2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Base on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Look for Jaguar C-X75 in your new James Bond Scalextric set

Scalextric, the slot-car racing set, has produced sets themed around James Bond films for years. You can get the Range Rover from Skyfall, the Alfa Romeo from Quantum of Solace, the DBS from Casino Royale, and almost all of the sets include the Aston Martin DB5; there was a limited-edition three-car series of DB5s around the movie Goldeneye, back in 1995. They'll be doing it again for the coming Spectre film, Pocket-lint.com saying that the set will come later this year and looks like it will include the Jaguar C-X75. That treat, as well as the DB10, haven't been completed for the toy set yet because they haven't been finalized for the film. A new DB5 run will be available for the garage, limited to 4,500 units and featuring a manually raised rear shield and an automatic ejector seat triggered if the car bumps a bollard along the track during feisty driving. The expected price is 100 pounds ($152 US), which includes track, and it should be out sometime before the movie arrives in theaters in November. Featured Gallery James Bond 'Spectre' Scalextric set News Source: Pocket-lintImage Credit: Pocket-lint Celebrities Toys/Games TV/Movies Aston Martin Jaguar spectre jaguar c-x75 aston martin db10 scalextric

Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake finishes a quartet Q would envy

From A to Z in four steps - that being Aston Martin and Zagato, connected by carbon fiber links known as the Vanquish Zagato Coupe, Volante, Speedster, and the now-official Shooting Brake. When the automaker revealed the Zagato Speedster at Pebble Beach in August, the Shooting Brake remained a sketch. Today we get honest, photographic proof of what 99 future owners will soon park in their climate-controlled display spaces. Were it not for the objet d'art reverence paid to a Zagato and the bitsy production run, we'd expect to see the shooting brake frolicking through expensive enclaves just as often as a Ferrari GT4 Lusso. Aston Martin's 580-horsepower V12 provides useful intent up front, a "luxuriously trimmed rear cabin area with tailored luggage" carries its weight in back. In between, driver and passenger revel in a herringbone carbon fiber fascia, anodized bronze dials, quilted leather, and glass-inlay for the double-bubble roof inviting lots of light. The Shooting Brake goes into production next year, alongside the Speedster. As with the first three bijoux, every Shooting Brake has already found a home. When Aston Martin hands the last set of keys to the final buyer, these 325 special editions will mark the close of another chapter in an Anglo-Italian cooperation begun with the 1960 DB4 Zagato. Related Video:

Aston Martin's deal with Mercedes-AMG more than skin-deep

Aston Martin is working on a raft of new models. But it's not going it alone: it has a technical partnership with Mercedes-AMG, the details of which have only been revealed in bits and pieces. If these latest spy shots are anything to go by, however, the arrangement could run deeper than anyone initially let on. Spied undergoing testing at the Nurburgring, this prototype for the upcoming successor to the Aston Martin DB9 is widely expected to be called the DB11 (10 is being used by James Bond's new ride). From the outside it doesn't look different than the previous versions we've seen running around, but this time we can also peer into the cabin, and that's where things start to get interesting. Despite the best arm-waving efforts by the development engineers, our spy photographers managed to snap a couple of shots of the interior. And though it looks far from being ready for production, the components we see appear to have been lifted from the Mercedes S-Class Coupe – particularly the steering wheel, digital instrument cluster, and almost the entire center console. This speaks to a deeper collaboration between the British and German automakers. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 from the Mercedes-AMG GT, C63, and G500 4x42 is already being adapted for use in the next generation of Astons. Related Video: