2007 Aston Martin Db9 Volante on 2040-cars

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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

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake: Rare, stylish, practical, and up for auction

Have you ever looked at a 1965 Aston Martin DB5 and thought, "I would totally buy one, but it's just not practical enough." If so, we're a little surprised, but at least you're not alone. According to RM Sotheby's, David Brown, the man who ran Aston Martin for several decades and started the line of DB models that continues today, felt similarly. Apparently he couldn't fit his polo gear into a regular Aston coupe, and he wanted somewhere for his dog to sit that would keep it from tearing up the seats. As such, the Aston Martin DB5 shooting brake was created for him and a few wealthy customers by coachbuilder Harold Radford. The grand total was 12. One of those 12 cars is going up for auction by RM Sotheby's. It's one of four built with left-hand drive and was sold to a Swiss buyer who optioned it with a power antenna, seat belts, passenger-side head rest, air horns and initials on the doors. The car has had two other owners and has gone through a couple restorations. The second owner picked it up in 2003 and had it restored by Aston Engineering, which bumped the displacement from 4.0 liters to 4.2 and replaced the factory automatic with a 5-speed manual. The second owner acquired it in 2009 and upped the displacement even further to 4.7 liters along with upgraded shocks and springs. The car will be auctioned at RM Sotheby's Monterey event during the week of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The company expects it to sell for between $1,000,000 and $1,400,000. Considering the rarity of the car, that doesn't seem terrible, but according to the Hagerty price guide, it's rather high. It values the DB5 Shooting Brake at $790,000 for a concours-quality car. For reference, Hagerty values a concours-quality DB5 coupe at $1,450,000.

2015 Aston Martin Vanquish [UPDATE]

There's something really special about an Aston Martin Vanquish. It's not my favorite model in the British automaker's range – I'm more of a Vantage guy, if I'm being choosy. But every time I drive one, I feel like I'm piloting something fit for royalty, $300,000 price tag and all. It's stunning to look at, even in the rather drab shade of gray pictured here. It makes an absolutely killer noise, the free-breathing V12 firing from beneath the hood and out the back with a truly intoxicating sound. And from behind the wheel, it feels like a truly proper grand tourer. Well, almost. The one major hiccup with the Vanquish I drove last year was its six-speed automatic transmission. In a word, it was awful. Really jarring shifts, delayed manual control through the paddles, and really, just a hugely misaligned piece of an otherwise excellent puzzle. So I was happy to hear that for 2015, Aston Martin had fitted a new, ZF-sourced, eight-speed unit – you know, the transmission being used by automakers like BMW, Jaguar, Audi, and many more. I normally have zero issues with this silky gearbox. But in the Vanquish, it wasn't smooth sailing like I expected – it feels like it still needs some final calibrations. But that doesn't make this car any less special. Drive Notes I love this engine. The 5.9-liter, naturally aspirated V12 makes 569 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, and it absolutely loves to rev. That's a good thing, since the siren song of the Vanquish's V12 is most pronounced at higher engine speeds. In fact, it's not really all that audible right from the get-go. You have to work it up past 2,500-3,000 rpm before this thing really starts to sing. But when it's turned up to 11, it's one of the best-sounding engines I've ever heard. That said, getting the Vanquish going is kind of an awkward process. There's a surprising momentary lack of power delivery right at throttle tip-in, and then the Vanquish suddenly jolts forward. It's alarming – I found myself raising an eyebrow and yelling "GO!," especially when trying to quickly merge into the traffic flow. But it'll go, when it's ready, and hitting 60 miles per hour takes just 3.6 seconds. The transmission is still an issue here. When left to its own devices, it doesn't have a problem finding the right gear for the occasion, but the actual shifts don't fire off with the smoothness and quickness that I've come to expect from this tranny in other models.