The alphabet-driven nuance of automotive nomenclature is alive and kicking in the luxury segment. Driven by the neophiliac consumption patterns of the ultra-rich, these days no model line-up is complete without the presence of numerous varieties and flavours, each more exotic and expensive than the last.

That’s certainly the case with Aston Martin, whose new DB12 S completes the trio of ‘S’-suffixed versions of the company’s core line-up. We’ve had the Vantage S and DBX S and now it’s the turn of the big ‘super luxury’ GT, the DB12 to get this fabled badge – one that dates back the DB3 S race car from the early 1950s. This is the first DB model to get an S since then.

In the modern era, ‘S’ means more power, less weight and – naturally – greater cost. Aston says the appellation is an option, but the stats suggest buyers treat it as an upgrade and disregard the basic model altogether – some 90 per cent of core models sold tend to be ‘S’ variants, many with the full and expensive option spec that the new designation unlocks. In fact, the actual physical changes are relatively light, including standard Carbon Ceramic Brakes, a new fixed rear spoiler and a deeper two-part front splitter and side sills.

Power goes up a mere 20hp, while the maximum available weight saving is 38kg, including the noisy optional titanium exhaust system, a £9,200 extra. More importantly, at least for enthusiasts, are a host of dynamic changes, including recalibrated throttle response, dampers and other dynamic fiddles, such as alterations to the electronic rear differential. As the company notes, buyers trust the company implicitly to make things better, however incrementally and subtly (0-62mph is dispatched in 3.5 seconds, an imperceptible 0.1s improvement on the standard car, for example).

Like all ultra-luxury purchases, the DB12 S exists mostly as wallet-bait for the perpetually dissatisfied, forever chasing the next big thing that’ll make up a chunk of their emotional and social identity – whether it’s a car, a handbag, a penthouse or a wristwatch. DB12 is a purchase designed to slot neatly into a hole in the id.

However, if you happen to have the means, this car is an indulgent but very effective form of self-care. The vineyards of the Château la Coste are the venue for 'S' variant launch. It's a spectacular location, a place of true Provençal beauty elevated further by the unique pieces of art, sculpture, and architecture that owner Patrick McKillen has scattered around its expansive grounds.

Despite the region's unparalleled sense of space and light, the same can't be said for the local roads, which combine enticing twists and turns with sudden bottlenecks, blind corners, narrow stretches and the oft-fulfilled promise of a ten-strong peloton suddenly hammering over a crest. In short, it requires delicacy and restraint to safely thread this massive super coupé through these beautiful surroundings. When the road opens up – and wide multilane highways beckon – the relief is palpable.

Our steed is a coupé model, resplendent in a funereal black with bold red detailing inside and out. You can also specify a DB12 S Volante, for a slight premium, but the closed cockpit feels more appropriate for this darkly gothic Super Tourer. Driver and passenger sit low in the tub, the dash stretching away – less waterfall and more cascade of gloss black, chrome and the occasional splash of red – leaving the car’s extremities all but invisible. The steep drainage ditches on either side of the narrow rural French roads look like they'd happily swallow one of the Aston's big 21-inch wheels, potentially taking the rest of the car with it.

However, once the road widens, the anxiety dissipates and the power can be enjoyed. It’s not that the DB12 S isn’t nimble – far from it – but that it better rewards the driver when there’s scale, scope and ample room. The DB12 S truly rewards the work of diligent highway engineers, but credit must also go to the Aston’s accomplished in-house team who have made a sports car that can ride like a limousine in equally hushed comfort.

We’ve issued many ill-timed proclamations about how a big-engined, high-output luxury sports car represents a last throw of the dice for traditional combustion and been wrong every single time. Instead, the luxury sector nestles itself into a mildly hybridised future of its own devising, quietly drawing the curtain across a warehouse full of apparently unwanted EV sports car designs. Aston fields the astonishing Valhalla in this division and will probably venture into some form of hybridisation for the eventual successor to the DBX.

Like all contemporary series production Astons, the DB12 S incorporates CarPlay Ultra from Apple, the more wholly integrated version of Apple’s in-car interface. CarPlay Ultra brings a lot of added functionality, wresting control of the DB12’s HVAC and radio within its Cupertino-created graphics. For now, CarPlay Ultra sits in the premium space, especially since Aston is currently the only brand offering support.

Going forwards, it might not have quite the same lustre, as everyone from Kia to Nissan, Hyundai and Honda take up the invitation. Apple’s UI design might be second to none, but carmakers invest heavily in creating their own interfaces, quirks and all, so will the adoption of Ultra ultimately flatten the luxury experience?

For now, Vantage S and DB12 S demonstrate the enduring appeal of combustion, an evergreen ability to lure enthusiasts into an acquisition. Whether it’s the sound of the stacked twin exhausts, the smell and feel of the leather interior, or the undeniable attraction of what is still one of the most attractive cars on sale, the DB12 S offers a veritable arsenal of emotional hooks that many feel powerless to resist. Whatever an all-electric Aston Martin will look like, it certainly won’t feel like this.

Aston Martin DB12 S, from £205,000, DB12 S Volante, from £218,000, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

To celebrate 25 years of its flagship V12, Aston Martin has assembled 36-cylinders’ worth of high-end grand tourer and invited a look back at this peerless Super GT. It’s exactly a quarter of a century since the original V12 Vanquish made its debut in a very different world.

At the time, Aston Martin was still housed under the umbrella of the Ford Motor Company. If the company’s DB7, introduced in 1994, marked the start of this new era, the arrival of the V12 Vanquish (via the 1998 Project Vantage concept car) was the quantum leap the marque needed.

Like the DB7, the V12 Vanquish was overseen by Ian Callum. In the three years it took to transform the muscular concept into the production car revealed at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show, the interior was elevated to emphasise craft and quality (the concept had used Ford Ka air vents, for example).

At £158,000, it was emphatically priced higher than the contemporary DB7, reflecting the technology that went into its aluminium chassis construction. This modular VH (‘Vertical Horizontal’) went on to underpin many subsequent models.

The original was an instant classic, despite a recalcitrant semi-automatic gearbox that many owners eventually had swapped out for a conventional manual. Even today, Ian Callum’s design consultancy, Callum Designs, continues to preserve the Vanquish’s legacy.

His studio’s resto-modded version, the Vanquish 25, demonstrates just how timeless the design was; it still looks fresh today. After just over 2,500 variants of Vanquish Mk1 there was a five-year hiatus from 2007, before the next iteration appeared.

In 2012, the second-generation Vanquish arrived, followed by the droptop Vanquish Volante. This time around, the Vanquish had a closer visual relationship to its contemporary GT, the DB9, along with design cues inspired by the Aston Martin One-77 hypercar.

Tweaked and uprated throughout its life, along with special editions like the AM310 Vanquish, Vanquish Mk2 introduced carbon-fibre body panels and a revised and uprated 6.0-litre V12. The range culminated in the 600bhp Vanquish S, capable of more than 200mph.

The current-generation Vanquish Volante and Vanquish coupé are two of the most attractive cars ever built by the company, strong praise amidst a crowded field of contenders. With nearly double the power of Vanquish Mk1 (835PS and 1000Nm of torque), the latest Vanquish is proudly hailed as the most powerful flagship production model ever produced by the company.

Describing the car as a ‘true British icon’, Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark says that the Vanquish ‘remains nothing less than a symbol of what this exceptional British marque is capable of creating. Like the fortunate owners who have chosen to add one, or more, of the three generations of Vanquish to their collections since 2001, I am immensely proud of what this model represents.’

Is the current Vanquish the final flourish for Aston Martin’s relationship with the V12? Or will the name continue to bear this monumental old-school propulsion unit through to another generation?

With a new generation of mid-engined and hybridised cars on the way, change is inevitable. Aston Martin would be foolish to abandon such an emotive name. Whether another 25 years are on the cards remains to be seen.

Aston Martin Vanquish, from £433,266, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

A new F1 season has kicked off, and it’s all change on the track. Fans have to learn a whole new language – it’s goodbye DRS and hello ‘harvest mode’ and ‘super-clipping’ – and there’s even a new team in the shape of Cadillac. Off the track, the role of the pit lane as one of the world’s most-seen showcases for luxury continues with a slew of new designs and the arrival of Breitling to shake things up.

TAG Heuer is the horological title-holder (Official Timekeeper, at least); Richard Mille, the serious flex; and H Moser & Cie offers the left-field alternative. But who are the other watch players in the F1 game?

The 50th vehicle to come out of bespoke electric restomodder Lunaz is something of a conundrum. Founded in 2018 by David Lorenz as a way of transforming classic cars into modern, whisper-quiet EVs, Lunaz has seemingly switched lanes in order to create its very first petrol-powered project.

The car in question is undeniably worthy of the update. This is the Aston Martin DB6, manufactured from 1965 to 1971, with just under 1,800 cars built. If it’s not resorting to electrification, how has Lunaz updated this elegant grand tourer? The DB6, like the closely related DB5 before it, is an iconic form but less than graceful on the open road, especially when compared to modern machinery.

Lunaz has attempted to address this dichotomy by giving the DB6 more power, along with uprated kit to handle it. The car’s original 4.0-litre straight-six has been substantially overhauled, transforming it into a 5.0-litre unit that puts out 350bhp (the original had 282 bhp). To go with this power hike, Lunaz has also adapted the car’s suspension, braking and steering (traditionally the weak points in the early DB models).

While purists baulked at the idea of stripping out an engine and replacing it with a bunch of batteries, Lunaz has always ensured its conversions can be reverse-engineered. What’s not quite as undoable are the aesthetic changes wrought on this DB6. The flared wheelarches and cream, cashmere, silver and mother-of-pearl interior makeover are definitely out there, and it seems the new owner (a returning Lunaz customer) isn’t afraid of ruffling a few feathers.

