engine somehow or powering the batteries for a hybrid assist. They'll be used to power the air conditioning system. Which may seem inconsequential, but when you consider that the AC typically saps power from the engine – and it can sap quite a lot on a hot race day – that could amount to a serious performance advantage while keeping the drivers comfortable. While the system wasn't ready to use at Le Mans last weekend, temperatures at the French track don't get too high, so the air-con wouldn't likely be a big factor. The team (operated on Aston's behalf by Prodrive) does expect, however, to have the system up and running in time for next round at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where it can get insufferably hot. Aston and Hanergy also hope to install the system on the V12 Vantage GT3 and V8 Vantage GT4 it supplies to customer teams, and install solar panels on the roof of the new facility Prodrive is building in Banbury, UK. Aston Martin Racing Joins Hanergy in Solar-Powered Project Le Mans, 13 June 2014 - Banbury, 13 June 2014 - Aston Martin Racing has signed a partnership agreement with solar technologies experts Hanergy Global Solar Power & Applications Group, in a project exploring how the sun's energy can be used to improve race car performance at the pinnacle of sportscar racing, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), starting with the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend (14-15 June).

No surprise, Brits still love the Aston Martin Vanquish

We like the Aston Martin Vanquish very much. Sure, there are faster, wilder, crazier vehicles available for the money. Cough, Ferrari, cough. But there's something just so damned charming about the Aston and its big, monstrous V12 engine and stunning looks. And we're not alone in that opinion. You'll hear much the same if you watch the video above, the latest from the team at Xcar. In it, you'll watch host Alex Goy sample the stunning Vanquish Carbon White Edition, rocketing along Britain's stunning B-roads accompanied by a howling engine note. Goy heaps particular praise on the Vanquish's new transmission, the extremely well-received eight-speed automatic from ZF. Aston Martin has a spotty record when it comes to automatic transmissions, but this is the same sublime box being employed by luxury brands across the globe. Considering that, its capabilities in the Vanquish aren't too surprising. You can and should check out the full video from Xcar up at the very top of the page, if only for the V12 soundtrack alone.