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Aston Martin to turn an air force base into a factory to build DBX crossover

To build its upcoming DBX luxury SUV, Aston Martin needs a new factory. A year ago, the British manufacturer announced having chosen the site of St. Athan in South Wales, and the former Royal Air Force base has now been officially handed over to Aston Martin. It's a part of a growth plan outlined by the carmaker, and the site was chosen from 20 potential ones all over the world, to accompany the existing manufacturing facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The two factories will create 1,000 new jobs by 2020, and Aston Martin will boost employment in Wales with a further 3,000 jobs across its supply chain and local businesses related to car manufacturing. The three hangars of the location will be converted into a car factory by 2019. The former military site was formally handed over from the British Ministry of Defence to Aston Martin by Secretary of State Sir Michael Fallon at a ceremony today, including Aston Martin President and CEO Dr. Andy Palmer, and Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns and Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones. It's been a special day in Wales as conversion of #AstonMartinStAthan starts ahead of DBX production in 2019: https://t.co/9e6nqQiob4 pic.twitter.com/K6v3D3TPJd — Aston Martin (@astonmartin) April 6, 2017 "Due to its sheer size and scale, the St Athan Super Hangars represented an excellent opportunity for us to build our second manufacturing facility, within the envelope of an existing structure. It is perhaps fitting that St Athan is, like our headquarters and sports car factory at Gaydon, a former Royal Air Force base", says Andy Palmer. Related Video:

Chris Harris pits Aston GT12 vs 911 GT3 RS vs McLaren 650S

The Geneva Motor Show is never lacking in exciting performance machinery. And this year was no exception. Our eyes, like those of Chris Harris, were drawn by two hardcore, track-focused versions of existing sports cars. Both wore the name GT3, and now Harris has brought them together for a supercar shootout. And he's thrown one more in for good measure. Those natural rivals are the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the latter manufacturer having pressed the former to drop the GT3 name to which it claims exclusive domain. There's a great deal that separates them, of course: one's got a V12 up front, the other a flat-six way in the back. But what binds them together is a common approach of taking an existing model, stripping it down, and tightening everything up to make it more of a weapon than a grand tourer. What that means in the Aston's case is a rather high price tag, much higher than that of the Porsche. But scarce demand and speculation on the open market have left British customers, at least, paying as much for the GT3 RS as for the limited-edition Aston. And that takes both into proper supercar territory. So to show what else that kind of money can get you, Monkey has brought along a McLaren. Not the similarly track-focused 675LT, but the standard 650S... Spider, no less, and with worn hard rubber. So which one performs best on the road? Which clocks the fastest lap time on the track? And which gets Harris' vote? You'll have to watch the video for yourself to find out, but it's well worth the 25 minutes of your lunch break. News Source: Chris Harris on Cars via YouTube Aston Martin McLaren Porsche Videos porsche 911 gt3 chris harris mclaren 650s

Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG bicycles: Luxury branding has no bounds

Luxury automobile companies are never quite satisfied with building high-end cars. They often stray into other types of branded merchandise that can have little to do with cars, such as the BMW Active line of clothing and accessories. Splitting the difference between branded merchandise and actual vehicles are these two limited-production bicycles from Mercedes and Aston Martin. The bike above is a collaboration between Mercedes-AMG and German bicycle brand Rotwild, a builder that has been around since 1996, according to the company's website. The bicycle in question is the R.S2 "Beast of the Green Hell." It's inspired by the Mercedes-AMG GT R sports car that was promoted with the same nickname. It uses a carbon frame and wheels, as well as disc brakes. It's also painted in green and black to match the Green Hell Magno color available on the GT R. Only 50 of them will be built, and each will carry a pricetag of over ˆ7,000, or nearly $8,300 at current exchange rates, including tax. View 4 Photos The second bicycle is from Aston Martin and another German bicycle company, this one called Storck Bicycles. This bike company has also only been around since 1995. The bike is called the Fascenario.3 Aston Martin Edition, and it will be a bit less rare than the Mercedes bicycle, with 107 total units. It's still a cool vehicle, though, featuring a carbon frame and wireless shifters. In total it weighs 13 pounds. It does lack the disc brakes of the Mercedes bicycle, though. Pricing hasn't been announced for the Aston Martin bike, but don't expect it to be cheap. Related Video: Featured Gallery ROTWILD R.S2 Limited Edition Mercedes-AMG GT R bicycle View 9 Photos Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin Green Weird Car News Aston Martin Mercedes-Benz Performance mercedes-amg