This car is the first in a short run of so-called First Edition DBs, celebrating both the Lunaz milestone and 60 years of the original Aston Martin. Lorenz describes the car as a ‘watershed moment’, adding that ‘we are creating a DB that honours its heritage, while expressing the pinnacle of bespoke automotive craftsmanship’.

Previous machines from the Northamptonshire-based company include the mighty electrified Rolls-Royce Phantom V, along with Bentleys, Jaguars and Range Rovers. Now that the company has gone (in its own words) ‘powertrain agnostic’, expect a whole host of other exotic cars to get the Lunaz treatment.

AM DB6, more information at ByLunaz.com, @Lunazdesign

With a flourish of yellow silk and a few well-chosen products, Aston Martin has announced to the world that its new official watch partner will be Breitling. Industry watchers might not be terribly surprised by the news; the Swiss manufacturer had enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with Aston’s longstanding rival Bentley Motors. In October 2024, Bentley’s former CEO Adrian Hallmark – who’d held that position for six years and been at the company far longer – took up the reins at Aston Martin.

Clearly, the Breitling relationship has made the same transition. The watch company’s partnership with Bentley ran from 2002 to 2021, during which time it made a number of special editions, provided sponsorship for Bentley’s racing programme and even collaborated on a tourbillon clock for the dashboard of the Bentayga back in 2015.

Thus far, only a single model spawned from the new association with Aston has been announced, an Aston Martin Formula One edition of the Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43.

With 2026 marking a step change in F1 rules and Aston’s top-tier motorsport campaign, expect to see a lot more in the near future, as Breitling has also signed up to be the Official Watch Partner for the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team.

For now, the two companies are using the announcement to reinforce their respective shared ideals, precision, speed and craft – that kind of thing. Breitling, founded in 1884, is the senior partner in brand terms (Aston didn’t arrive on the scene for another 29 years).

It also helps that Breitling has a connection to another longstanding Aston Martin territory, the Bond franchise. Both brands shared the screen in 1965’s Thunderball, the second outing for the legendary DB5 (shown here) and the debut appearance of the Breitling Top Time chronograph on Sean Connery’s wrist.

According to Hallmark, ‘Aston Martin and Breitling have crossed paths at key moments in design and culture. The partnership is a perfect showcase of excellence, design mastery and performance, something that is integral to everything that Aston Martin puts its name to.’

Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling, says that ‘Aston Martin builds cars that are as much about presence as performance. [Breitling] shares that same heritage of iconic design: every line, finish, and proportion has purpose. Nothing is left to chance.’

AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin, @AstonMartinF1, Breitling.com, @Breitling

The Aston Martin Vantage isn’t exactly short of horsepower, but variants are what customers crave and variants are what they shall receive, hence the arrival of the new Vantage S in both coupé and Roadster form. This strategy of transforming individual model lines into a diverse selection of differently pitched machines is very much of CEO Adrian Hallmark’s making.

It’s an approach Hallmark honed at Bentley, and here he reasons that the typical Aston customer is the kind of car buyer who starts hankering after something new every 18 months or so. If their favoured brand doesn’t have brighter, shinier and better to hand, they’ll soon go elsewhere. Hence DBX S and now Vantage S, both following the well-trodden use of the 'S' suffix to denote a louder, faster, sharper variant.

In terms of raw numbers, the newest Vantage offers only marginal gains over its ‘S’-less sibling. When announced back in February 2024 as a practically all-new model, the Vantage put out 665 PS from its twin-turbo V8. That powertrain remains in place, but Aston has squeezed a few more PS from the block to make a total output of 680 PS.

While that makes for an imperceptible increase in acceleration (0-60mph is just 0.1 second faster than the original car) and no change to the 202mph top speed, there have been some more potent changes under the skin. The chassis has been tweaked to make the Vantage S a more connected, driver-focused car. These changes will be all but invisible unless you’re pushing hard on a dedicated track, as will the newly calibrated throttle pedal. In short, to get the best from the S, you’ll need to have put in time on the regular car and know it inside out.

Some of the shifts in chassis design are quite significant, including the way the rear subframe is now directly mounted to the body, instead of using rubber bushes, as well as firmer and stiffer dampers and component mountings. The new rear spoiler adds significantly to the downforce, further reinforcing this car’s status as the ultimate track-going contemporary Aston.

The Vantage S bears a few subtle styling changes, mostly aimed at buyers who want their views inside and out lightly shaken up. New vents and ‘S’ badges mark the car out for other connoisseurs, while the dark interior is wrapped in black Alcantara and leather for a racer-goth aesthetic.

The new Vantage S will make its global dynamic debut at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, with the first customer cars arriving in Q4 2025.

Aston Martin Vantage S, more information at AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

Two years ago, we reported on the announcement of Aston Martin’s first residential project in Japan, a Tokyo townhouse called N°001 Minami Aoyama. This week, the British luxury manufacturer announced the project’s completion, marking yet another milestone on its slow transition to an all-encompassing luxury brand and not simply a maker of high-end sports cars and grand tourers.

The focus will remain on four wheels, of course, but projects like this new townhouse, demonstrate that Aston Martin’s in-house design team’s core competence goes far beyond automotive. It’s a talent ably demonstrated by these images of the completed building. Compare and contrast with the original renders and you’ll see that the company has simply translated its design process into the architectural realm.

The townhouse is a single private residence, spanning four storeys on a sloping site in Tokyo’s Omotesandō neighbourhood. With a total floor area of 724 sq m, it offers a generous amount of living space, especially in a city like Tokyo. All that floor area offered scope for signature elements such as the automotive gallery, seen here housing a Vantage and a Vanquish, a garage space that backs onto one of the living areas to provide a view of the cars from within.

The project was undertaken in partnership with luxury real estate developer Vibroa Inc and continues the firm’s ongoing dabbling in architectural design, most notably at the Aston Martin Residences in Miami. Other projects are underway around the world, including an interior design scheme for The Astera on Al Marjan Island in the UAE.

According to Marek Reichman, executive vice president and chief creative officer of Aston Martin, the collaborative project is about celebrating ‘the influence of Tokyo’s culture, history and style. The city has always held an important creative space within our design studio, and Aston Martin’s increased presence in Japan and Asia has provided fertile ground for inspiration and collaboration,’ he adds.

Behind the vertical metal louvres of the façade, which provide a combination of shade, privacy and ever-shifting light, intriguing glimpses of the interior are offered up, including the secluded first-floor terrace, complete with traditional onsen bath and rippling mirrored ceiling.

‘The clean lines, seamless boundaries and far-reaching views allow the residents to connect with and experience this unique location,’ says Reichman, ‘Inside, we’ve catered to the senses, using a holistic combination of elements and materials to create a calm and relaxing space for them to retreat.’ In addition to the spa there’s also a substantial new basement containing a gym, wine cellar and golf simulator system.

At the rear of the property, the sloping site provides excellent urban views from the balconies, culminating in a rooftop terrace complete with sunset views and kitchen facilities. The basement and ground floor are linked by a bespoke folded steel staircase, an origami-inspired structure lit by a custom-designed pendant chandelier. Upstairs, the accommodation consists of three en-suite bedrooms.

Fixtures and fittings combine craft know-how with Aston Martin’s contact book of partners and like-minded brands. The house contains an integrated Bowers & Wilkins Audio System and wardrobes and cabinets are by Molteni&C, while materials include black lava kitchen surfaces, nebula steel and hinoki wood cladding.

‘Vibroa is delighted to be working with such an iconic ultra-luxury brand as Aston Martin,’ says Toshiyuki Yoshida, CEO of Vibroa. ‘Their renowned design philosophy and expertise brings a unique dimension not just to this home, but the wider world of real estate in Japan.’

AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin, Vibroa.com

In the summer of 2016, sometime between the UK voting to leave the EU and Rio de Janeiro hosting the Olympics, Aston Martin published an image of a spaceship-like concept car called the AM-RB 001. It was bold, radical and unlike anything we’d come to expect from the manufacturer more closely associated with suave spies and sporting grand tourers.

Forged in the fires of Formula One, the Valkyrie – as the project would later be named – was the brainchild of seasoned racing car designer, aerodynamicist and former Red Bull Racing chief technology officer Adrian Newey, back when the carmaker had ties to Red Bull F1 team.

Now, nearly a decade since the Valkyrie was first announced, things have changed: Newey’s jumped ship from Red Bull to be managing technical partner for Aston’s F1 team and the once-pipe-dream Valkyrie is on the grid, ready for its greatest challenge yet.

Returning Aston Martin to the very top level of the gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Valkyrie builds on Aston’s enviable heritage in endurance racing: with no fewer than 19 class victories at Le Mans and a legendary overall triumph in the 1959 race with the DBR1 driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby.

‘It would be almost unimaginable for Adrian Newey to design a car and not think about it going racing at some point,’ says Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s head of endurance motorsport. ‘With an extraordinary fusion of F1 technology and road car mastery, the Valkyrie is truly built for racing.’

Unlike the rest of the Le Mans grid, the Valkyrie is the only car competing in the top-level Le Mans Hypercar category that is based on a road-going vehicle. Manufacturers with motorsport arms are all too keen to perpetuate the ‘race-to-road’ story – the tale of how the cutting-edge technology powering their racing machines trickles down to more pedestrian cars. It’s been the playbook for carmakers involved in everything from F1 to rally for decades. For Aston, it’s the other way around.

