2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster Convertible Grey/red Only 8k Miles! on 2040-cars

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Aston Martin CEO dreams of an electric future for James Bond

With an endless stream of leggy models, futuristic weapons, and a dashing wardrobe, James Bond can rightfully be associated with indulgence. But his car of choice may soon take on a more ecologic bent by way of electric motor and some batteries. So says Andy Palmer, who is predicting an electric vehicle in Bond's future. EVS are 'almost as inevitable as death and tax.' - Andy Palmer Palmer, of course, is CEO of Aston Martin. As he said in a recent interview with CNBC, mass adoption of electrified vehicles is "almost as inevitable as death and tax," and that will extend to Bond – James Bond – as well. Take a look at CNBC's one-minute video clip with Palmer here. The fictional character has been linked to Aston Martin since the third James Bond film, 1964's Goldfinger. In it, the spy, then played by Sean Connery, drove an Aston Martin DB5. Most recently, Aston Martin built James Bond's DB10 especially for the 2015 film Spectre. The lure for the spy would be less the environmental statement and more the fact that electric cars have a ton of torque and can take off like a shot, says Palmer. He should know, having joined Nissan in 1991 and playing a key role in the development of the Nissan Leaf. He also pushed Nissan to add an electric powertrain to the Infiniti LE with the goal to do so by 2014, but by that year he'd left Nissan for Aston Martin. As for the UK automaker, it said last year that it was working with investment firm ChinaEquity on fitting the Aston Martin Rapide with an electric powertrain by 2017, and the car may have as much as 1,000 horsepower, too, which should be plenty for Bond. The company may also be working on an all-electric DBX SUV.

2017 Aston Martin Vantage GTS is only for America

Earlier today, Aston Martin announced that a short run of V12 Vantage S models would come to the US with a manual. Just 100 will be built, but that's an exciting prospect nonetheless. The US is also getting a unique rationalization of the V8 lineup, spiking the low-price GT and more expensive S variants and consolidating them into one trim: the GTS, available in fixed and droptop versions. Basically, there's one trim, but two flavors thereof. Both offer the 4.7-liter V8 in the existing V8 Vantage, and both offer a choice of a six-speed manual or 7-speed single-clutch automated manual. The Sport flavor offers some styling baubles (think: carbon fiber) as well as the sport suspension that was optional on the older Vantage. Inside, the Sport is trimmed with either black or grey leather with either alcantara or leather detailing. The center stack face is carbon fiber, and the rotary controls are black. The Lux version skips the sport suspension bits, but adds in some gloss black exterior elements at the front splitter and rear diffuser, and brightwork at the front grille, headlamp surrounds, hood vent strakes, and window surrounds. The seats are leather, although the color is up to the buyer from an "extensive color palette". Controls are done up in satin chrome finish with piano black. The GTS is, like most Astons, a blank slate for too many styling options to list, but if you can write a check big enough chances are you can have it any way you'd like. Expect it to start at roughly the current V8 Vantage S's price, or right around $134,000. Related Video:

2017 Aston Martin Model Year Preview and Updates

In 2017, more than 100 years after the Aston brand was first launched, the upscale maker of British grand tourers is so much more than that 'Bond car'. The Vantage remains the choice of drivers with a penchant for track days, while the Vanquish, Rapide S and DB11 (photo above) are for those vacillating between a car and a turboprop. ASTON MARTIN DB11: An all-new replacement for the ancestral DB9, Aston's high-performance Grand Tourer features a new twin-turbo V12, of-this-century angularity and an all-digital dash. RAPIDE S: Aston's svelte four door coupe receives new infotainment and satellite navigation. VANQUISH: Only minor trim changes for 2017. The two-door GT continues to rely on a normally aspirated V12. V-8 VANTAGE: A production run of 100 GTS-badged V-8s will be built, foretelling the end of the run for Aston's most accessible model. V-12 VANTAGE: Aston's tightly-drawn GT is now available with a seven-speed manual.