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Dany Bahar plans Aston Martin shooting brake at Modena-based tuner

You can't keep a good man down, or so the saying goes. The jury may still be out on whether Dany Bahar was a good thing for the automotive industry – with some portraying him as an overambitious opportunist and others pitting him as a genuine car guy against the bean-counters – but he's not about to stay down for long. Bahar, for those unfamiliar, was a top executive at Red Bull, serving as right-hand man to Dietrich Mateschitz right around the time that the energy drink company was getting into Formula One and NASCAR. He was then poached by Ferrari to serve as its commercial chief and brand director before taking up the reins as CEO of Lotus. Things didn't go quite so well for him there after new owners fired him, accused him of misappropriating company funds and canceling just about every one of his ambitious (or perhaps overambitious) projects to take Lotus into the modern age. But now he's back on his feet. According to Car and Driver, Bahar's new project is a tuning house and coachbuilder called Ares. Similar to an outfit like Mansory (with which Bahar, incidentally, fostered close ties while at Lotus), Ares is out to make high-end vehicles like the Range Rover Sport, Rolls-Royce Wraith and Lamborghini Huracan that much more unique. But the biggest project Ares is planning to undertake is to turn the Aston Martin Rapide S and Bentley Continental GT into shooting brakes for wealthy customers. Ares wouldn't be the first outfit to do so, Bertone having made a wagon version of the Rapide and Touring having offered an extended-roof Continental. But to show he's not messing around, Bahar has assembled a top team at Ares. Wolf Zimmermann, who worked for Mercedes-AMG before becoming Bahar's R&D chief at Lotus, is handling the technical aspects. 24-year-old Romanian designer Mihai Panaitescu, who is said to have worked on those aborted Lotus projects, is handling the style aspect. And the whole outfit is being based in Modena, Italy – the city that is home to outfits like Pagani, Maserati and nearby Ferrari. Predictably enough, Ares will launch initially in China, Russia and the Middle East, but reportedly plans to make it to the US sometime early next year. Featured Gallery 2014 Aston Martin Rapide S: First Drive View 32 Photos News Source: Car and DriverImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Aftermarket Aston Martin dany bahar aston martin rapide s

Aston Martin, Red Bull show off V12-powered hypercar

Not many companies are capable of developing true hypercars. Today, Aston Martin resoundingly declared it intends to be one of them, revealing a V12-powered mid-engine hypercar created in tandem with Formula One's Red Bull Racing. Codenamed the AM-RB 001, The two-seater will arrive in 2018 and will be built on a lightweight carbon-fiber structure. It will be assembled at Aston's Gaydon facility in the United Kingdom where the One-77 was built. Aston says between 99 and 150 road versions will be made, including the prototypes. Twenty five models will be created specifically for track use. Red Bull brags the customer list "reads like a who's who of F1 legends, moguls, and megastars." The AM-RB 001 is the fruit of a partnership between Aston and Red Bull that was announced in March. More details of the hypercar weren't immediately known, but the companies promise "unprecedented levels of downforce" created by aerodynamic elements underneath the car, which allows designers to execute the swoopy appearance shown in today's images. The V12 will be naturally aspirated, and the transmission and suspension are new designs developed by Red Bull. The power to weight ratio will be one horsepower to one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds. The projected will be marshaled by Aston chief creative officer, Marek Reichman, and David King, the carmaker's chief special operations officer who will oversee the build. Red Bull's side will be led by chief technical officer Adrian Newey. "The synergy between Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin is clear," Newey said in a statement. "I knew Red Bull Racing had the ability to handle the pure performance aspects, but Aston Martin's experience of making beautiful, fast, and comfortable GT cars is of great benefit to the project." Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001 Design/Style Motorsports Aston Martin Coupe Performance Supercars F1 Red Bull Racing

Aston Martin pens new DB10 for James Bond

James Bond has driven a variety of vehicles over the course of his long and fictitious career in espionage, but few marques have been as intrinsically tied to the famous spy as Aston Martin. For the past few films that's come down to the DBS, but for the next one, 007 is switching to the one you see here. Called the DB10, this latest Aston was designed specifically for the upcoming movie Spectre. Technical details were not disclosed, but the design demonstrates a clean break with the styling that has characterized Astons for the past couple of decades. Working with EON Productions – the studio responsible for the Bond films – Aston's chief designer Marek Reichman and his team penned a new form with decidedly different design cues and applied them to a shape that looks similar to the current V8 Vantage, but with different lines. Beyond the silver screen, Aston will build only ten production examples of the DB10. The bigger question, however, is whether this design will inform the new generation of sports cars and luxury GTs from Gaydon. In the meantime, moviegoers will be able to see the new DB10 in action in Spectre when it debuts on November 6, 2015. Built for Bond: Aston Martin debuts unique car for Spectre - Aston Martin DB10 created specifically for new Bond film - Partnership with EON Productions spans 50 years of cinema history - Demonstrates the breadth of Aston Martin's bespoke capabilities 4 December 2014, Gaydon: Aston Martin together with EON Productions, the producers of the James Bond film franchise, unveiled Bond's stunning new car, the Aston Martin DB10, on the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios. The luxury British sports car brand is delighted to confirm that James Bond will once again drive an Aston Martin in Spectre. On this occasion, it will be a model developed specifically for the film and built in-house by the brand's design and engineering teams. Led by Aston Martin Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, the design team worked closely with the film's director, Sam Mendes, to create the ultimate car for the world's most famous spy. Celebrating the great British brand's half century with Bond, which started with the iconic DB5, the DB10 gives a glimpse to the future design direction for the next generation of Aston Martins.