After the production Valkyrie made its debut in 2017, it was as a road car – not a racer. Only the following year did Aston release a track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro concept, which hinted at the brand’s ambitions to take it racing, which came to fruition earlier this year, at the start of the 2025 World Endurance Championship.

When it comes to this year’s Le Mans title contender, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH, the racing variant packs a less-powerful version of the mighty Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, which in standard form revs to 11,000rpm and develops over 1,000 bhp.

It also loses the road car’s battery-electric hybrid system, with the naturally aspirated V12 in the racing car kicking out just 671 bhp (329bhp less than the road car), owing to the race series ‘balance of power’ rules, which are designed to keep the racing competitive and control the eyewatering developmental costs of top-level endurance racing.

‘We have been present at Le Mans since the earliest days, and through those glorious endeavours we succeeded in winning Le Mans in 1959 and our class 19 times over the past 95 years,’ said Lawrence Stroll, executive chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, ahead of the race. ‘Now we return to the scene of those first triumphs, aiming to write new history with a racing prototype inspired by the fastest production car Aston Martin has ever built.’

Le Mans is as close to a festival as you can get in motorsport, with the whole circus lasting for the best part of a week. Dazed fans, dressed head to toe in team kit from all eras, camp and wander around the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe, a historic track cut through the French countryside and in use – in various configurations – since 1906.

For almost all of the week, the air is filled with the constant drone of engines – low rumbles from V8s, high-pitched wheezes from hybrids and, as of this year, the unmistakable sound of the Valkyrie’s V12.

In the 24-degree Celsius heat of the race this year, there was something special about seeing a modified road car take on a field of otherwise alien-looking racing cars. The rest of the Hypercar class was made up of prototypes, styled purely for function, that bear little resemblance to the road cars that share their badges.

While it was Ferrari’s spaceship-like 499P that took the flag at the end of the 24 hours, the #007 Valkyrie (well, this is Aston) and the #009 car finished 12th and 14th without major issues, and that’s pretty much a win in any team’s eyes after racing day and night, non-stop.

‘It's a great result for the team, a huge milestone for the programme,’ said Carter after the race. ‘We come to Le Mans and the WEC because it's hard, because we want to fight against the best. We need to improve our performance, we are racers and we want to be more competitive.’

While the Valkyries failed to pull off a fairytale victory for Aston on their debut – something the equally impressive McLaren F1 road car miraculously managed in 1995 – they’ve laid strong foundations for the Valkyrie’s motorsport credentials, both in and outside of official competition.

In the days leading up to the race, Aston pulled the covers off just ten Le Mans-ready Valkyries that are available to private owners. With no word on price, it’s easy to imagine the LM’s weighing in at several million apiece for what the marque bills as the ‘ultimate Le Mans Hypercar track experience’.

For the vast majority, we’ll have to be satisfied enough with seeing this mastery of mechanical engineering finally make it out on track and do what it was born to do nearly a decade ago. ‘Valkyrie is the ultimate expression of [Aston Martin’s] competitive mindset,’ said Carter. ‘And it has its roots founded in world-beating car design.’

AstonMartin.com

As noted in our recent interview with Aston Martin’s new CEO, Adrian Hallmark, 2025 marks the year that Aston Martin mounts a serious challenge on securing an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Although the company has successfully campaigned at the legendary French endurance race in recent decades using its Vantage-derived World Endurance Racing cars, 2025’s campaign hopes to evoke the glorious achievement of 1959, when Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori took outright victory in the race in the Aston Martin DBR1.

The Valkryie was always intended as the translation of a pure racing car into road-going form. The engineer and aerodynamicist who conceived the car, Adrian Newey, alongside AM’s chief creative officer Marek Reichman, obsessively pared every detail and component down to the bare minimum dimension and mass, ensuring the car would have a power-to-weight ratio unlike any other.

Whilst there have already been track-only Valkyrie specials – aimed at customers who want the full fettled experience of the two-seater V12 with maximum aero and minimal fripperies – this is the first time the car has taken to the racetrack in anger. The only competitor in its class derived from a road-legal hypercar, the Valkyrie will be run by the Aston Martin THOR Team at Le Mans, 14-15 June 2025.

Alongside a car developed for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) rules that govern Le Mans, The Heart of Racing works team are also running in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. THOR will run dual programmes, working alongside Aston Martin Performance Technologies for the eight-round WEC series and 11-round IMSA season.

The WEC driver line-up comprises Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell in the #007 car and the Triple FIA GT world champion Marco Sørensen with Alex Riberas in the #009 car, while IMSA champions Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis will take on IMSA’s GTP challenge in North America. Gunn will also share the #007 car for the assault on Le Mans in June.

Before Le Mans, THOR’s two cars will debut at the opening round of the 2025 WEC, at the Qatar 1812km on 28 February. Amazingly, the Valkyrie has been down-tuned from its road-going output of 1,000bhp to cater for the race series’ power limit. This has benefits for both fuel efficiency and reliability, huge factors in endurance racing.

Other changes are obvious, not least in the massive aero packs that transform the Valkyrie’s bodywork, adding colossal downforce whilst also improving access to components and all-round safety. A rapid refuelling system, hydraulic jack point and revised suspension are all included.

In a nice piece of symmetry, Newey is returning to Aston Martin this summer as the managing technical partner of the Formula 1 team, giving him the perfect viewpoint to see the car he initiated take to the track. As Hallmark stresses, regardless of the result, ‘this is a proud moment for Aston Martin. To be returning to the fight for overall honours at the 24 Hours of Le Mans exists at the very core of our values and marks a key milestone in our motor racing heritage,’ he concludes.

We’ll report from Le Mans in June.

AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

Aston Martin has dropped its newest droptop, the much anticipated soft-top version of the Aston Martin Vantage. The Vantage Roadster transforms the once ‘junior’ Aston Martin into a rawer and more visceral experience. We’ve not sampled the Roadster yet, but expect the absence of a roof to allow an even greater connection with the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that sits at the heart of the machine.

Essentially, this is the substantial technical upgrade of the current generation Vantage transported to the droptop model. Increased efficiencies in materials and packaging mean the Roadster has a mere 60kg of weight gain over its coupé sibling; as a result, the performance figures are the same. This means a 0-60mph sprint of 3.5 seconds and a frankly unattainable top speed of 202 mph.

The other statistic where the Vantage Roadster excels is in the hood mechanism. Years of honing the complex folding and retracting mechanism have resulted in a contraption that’s capable of raising or lowering the roof in under 7 seconds, at speeds of up to 31 mph.

The hood itself contains eight levels of insulation and is available in red, blue and black/silver colourways, complementing the practically infinite paint options that can be specified in league with the Q by Aston Martin personalisation service.

For many sports car owners, a model like this hits the sweet spot – epic performance, practically the same levels of refinement as the hard-top model, and all the joys of open-air motoring (depending on your local climate). However, the Vantage is becoming increasingly hardcore as it ages, as opposed to the larger and grander DB12 and the flagship Vanquish, both of which accentuate more of a GT character.

Ultimately, it’ll all come down to personal preference. Despite Aston Martin’s insistence that open-roofed motoring presents a way more ‘visceral, sensory experience’ for the driver, ultra-luxury convertibles don’t appeal to everyone who can afford one. You need chutzpah to carry off convertible driving, especially in a car as visible and audible as this one.

Astons have often got a free pass in the frequently territorial and image-conscious realm of the automobile, both for their associations and their beauty. The new Vantage Roadster hews closely to its hard-topped rival. A longer rear deck (under which the hood is stowed) creates slightly stubbier proportions when the hood is up, but with the roof down, the lines flow satisfyingly from front to rear.

Aston Martin’s CCO Marek Reichman, credits the engine’s roar with bringing the ‘simple yet refined surface design to life’, implying a strong sonic signature to Aston Martin design that coming electrification will need to find a way to circumvent. For now, however, the Vantage Roadster deploys the best of modern technology to make a virtue of what’s ultimately anachronistic, albeit gloriously so.

Aston Martin Vantage Roadster, price tbc, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

In partnership with Glenfiddich

Velocity and distillery. Stealth and speed. British racing green and Highland gold. Glenfiddich’s partnership with Aston Martin Formula One Team is an alliance of complementary disciplines and shared values: two timeless marques renowned for their history and innovation, coming together in a relentless pursuit of excellence.

How did this heritage-fuelled pairing get together?

Slowly at first, then very quickly. Just a few months ago, as the 2024 F1 race season started, the storied Aston Martin marque and the revered Scotch whisky house agreed on a partnership that would foster an industry-transcending legacy and set a new standard for blending passion, precision and quality.

Racing against the clock and cross-border distances, factory visits were arranged, the Aston Martin Formula One Team coming to Dufftown, Scotland, and in turn hosting the distillers in England. Common ground in expertise, processes and principles were rapidly revealed. ‘We discovered a lot of similarities,’ says Glenfiddich CEO Søren Hagh. ‘A very deep heritage, a long and rich history of pushing boundaries. A meticulous way of working.’

At Aston Martin Formula One Team’s brand-new Technology Campus in Silverstone, with its state-of-the-art wind tunnel, optimised working environment and intelligent use of natural light, the Glenfiddich visitors encountered a sleek, fast and hyper-modern environment. ‘But also a very slow, manual and methodical way of doing things,’ says Hagh. ‘When you are making an F1 car, nothing is left to chance and everything is exact. There’s an element of magic as you watch every part, process and essential ingredient coming together in the correct way. There’s an evolving design language, a careful application of skill and passion. The unhurried investment of time. Just like our distillers, malt masters and coopers, these people are specialists in their respective crafts.’

In both Formula One and whisky distillation, there’s an obsession with detail, agrees Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich Malt Master. ‘With whisky, we need to know the pH of the water, the temperature of the mash. Even the exact position of the warehouse plays a part. Constant monitoring. No corners cut.’

At each meeting, fascination and connection flourished – and Hagh’s curiosity and appetite for synergistic potential rapidly accelerated. ‘How could we marry something that moves very slowly with something that moves very fast?’ he reflects, adding that ‘we found a genuine connection and a shared set of values’. With only a few months to pull the project together, both distillery and car-maker worked at pit-crew intensity. At Silverstone speed, the Aston Martin AMR24 arrived in Moray, Scotland to receive its Glenfiddich livery.

To honour the partnership with a whisky, Glenfiddich looked to 1959, the year of Aston Martin’s Formula One debut, unearthing a rare expression from the same year. Research proved the 1950s to have been a pivotal time for whisky’s future and a defining one for Glenfiddich – a period when single malts were virtually unknown beyond Scotland. This particular expression, casked by third Malt Master Gordon Grant, had helped lay the groundwork for the category’s rise and also plays a key role in Glenfiddich’s heritage.

Some 75 years later, that same expression, made from an exceptional sherry cask known for its rich intensity, embodies the craftsmanship of Glenfiddich Malt Masters across generations. How rich, intense and exceptional is the resulting whisky? Kinsman references worn leather and fine chocolate.

A deep mahogany-hued single malt, the whisky is ‘layered with notes of oak, aged leather, tannin and beeswax mingling with the earthy essence of a dunnage warehouse floor’, explain the tasting notes. ‘A drop of water releases waves of sweetness and dried fruit, with whispers of raisins and sun-dried prunes.’ On the palate, it’s a journey of ‘bold and balanced flavours: oaky spice intermingling with cloves, dates, and walnuts, evoking Christmas pudding and dark chocolate’. As flavours linger, they shift up a gear to offer intense depth, complexity and a sensory experience that mirrors the high-performance elegance of Aston Martin F1.

Serendipitously, and to much delight, Glenfiddich discovered that 1959 also happened to be Aston Martin Formula One Team boss Lawrence Stroll’s birth year and the year when the iconic, Betty Wilis-designed ‘Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign made its debut on The Strip. It was perfectly fitting, then, that Nevada would play host to the launch of the Glenfiddich 1959 liquid on the occasion of the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix, while The Strip itself would announce the partnership with Aston Martin Formula One Team to the world.

Bringing excellence and passion, Glenfiddich’s signature intensity balanced with Aston Martin Formula One Team’s bold spirit, this new chapter in the slow art of whisky-making marks a shift up to new depth for the F1 universe.

glenfiddich.com

The wait is finally over. Aston Martin first took the covers off the car that would become the Valhalla back at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Back then it was the Aston Martin AM-RB 003, one of a projected series of mid-engined supercars that were to flow from the range-topping Valkyrie (originally the AM-RB 001). Alongside the 003 was the V6-powered Vanquish Vision Concept, then intended as the ‘starter’ supercar birthed from the DNA of multi-million-pound Valhalla.

The Vanquish concept came to nothing, and the nameplate reverted to the front-engined, muscular ICE-powered cars from whence it came, a new version of which arrived this year, the Mk3 Vanquish. All effort went into delivering the fiendishly complicated Valkyrie and its variants to a high-rolling, supremely patient customer base, and the 003 went into hibernation, surfacing only as a prop in the background of Daniel Craig’s Bond swansong, No Time To Die.

One pandemic later, and the Valhalla was re-shaped and re-born, shown to the media at Silverstone in 2021. Now deliveries are finally in sight, with the reveal of the finished car – and interior – due to start arriving in Q2 2025.

In the interim, Aston Martin has burned through three CEOs and pushed its EV ambitions a little further down the road. Now stewarded by Adrian Hallmark, former CEO of Bentley, the Valhalla’s arrival marks a fresh start for his much-anticipated tenure. This car has a lot to prove.

It’ll do that proving courtesy of an all-new plug-in hybrid powertrain, which mates Aston’s new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine (making 828PS) with three E-motors to make a total power output of 1,079PS. A substantial chunk of the 999 potential customers will be more than happy with the promised stats – an electronically limited maximum speed of 350km/h (217mph) and 0-100km/h (62mph) in 2.5 seconds – but Aston is hoping buyers will be more excited by the car’s driver-focused dynamic systems, calling it the ‘ultimate driver’s supercar’.

The Valhalla makes full use of the aero experience Aston has garnered from Formula 1, with active systems including a massive pop-up rear spoiler that lifts up to 255mm to create additional downforce (and also serves as an air brake). The hybrid system not only provides an injection of accelerative power but also drives the torque vectoring system for better cornering, as well as a pure EV mode (with a rather paltry range of 14km) and all-electric reverse gear.

There’s a lot of technology crammed beneath the sleek carbon fibre bodywork, slotted into a bespoke carbon fibre tub that has been engineered by Aston Martin Performance Technologies, the consulting arm of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team. All-in-all, the Valhalla comes in at 1655kg, thanks to the extensive use of materials like carbon fibre and F1-derived moulding processes.

Unlike Valkyrie and its variants which achieved its performance objectives at the expense of comfort and everyday usability, the Valhalla is designed to be a much more usable car. Away from the track, and the exploration of the Valhalla’s power and myriad driver systems, the car is more spacious, comfortable and refined than its elder sibling. Dihedral doors allow for easier access to an interior that, while influenced by racing configurations, also includes the bespoke craftsmanship and high-quality materials that define the brand.

The HMI includes an information panel behind the race-style wheel, as well as a central touchscreen. Each can be configured to show information on the car’s many systems and settings, with a dedicated race mode or a more road-going focus. Much of the interior features exposed structural carbon fibre but as with every Aston Martin, the customization options are endless, thanks to the Q by Aston Martin personalization service and no two Valhallas will be alike.

According to CEO, Adrian Hallmark, the Valhalla is ‘the first ever mid-engine series production Aston Martin… the ultimate driver’s supercar. On paper and on track, Valhalla delivers the most driver-focused, technologically advanced supercar, with true hypercar performance and yet on the road it is as useable and enjoyable as any Aston Martin.’

Aston Martin Valhalla, configurator available at AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

The longstanding partnership between Aston Martin and EON Productions is worth untold millions in advertising and exposure for the car company, even if the deadlines and production challenges suck up huge amounts of resources. It's also a core component of the Bond character (despite as originally written, Fleming's Bond was in a Bentley). However, as Bond got grittier under Daniel Craig, so the Aston element became more and more incongruous.

Aston tried to counter this by trying to become a bit grittier itself (describing the 2019 Vantage model as a 'predator' and hiring Rankin to photograph it with a wolf sitting on the roof, as well as commissioning dark and spiky imagery from Nick Knight, among others). But gritty isn't really what its customers want. They want to be international playboys and playgirls, for whom the car represents the ultimate shortcut signifier of taste and discretion.

It’s also why the company creates things like this, the Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger Edition, 60 of which are being made to celebrate the marque’s first appearance in a Bond Film, when the DB5 swung into view in 1964’s Goldfinger and the double act was henceforth cemented.

The relatively recent DB12 hasn’t yet made its debut in any film to the best of our knowledge, let alone a Bond one, but here it’s been given the movie star treatment thanks to a thorough – but relatively subtle – overhaul by Q by Aston Martin, the suspiciously cinematic name for the company’s bespoke personalisation service. Limited to 60 cars, the most obvious parallel it makes with Sean Connery’s original DB5 is the paint finish, ‘Silver Birch’.

Under the super tourer’s long, rippling bonnet nothing has changed – a 4.0-litre V8 Twin-Turbo engine putting out 680PS. The original DB5 put out around 282bhp (about 286PS), considered pretty impressive for the time.

What the DB12 definitely has in common with its forebear is an innate, albeit far more muscular, beauty. Just like a shirtless Daniel Craig, the brutish charm of the DB12 presents a ripped and utterly contemporary aesthetic that would have been frankly terrifying to Sixties’ audiences, as if Bond was shown driving a Le Mans car.

Aston Martin has mined this rich seam many times, most notably with a series of Continuation cars – replicas – of the exact prop car DB5 from Goldfinger, complete with a set of (non-lethal) gadgets, and even a pocket-sized version courtesy of the Little Car Company (since re-branded as Hedley Studios).

There have been other special editions too, nodding to the Aston Martin’s twelve appearances in the series (for completists, the list is as follows: Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), The Living Daylights (1987), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021)).

For the DB12 Goldfinger Edition, the key signifiers are relatively subtle and include a unique silver colour on the 21” wheels, bespoke gold side strakes and a unique Aston Martin logo. The interior leather includes an intricate Prince of Wales check perforation pattern, ‘in a nod to a classic James Bond suit,’ while there’s also a polished sill plaque and number of 18k Gold Plated interior accents on the controls. Finally, there’s an ’eight of hearts’ embroidered onto the drivers’ sun visor, a reference to the playing card seen in a pivotal scene in the film.

Mindful that buyers of this kind of steroidal plaything are essentially big kids at heart, Aston has thrown in a worthy goodie bag for each purchaser (actually a Globe-Trotter attaché case). These include a 2007 bottle of Bollinger, a custom car cover, luxury key presentation box, a Speedform scale model of the car and – ‘for something truly unique’ – a snippet from a 35mm print of the film itself, the scene in which Connery’s Bond drives the DB5 over Switzerland’s Furka Pass.

With the current cinematic horizon looking rather Bond-less, could this famous partnership be on the wane? After No Time to Die’s rather pointed full stop, change is afoot. Should the Bond universe be re-booted and started again from scratch, it would be unlikely to re-tread the same locations, sets and props used from the 60s onwards. Regardless, would the carmaker even be interested in a relentless focus on its very distant past with no space for modern product?

However, if the series stays in the present day and the Bond mantle is passed to an entirely different type of character, retaining the same luxurious four-wheeled supporting cast might distract from the new direction. It's a conundrum worthy of the super spy himself. Or even herself?

Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger Edition, deliveries begin in Q2 2025. Price on application, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

To date, the Vanquish name has graced two distinct Aston Martin product cars. The first was the car that ushered in Aston Martin’s 21st century, a brutish V12 designed by Ian Callum that set the scene for the company’s modern era. You can still acquire a ‘new’ Vanquish Mk1, courtesy of Callum’s design consultancy and bespoke car maker, in the form of the Vanquish 25, a complete and expensive overhaul of the original that ‘fixes’ some aspects of the original design Callum didn’t care for.

That car ran from 2001 to 2007, surviving the indignities of an intransigent gearbox and an unconvincing stint as an ‘invisible’ Bond car. The second generation Vanquish, succeeded it, and was produced from 2012 to 2018. For our money, this was one of the all-time best-looking Aston Martins, closed or open and a wonderful car to drive to boot.

Upgraded and uprated over its lifespan, the Vanquish retired without equal in the AM line-up, leading many to assume a replacement would swiftly be forthcoming. Indeed, the name was next seen on the Vanquish Vision Concept, a thrilling but ultimately unfulfilled mid-engined proposal.

Now Vanquish is back. In fact, it’s the back of Vanquish that’ll makes the biggest impact. The new flagship, effectively taking over the role from the accomplished Aston Martin DBS that occupied the role from 2018 onwards before bowing out with the DBS 770 Ultimate edition in 2023.

Up front, there’s no escaping the strength of current Aston Martin DNA, in the form of the new Vanquish’s big, deep grille set below two rakish headlights and a deeply fluted and vented bonnet. Underneath this lies a new 5.2 V12 Twin-Turbo engine said to put out 835PS and 1000Nm of torque. To accommodate this, the new car has an 80mm longer wheelbase that its V8-powered DB12 ‘little’ brother.

This added length is very evident in profile, with a long bonnet that flows back to the cockpit-like cabin, down over the signature muscular rear haunches and then terminating abruptly in a cut-off tail. The visual effect brings to mind a trio of recent bespoke Aston Martins, including 2020’s one-off Aston Martin Victor and the more recent 2023 Valour and this year’s Valiant, which in turn were a nod to the especially brutal Astons of the 70s and 80s, when styling influences shifted from the delicate forms shaped by Italian carrozzeria to the brawnier American muscle cars.

Suffice to say, the new Vanquish blends together a bit of both, creating a uniquely muscular and British statement in the process. This car has to go head to head with the very best from Ferrari, particularly the sensational new 12Cilidnri, with which it shares a basic ethos; excessively powerful, long, low and glamorous, with a focus on big performance and ultimate refinement.

At this point it’s worth cracking out the Top Trumps, because Ferrari quote 830PS and a 211mph+ top speed for their new flagship; Aston has cannily gone one louder with the Vanquish’s 214mph maximum speed and 835PS. The near parity of these figures and Aston Martin’s headline-grabbing but meaningless victory is in no way accidental; the team at Maranello is presumably busy planning a leap-frogging performance boost at this very moment.

That 214mph top speed is all about bragging rights – nigh-on impossible to achieve on almost every race track, let alone the autobahn, but an essential stat in the long-running game of 1% one upmanship. It’s also apparently the ‘highest maximum speed of any Aston Martin series production car’, a slightly torturous construction that excludes barnstorming limited cars like the One-77 and Valkyrie.

Way more important is how the Vanquish comports itself at all sorts of speeds, how well appointed the cockpit is and whether or not it’s the kind of car you want to live with and not just stick in a climate-controlled facility and wait for it to appreciate. In terms of comfort and ergonomics, the Vanquish looks like it’s beaten its near rivals to the punch, with a rich, leather-stuffed interior and a clean, unfussy instrument binnacle and dashboard.

Taking a cue from the cabin architecture found in Vantage, DB12 and DBX707, it’s a world apart from over-fussy Aston interiors of old and also markedly different from the moodier, muddled Ferrari. Optional finishes include lightweight Semi Aniline Leather and Alcantara, with brushes metal trim and chrome buttons and the option of cashmere headlining. Audio is provided by Bowers & Wilkins. All this sits beneath a full-length panoramic glass roof.

Aston Martin will make less than 1,000 examples of the Vanquish each year, preserving its exclusivity and desirability whilst also keeping a cap on its fleet average CO2 rating. Reverting to a production V12 is all very well for performance and status, but there’s no escaping the fact that no amount of engineering wizardry can spirit away the inevitable weight and emissions that come with a bigger engine. Vanquish puts out 312 g/km, even more than the massive DBX 707 SUV.

Whereas some supercar makers weasel out of the emissions impact of their products, claiming that owners tend do a minimal amount of mileage in their prized possessions, the Vanquish is first and foremost a GT car and we’d wager than most will be driven on a regular basis. To tame the power, the car has a huge suite of dynamic vehicle control systems, all of which are intended to silently and instantly flatter the driver and let them get the best out of the car.

But it’s the design that wins it for Vanquish. Inside and out, the two-seater Aston Martin Vanquish delivers the requisite combination of drama, elegance, comfort and technology.

Aston Martin Vanquish, available from Q4 2024
AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

This is the Aston Martin Valiant, a thrilling throwback to the brand’s most brutalist era of high output, exceptionally muscular sports cars. A derivation of the strictly limited-edition Aston Martin Valour, unveiled this time last year to mark the company’s 110th birthday, the Valiant will be more limited still; 38 units to the 110 Valours. All are already spoken for, naturally.

What gives the Valiant added punch is the dramatic body kit, an extremist confection of carbon fibre and sharp angles that cloaks an already muscular machine. Although road legal, Aston Martin describe the Valiant as ‘track-focused’, pointing out that the original concept for the model came from a personal commission from none other than Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team driver Fernando Alonso.

Alonso’s suggestions for a highly tweaked Valour became the Valiant you see here, thanks to the work of the Q by Aston Martin bespoke service, which has ramped up the 70s muscle car inspired looks of the Valour with race-inspired styling cues. In addition to the a hefty rear wing, deep carbon fibre aero splitters front and rear (the latter bisected by no less than four exhaust pipes), the Valiant shares the very analogue, manual approach of its sister car.

For the uninitiated, that means pairing Aston Martin’s mighty 745PS Twin Turbo 5.2-litre V12 with a six-speed manual gearbox, rendered as a gloriously mechanical confection of linkages and machined metal in the heart of the car. The chassis specification has also been uprated to place more emphasis on track dynamics – this is a low, ground-hugging car – so a roll cage has been fitted as standard.

Carbon fibre is everywhere, inside and out. This includes the entire bodywork, as well as the bespoke interior, with extensive use of magnesium and titanium components and even 3D printing for certain components, such as the rear sub-frame. Magnesium is used for the 21” wheels, and even the car battery is a motorsport-spec lithium-ion unit.

Cars like the Valiant still play a big role in Aston Martin’s world view. It is a company that bridges many worlds, from luxury performance SUVs, grand tourers, all-out sports cars, a Formula 1 team, GT racing, ultra-limited-edition hypercars and, next year, a challenger at the Le Mans 24 Hours. In amongst all of this, the ability to build ultra-short run models to exacting customer specifications is both a source of pride and a way of showing the brand’s core values off to the world.

A small handful of lucky owners will get to experience this car, sure to be priced even higher than its predecessor (rumoured to start at around £1m). Whether they wrap it up in cotton wool and keep it as an investment, or try and get the most out of its well-credential performance capabilities is of course entirely up to them. However, it would be a shame not to experience the Valiant in its element, given the lengths Aston Martin has gone to make it stand out.

‘Valiant is an extrovert. One look leaves you in no doubt of its intentions,’ says Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, ‘it takes clear inspiration from motorsport, expressing its character through dramatic, muscular form and a plethora of beautiful, functional details.’

Aston Martin continues to elevate its dynamic luxury image with a substantial and thorough overhaul of its ‘junior’ model. The result is something of a pocket supercar, a worthy competitor in a competitive field of status-infused sports cars. Announced earlier this year, the new Aston Martin Vantage is physically and mechanically transformed by the updates, inside and out. 

Aston has applied the Vantage badge to a vastly disparate range of cars over the past 75 years, all united by a focus on performance. The modern Vantage era began back in 2005, when the company revealed the V8 Vantage concept, a sister car to the 2003 Aston Martin DB9.

Built on Aston Martin’s then freshly developed ‘VH’ aluminium architecture, the compact V8 Vantage was a sporting proposition from the outset. It was also a hugely successful racing car, and victories on the track were parlayed into increasingly ferocious limited-edition road cars, like the V8 Vantage N420.

Despite this focus, the original Vantage usually played second fiddle to the DB9 and DBS, a hierarchy that survived into the DB11 era; the corresponding Vantage model didn’t quite have the cachet or class of the larger GT. Yes, it was still a better drive and the equivalent race car was even more competitive, but as an expression of ‘ultimate sporting luxury’, it fell rather flat, not least in the chaotic interior that one had to tolerate, rather than luxuriate in.

The new Vantage aims to change all that. For decades, supercar makers have been slowly and surely turning up the wick on their products, carefully looking over each other’s shoulders to ensure that each successive model has more power and better stats than its predecessor and its rivals.

It's an arms race that no one can win, now that electrification has comprehensively swept the board with big numbers that can’t be matched through combustion. If you’re Aston Martin – and Ferrari and Lamborghini – this is potentially a problem. Luxury sports car makers have traditionally drawn parallels between power and passion, sound and sensation and cylinders and class, a set-up that swiftly unravels when faced with the insipid whine of electric motors and the absence of slick gear shifts and spinning rev counters. 

As a result, beneath the Vantage’s sculpted bonnet it’s very much business as usual. Aston Martin has a long-running partnership with Mercedes-AMG, and it’s the latter’s twin-turbo-charged V8 that provides the shove. This is the same unit found in the DB12 and DBX707, as well as several of AMG’s own products. Here it’s been uprated to put out 665PS, which pushes the Vantage’s top speed to over 200mph with an EV-baiting 0-62mph sprint of 3.5 seconds. Is that finally enough? 

Taken on their own, these mechanical upgrades would probably sate the most dedicated drivers, but the more aesthetically minded will be delighted to find a brand new interior, with new levels of quality and consideration given to graphics, screens, switchgear and interfaces alike, as well as a more fluent, elegant exterior.

From the front, new Vantage has a wider, bolder stance, with a large grille and side vents that bring to mind the One-77 Hypercar unveiled back in 2008. Headlights and taillights are similarly inspired, as is the exaggerated and expanded side vent detail that has been a Vantage mainstay for decades. It’s not a pretty car, per se, but an undeniably attractive one, with fine proportions and a carefully considered stance that conveys a sense of innate power from any angle.

Aston Martin Vantage review: on the road and track in Spain

On the open road, in sparsely trafficked southern Spain, the Vantage is in its element. Long sweeping curves, dry surfaces, an almost complete absence of other vehicles and bright sunshine encouraged the assembled press fleet to make rapid progress across a well-chosen selection of roads. It’s impossible to explore the limits of a fast modern sports car in a public place – and nor should you try – but the Vantage’s forte is the effortless, overwhelming surge of power on tap and the precise, well weighted steering. None of these things need to be anywhere near the limit to be experienced, nor do you have to be a professional driver to benefit from the car’s perfect 50:50 weight balance.

A couple of hundred kilometres passed in a pleasing blur, in which time the new interior got scarcely a glance. A welcome return to dials and buttons ensures that familiarity will bring greater confidence, even if the on-screen typography is a little too small at times. Other key functions, like the multi-stage traction control – could also do with more prominence. Seats are tastefully trimmed and stitched, supportive and sober (more outlandish personal preferences can of course be indulged at extra cost), and the Cosmic Orange exterior complemented the car’s lines without crossing over into brashness.

We followed up the road route with some time on the local Monteblanco Circuit, starting behind the official Vantage F1 Safety Car for a few laps before the track was ours. It was here that the dichotomy of the desirable supercar was laid bare. At first, the Vantage was a reassuring companion on an unfamiliar circuit, a sports car with baked in experience of twists and turns, rapid downshifts and closely cut apexes. Sadly, the same could not be said for your writer’s expertise. 

Before long, we had trespassed outside our zone of competence to find a place where even the most sophisticated chassis and steering couldn’t help. Buried in the tyre wall while watching a marshal wave the red flag is a mortifying and sobering place to be, a reminder that for all the preening, pomp and status that surrounds the contemporary supercar, it is still very much a machine to be treated with respect.

It wasn’t long ago that we were musing about the future of the supercar, and wondering aloud if the 2022 Aston Martin V12 Vantage was a last hurrah from the company’s long association with 12-cylinder engines. Barely 18 months later, and Aston Martin has announced a revised and updated V12 to keep pace with demand, an engine that’s set to debut in the new Aston Martin Vanquish due to be revealed later this summer. 

The Vantage might be Aston Martin’s lowliest model, but its sheer power and poise show that the hierarchy of ultra-luxury now starts from a very elevated point indeed. Any new paradigms in automotive technology still have a long climb to catch up. 

Aston Martin Vantage, from £165,000, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

It’s been a long road to Aston Martin's new Miami residences, the 66-storey tower rising above the shoreline where the Miami River meets Biscayne Bay. Officially opening today, the 800ft-plus tower contains 391 apartments, 99 per cent of which have now been sold. Like other car companies branching out into real estate, Aston Martin kicked off this project – developed in collaboration with G&G Business Developments – with the hope of bringing its design values to architecture, capturing the imagination of East Coast owners.

Discussing Aston Martin’s Miami residences

We spoke to Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s executive vice president and chief creative officer, about the genesis of the project, the extent of the car maker’s involvement and the next steps for the Aston Martin brand. Back in 2021 we talked to Reichman and G&G’s CEO, Germán Coto, about a project that had just topped out. Two and a half years later, how has it all turned out? 

‘We signed on to this project a decade ago,’ Reichman says from Shanghai, where he’s about to attend the Chinese Grand Prix. ‘Every aspect of the scheme was very important to us, from the 390 apartments to the lobby, the garaging, the amenities.’ Pointing out that every apartment from the swimming pool level upwards gets an Aston thrown in, he also notes that one in eight buyers were already owners.

Reichman and the rest of the Aston Martin design team worked hand in hand with Rodolfo Miani of Miami, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires firm Bodas Miani Anger (BMA) and Seville’s Revuelta Architecture. ‘It’s been very intense, a wonderful project on an extremely spectacular site,’ Reichman says, adding that although Covid put a spike in the original timetable, G&G were nothing but supportive, ensuring that specs remaining sky high throughout.

Unlike other branded towers, it was deemed essential that the Aston Martin Residences had a presence on the skyline that befitted a maker of svelte, proportionally perfect luxury sports cars. The sail-like profile of the tower is certainly distinctive, standing out from the surrounding cluster with flowing lines and a distinctive notch on the 55th floor. Here, you’ll find an infinity pool with a view, surrounded by Jacuzzis and cabanas, as well as the Aston Martin-design sky bar and lounge, ballroom and private dining areas.

All that remains to be sold is the 20,000 square feet triplex penthouse, one of the penthouses in the development. This has its own private pool deck, over 7,000 sq ft of wraparound balconies and a price tag of around $59 million. Every occupant has the option to engage the ‘Q by Aston Martin’ bespoke division to enhance their apartment specification (three interior design styles are available, Timeless, Covert and Indulgent), but there’s also a massive focus on the shared amenity areas.

‘This is your home, so the main entrance lobby and concierge desk are very important,’ Reichman says. ‘From the marble to the artworks, the desk itself and even the scent, everything has been overseen.’ That extends to individualised lift cars, the use of automotive-quality leather on the door handles and specially developed keyless locks. ‘We’ve even designed the reader you hold your phone to,’ Reichman says.

Detailed designs were also prepared for the club and pool areas that extend from the 52nd to 55th floor. This ‘sky gallery’ is united by a central glass staircase. ‘You arrive at this hanging lobby, four storeys high,’ says Reichman, ‘with grey Italian marble floors throughout. Every detail is considered, from the way the exercise bikes and gym machines are countersunk into the floor to appear flush with the building. We’ve even designed the seats in the private cinema.’

‘We’ve really created an Aston Martin living space,’ Reichman concludes. Other architectural projects from the company include the No.001 Minami Aoyama house in Tokyo, and the Sylvan Rock private house in upstate New York. Commenting on the difference between architecture and automotive, Reichman notes that ‘you never really see everything until the very end of a project – 90 per cent of the time you’re in a hard hat and things are swathed in scaffolding.’ 

Architecture, furniture design, watches, a speedboat and even a helicopter have all helped Aston Martin broaden its reach deeper into the superluxury sector. And it’s not stopping there. ‘Our criteria is one very special building per city,’ Reichman says when asked about future architectural projects. As for 300 Biscayne Boulevard Way, it’ll remain a rare monument to a singular and very driven design vision. ‘More than anything, it was about being the first automotive brand to do this,' says Reichman. 'It’s changed the skyline of Miami with its silhouette.’ You can’t ask for a much bigger brand statement than that. 

 AstonMartinResidences.com 

AstonMartin.com

BMAestudio.com.ar

Revuelta.com

GandGbd.com

Aston Martin has completed the process of overhauling its core models, bringing new interiors and technology to a trio of cars that had been hamstrung by this crucial aspect of their design. That’s not to say the old Aston Martin DB11, Vantage and original DBX were sunk by their interiors but despite their material, tactile and olfactory advantages, the underlying ergonomics and function were tolerable at best. It was a testament to the brand that an Aston Martin remained lovable despite its interior quirks.

No longer. The replacements for the former, starting with the DB12, followed by the new Vantage and completed by the DBX707, shown here, have all set out to banish the issue of second-hand HMI systems and ergonomic afterthoughts. 

Inside the new Aston Martin DBX707

With the new infotainment system comes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a scattering of USB-C points around the cabin. There’s also an updated Aston Martin customer app that dovetails with the car’s system. The main instrument binnacle is 12.3in (the largest ever fitted to an Aston Martin), with a 10.25in infotainment touchscreen offset by a generous helping of buttons. Digital and analogue sit together.

Alongside the controls and underlying systems, the physical layout of the interior has also been improved. Naturally you don’t have to specify it in the retina-searing colour shown here, but revised door handles, air vents, door panels and new materials are all available, including ziricote wood, piano black and carbon fibre veneers. 

What’s also of note is that DBX707, formerly the flagship model of the company’s first SUV, is now the only powertrain you can buy. Named for the amount of horsepower put out by the twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, it implies that AM buyers didn’t want to beat about the bush and simply chose the highest spec available, disregarding the ‘standard’ V8. You’ll have to shell out a bit more for the 23-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system, however.

There’s not really enough space in the world to put a modern performance SUV through its paces; this is a big, heavy car that seems to defy all physical laws as it slingshots its way through the nine-speed gearbox to a top speed of 193mph. 

Alongside competitors like the Lamborghini Urus S  and the Range Rover Sport SV, these titanic machines seem to mock the very idea of modesty and restraint. If you’re comfortable with the size, sound and sheer chutzpah of this scale of automotive statement, the DBX707 probably has more class than most.

Aston Martin DBX707, details at AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

Aston Martin has always had a rosy relationship with Japan. The sports car maker’s elegant output and close affiliation with all things tailored, British and sleek has given Aston Martin something of a cult reputation over the decades, and the company’s latest foray in the region will do its image no harm.

Aston Martin Ginza showroom emphasises luxury

With an opening timed to align with April’s Japanese Grand Prix 2024, the new Aston Martin Ginza showroom brings the refreshed brand image to Asia for the first time, following on from the 2023 opening of Q New York. Located within The Peninsula Tokyo, the new space demonstrates Aston Martin’s ongoing push into the upper end of the luxury market. 

As with the New York showroom, the Tokyo location is designed to place the emphasis on the customisation and personalisation programmes provided by Aston Martin’s ‘Q by Aston Martin’ division. The 324 sq m space is arranged across two storeys and contains a digital media wall and customer lounge for specifying new cars, in addition to space to display up to three Aston Martin cars at any one time. 

The Japanese market has responded well to recent launches like the DBX707 SUV and the new DB12. With May 2024’s launch of the thoroughly revised Aston Martin Vantage, the current sports car line-up will be completely refreshed. 

As Aston Martin’s global chief brand and commercial officer Marco Mattiacci notes, ‘Tokyo is one of the most important centres of luxury in the world. Having been the number one city location for new Aston Martin sales in 2023, we are delighted to double our retail presence with this stunning new landmark showroom in the five-star hotel, The Peninsula Tokyo.’

The new site joins the existing Aston Martin Tokyo location. The Peninsula Tokyo is centrally placed alongside Tokyo’s Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park, forming one of the landmarks of the Ginza district. Pairing the Aston Martin brand with this icon of five-star luxury feels like a natural progression for a brand.

Personalisation is on the rise for every luxury car brand, with new models carefully designed to facilitate the incorporation of bespoke material and colour choices. Q by Aston Martin has seen a 36 per cent global growth, year on year, and the services offered ranges from relatively simple colour and trim requests right up to completely bespoke cars like the DBR22 roadster, the DBS770 Ultimate, the one-off Aston Martin Victor and the limited series Aston Martin Valour.

With the imminent arrival of new leadership in the experienced form of former Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark, as well as a number of upcoming and as yet undisclosed product launches – including its foray into electrification - the venerable company will continue to evolve throughout the rest of the 2020s. 

Aston Martin Ginza, The Peninsula Hotel, Toyko, Japan, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

Just as the Aston Martin DB12 represented a thorough overhaul of the Aston Martin DB11, rather than being an all-new car from the ground up, this newest version of the Vantage takes the 2018 model and gives it a thorough shaking down. 

New for 2024 and absolutely, categorically and undeniably the last (volume) all-ICE sports car to be produced by the storied British manufacturer, the new Aston Martin Vantage follows the company’s time-honoured process of refining, refining, refining, inside and out, until the end result is as near perfect as can be. (We’ve since taken it for a spin on the road and the track – read our Aston Martin Vantage review.)

2024 Aston Martin Vantage

Aston calls this the ‘definitive front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car’, a description of an enduring engineering package that won’t mean much to drivers weaned on EVs. But a fair proportion of Aston owners are resolutely old school in their outlook, and although this Vantage is the most technologically advanced car ever to bear the name, the most important part is a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine and perfect 50:50 weight balance.

The Vantage name returned to the Aston Martin line-up with the Vantage V8 in 2005, reviving a badge that was first deployed on the 1951 DB2 Vantage. Since then, it has become shorthand for the most sporting and compact car in the company’s line-up, a strict two-seater pitched at enthusiast drivers. Alongside the Vantage road cars, Aston Martin has developed a highly successful racing variant, run by both the factory and private teams, latterly in the GT3 championships.

This heavily refreshed model has a lot to live up to and a big legacy to leave, for it is undoubtedly the last Vantage to ever be purely petrol-powered. For a lot of diehard Aston fans, that’s a good reason to mourn, even though this machine goes out at the very peak of its powers (including a top speed of 202mph and 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds).

More importantly for future models, the interior architecture and infotainment system has been given a very welcome overhaul. The interior was the biggest downside to the earlier car, and Aston has taken the layout and tech from its DB12 and deployed it to very good effect in this smaller car.

There are big changes outside as well, even though the basic architecture and proportions haven’t altered. The new Vantage gets Aston’s current grille and headlight design, as well as a more curvaceous and muscular body shape. It evokes the stance and presence of Aston’s earlier One-77 hypercar, which can only be a good thing.

We'll be getting behind the refreshed steering wheel of this important machine in due course and report back on how Aston Martin is evolving for changing times. 

Aston Martin Vantage, deliveries from Q2 2024, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin 

This was the year that EVs went thoroughly mainstream, even as political dithering dented the emphasis on the urgency of the need to switch from ICE. There were still a few notable novelties in the latter sphere, perhaps buoyed by mixed official messaging and the belief that fossil fuels somehow deserved a future in the hands of the well-heeled. Whilst we thoroughly enjoyed the latest from Ferrari, Maserati, and Aston Martin, there’s an undeniable feeling of an era drawing to a close. Will the old guard manage to rewrite the rule book, or will new brands without the heavy drag of heritage be able to get ahead? Peruse our picks of 2023 (in no particular order)…

Top 10 cars of 2023

01. Audi e-tron GT

We loved Audi’s e-tron GT, a handsome grand tourer that shows that premium electric cars need not be about over-powered hypercars or hefty SUVs. Expect a face-lifted and lightly upgraded version of the GT to break cover in 2024 – we’re looking forward to it. 

READ MORE 

02. Hyundai Ioniq 6

Hyundai kept up its current winning streak with the sleek Ioniq 6, a streamlined electric saloon that showed that design could be bold and different without alienating anyone. 

READ MORE

03. Volkswagen ID.Buzz

VW has a hit on its hands with the ID.Buzz, a flexible MPV that’s equally at home as a car or a commercial vehicle. The high-riding driving position and acres of space recall the original VW Combi and 2024 should see 7-seater and campervan variants arrive.

READ MORE

04. Rolls-Royce Spectre

Rolls-Royce spoiled us with the all-electric Spectre, a mighty achievement that goes straight to the top of the luxury wish-list. Serene, majestic yet also sprightly and long-legged, the vast coupé epitomises the company’s long-held ethos.  

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05. Lotus Eletre

The Lotus Eletre follows the familiar playbook for all-new electric auto brands; start with a sizeable SUV and eventually downscale. Only Lotus is no start-up. The Eletre might not demonstrate the venerable sports car maker’s historic passion for lightness, but it’s a truly convincing piece of kit. Next year sees the arrival of the new Emeya electric saloon.

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06. Ferrari Roma Spider

Ferrari threw open the roads of Sardinia for the launch of its beautiful Roma Spider, reasoning that the media would look most kindly on the car if it was in its natural environment. It succeeded; in the right location, the Spider encapsulates la dolce vita.

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07. Aston Martin DB12

Something of a glorious anachronism, the DB12 is the automotive equivalent of a long-running film franchise that manages to stay fresh and relevant with each release. Essentially an uprated and restyled DB11, the DB12 retains the essential elements of beauty and brawn, only now it’s a little more user friendly. 

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08. Maserati MC20

The MC20 was a mild surprise for long-time followers of Italian manufacturer Maserati. Just when it seemed the company had sacrificed over a century of history on the altar of the dreaded SUV, it came out with this magnificent mid-engined supercar. Old-school cool in all the right ways. 2024 marks Maserati’s 110th birthday, so expect some kind of four-wheeled celebration. 

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09. Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

Another modern Italian masterpiece, the 33 Stradale is a strictly limited-edition hypercar. Unveiled back in August, it pointed to a mini design renaissance for the firm, once the unrivalled masters of making beautiful cars at every price point. If just 10 per cent of the 33 Stradale’s good looks make it into the next all-electric generation of Alfa road cars, the company’s future looks bright.

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10. David Brown Automotive Mini eMastered

Finally, a leftfield choice that merges truly iconic design with up-to-the-minute technology. DBA’s Mini eMastered is both strikingly brilliant and fantastically expensive. The ultimate luxury city car?  

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This meticulously finished machine is the result of a collaboration between Aston Martin and titanium bicycle specialist J.Laverack. The J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R is a handcrafted road bicycle that is tailored to each owner like a bespoke suit. Aston Martin will be offering up their online configurator for customers to explore all the available options on a bicycle that blends high-tech materials with handcrafts.

J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R bicycle

J.Laverack specialises in creating bikes from titanium. Based in Rutland, the company was founded in 2015 by Oliver Laverack and David Clow and consists of made-to-measure bicycles designed for a variety of applications, including road bikes, gravel bikes, urban bikes and mountain bikes.

The J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R combines 3D-printed titanium lugs and sculpted carbon-fibre tubes, resulting in a design that appears ‘visually boltless’ but which is also ultra strong and light. Carbon-fibre finishes can be left bare or painted to the customer’s specification (matching bicycles to existing cars is expected to be a popular choice). 

‘Working in collaboration with Aston Martin we have not only taken our titanium bicycles to new heights but have also unlocked true innovation within the cycling industry,’ says Oliver Laverack. ‘We have created a bicycle with unparalleled levels of craftsmanship and performance engineering.’ As a result, everything is seamless, concealed and smooth, with no exposed cables or hoses. 

Aston Martin draws parallels between the bicycle design and manufacturing process and its top-end range of hypercars. Owners will undertake their fitting at Aston Martin’s headquarters in Gaydon, UK, as well as undertake a guided specification process with Aston Martin’s design team. The finished bikes will all be numbered, with a special travel and display case supplied with each .1R, along with a handmade wooden tool case.

Small but pointed details are present throughout, like the use of the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s ultra-thin titanium badge, and a miniature replica of the hypercar’s wheel design on the titanium piston caps of the bike brakes.  

A full range of gearing options can be fitted according to personal preference, and all componentry is selected from the leading manufacturers in the field of racing and road bikes. The .1R is finished off with a specially commissioned saddle from the esteemed British manufacturer Brooks, trimmed in the owner’s choice of leather or Alcantara, as are the handlebar grips.

Aston Martin points out that its founders, Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, first met at London’s Bath Road Club, one of the world’s oldest cycling clubs. The J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R Bicycle is therefore heir to a longstanding tradition of collaboration and engineering excellence. 

JLaverack.co.uk

Aston Martin.JLaverack.co.uk 

Configurator.AstonMartin.com

So you want to be an Instagram star? Consider investing in a vintage Fiat 500 Jolly beach car. An adorable sky-blue model from 1959, with wicker seats and an open roof, went up for auction at this year’s Zoute Sale in Knokke-Heist, Belgium. Prior to the sale, it took a few last trips through town, as delighted bystanders smiled, waved, and snapped photos galore.

The beach community known as Knokke Le Zoute was having one of the year’s busiest weekends, thanks to the annual Zoute Grand Prix, a four-day high-end car, art, and lifestyle festival in early October that includes a BonhamsCars auction of vintage and classic cars, an exhibition of new top-of-the-line contemporary cars, a three-day classic car rally, and a GT tour.

Buckle up for the Zoute Grand Prix

The Fiat Jolly had competition for attention – seemingly every other car on the road that weekend was a collector’s item, and the quiet atmosphere was punctuated by the muscular growl of revving engines. At the luxury La Réserve hotel, teenage boys, ‘car spotters’, circled the parking lot, cameras in hand. A particularly excited group gathered to photograph a Bugatti Chiron with German plates. One spotter, from Luxembourg, explained that an alert about the car had gone out on social media. ‘You don’t see many like this,’ he said, kissing his fingers appreciatively.

But fine cars are never an unusual sight here; even a young woman working in the hotel lobby pulled out her phone to show off her family’s two Porsches. Asked whether anyone here drives a Subaru, she just laughed. ‘This is Knokke.’

Commonly referred to as Belgium’s Saint-Tropez, Knokke-Heist was settled at the beginning of the 20th century by three families who catered to British tourists by building a golf course, tennis courts, stables, and white villas with red tile roofs. 

Today, Knokke counts 33,000 inhabitants and 110,000 owners of second homes. Name a monarch or billionaire, and he (or she) is probably here. People are drawn not only by the favourable tax code, but also by 11km of sandy beach, high-end shopping, Michelin-starred restaurants, and a thriving art scene. The town’s art deco casino boasts an astonishing 360-degree mural by Belgian Surrealist René Magritte, measuring 70m wide by 7m tall (soon to be restored as part of a major facelift by TAB Architects and Barozzi Veiga).

The town contains 90 art galleries in just two square kilometres. Perhaps its most prestigious dealer is Guy Pieters, the Belgian son of a house painter who opened his first gallery in Knokke in 1981, knowing he would find collectors nearby. One of his longtime artists is Wolfgang Volz, Christo’s exclusive photographer, who was in town to show his photos of the wrapped Arc de Triomphe. ‘I didn’t know how to spell Knokke,’ said Volz. ‘Now I’ve had about five solo exhibitions here.’

Another artist in Knokke for the weekend was Princess Delphine of Belgium, only recently recognised as part of the royal family after her father, King Albert II, was obliged by the courts to take a DNA test. She drove the last leg of the auto rally in a BMW 507 roadster (lent by BMW from its heritage fleet), just like the one Elvis Presley acquired when doing his military service in Germany. 

Female drivers were definitely a minority in the Zoute Rally, which attracted 250 historic cars and typically has a waiting list. A woman named Patricia, from Antwerp, took the wheel of a red 1963 Jaguar E-Type, while her male partner navigated. When asked why she got to drive, she smiled: ‘Because it’s my car.’

The Zoute Grand Prix was founded in 2010 by two brothers, Filip and David Bourgoo, who owned an Audi-Bentley dealership. Believing that motor shows had grown too big and no longer attracted the right people, they displayed a new car in central Knokke, in front of the Louis Vuitton boutique. Sensing an opportunity, Ferrari asked them to build a marquee for its new products. Other brands followed. ‘Ten years ago, we had to beg to sell cars in Knokke,’ said Filip. ‘Now they’re queuing.’

Collector’s items, contemporary and classic

Visitors paid €75 for a ticket to enter the Grand Prix’s two beachside pavilions. In the Prado Zoute pavilion, 21 car manufacturers showed their latest models, from the Lamborghini Revuelto to the Ferrari Purosangue four-seater. Around half were electric. The car drawing the biggest crowds was the fully electric Rolls-Royce Spectre that customers had just started receiving that very week. The beautiful beast weighed 3 tonnes, with a choice of 44,000 paint colours, and a price tag of €525,000. Product expert Ed Drake said that the car’s bespoke road sound (to alert pedestrians to its presence) was recorded by an orchestra imitating the sound of a Rolls-Royce accelerating.  

Tucked away among the collector cars was the new Rimac Nevera, the young Croatian brand’s first commercial automobile, which has set the record as the world’s fastest electric production car: 0-100 km/h in 1.81 seconds. Brand manager Bernard Van Bellingen said they sold one car this year – a special version, to a buyer in Belgium, for €2.4 million – and that the year’s second sale ‘will arrive’.

There are cars that people drive, and those that sit pretty. The latter, 96 collector cars, were on display in the Zoute Gallery pavilion. Many had barely ever touched asphalt. All of them hit the block on Sunday at BonhamsCars’ tenth annual Zoute Sale, which has quickly become one of the world’s most important auctions of rare collection cars. Ruinart Champagne flowed freely, poured by servers in Magritte-inspired bowler hats. 

Several cars (notably supercars and hypercars), sold for close to one million euros or more, receiving audience applause each time they hit the milestone. An immaculate 2014 Porsche 918 Spyder with less than 400km on the odometer doubled its bottom estimate to reach €1.2 million. ‘Who woulda thought?’ said the auctioneer, Maarten ten Holder, managing director of BonhamsCars, as it blew past one million.

Surprising rarities included a 1997 SAAB EX prototype, a one-of-a-kind car made for the company’s 50th anniversary. A collection of eight different Aston Martins from 2010 were all painted the same tangerine orange colour – a special request by the original owner. A 1956 Bentley S-Type Continental was formerly driven by Helmut Newton. And a 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante once cradled J.Lo’s bottom in her ‘Love Don’t Cost a Thing’ music video. Love may be cheap, but this car ended up being a steal at just over €40,000.

The star of the sale was a stunning beige 1959 Ferrari 250 GT ‘Tour de France’ with all original parts, owned for 37 years by Swiss racing driver Plinio Haas. It went for slightly below its estimate, €4.83 million (including premium), to a North American client, pushing the day’s total sales to more than €27 million, a record for BonhamsCars.

And the little blue Fiat Jolly? After a round of lively bidding, it sold for an impressive €155,250 to a bidder from the United Arab Emirates.

Zoute Grand Prix, ZouteGrandPrix.be, Cars.Bonhams.com

Aston Martin likes giving presents to itself to mark big occasions. This is the company’s 110th-anniversary gift, an all-new bespoke, front-engined GT that draws on the rugged, muscular and unreconstructed approach of the machines it hand-built in the 1970s and 1980s. Only 110 Aston Martin Valours will be made, preserving the magic of this retro-tinged return to Aston’s combustion-engined glories. 

As well as the V8 Vantages of old, inspiration also came from the Vantage-based RHAM/1 ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer from 1980 and the 1990s V600 Vantage, both recently evoked by the one-off Aston Martin Victor project unveiled in 2021. The latter was practically sneaked out of the back doors of the factory, so unpopular was it with the incumbent management, but has latterly become something of a cult car. 

Valour adds all this history into the blender, with Aston Martin’s 5.2 litre Twin Turbo V12 up front and – unusually – a six-speed manual transmission developed especially for the car. That’s a critical selling point in this electrified, homogenised and digitalised age, where paddle-operated gearboxes have almost completely replaced traditional shifters. As such, Valour is the only front-engined V12 sports car still available with a manual transmission, a visceral throwback that should work in its favour. Buyers will have a choice of machined aluminium, titanium, carbon fibre or walnut for the gearknob itself. 

Bodywork is brutalist. The bluff front end is pure muscle car, with round headlights returning to an Aston Martin for the first time in decades, while the kicked-up rear spoiler, inset rear light bar and triple exhausts evoke the sparse purity of a race car, as well as the light arrangements on the Valkyrie. Despite the performance upgrades and driver focus, the Valour is a road car. Underneath all this brawn is Aston Martin’s V12 Vantage, soon to be given a major overhaul of its own. 

‘At Aston Martin our design is always progressive, but when it comes to celebrating a significant milestone – in this instance our 110th birthday – we allow ourselves a little latitude,’ says Aston Martin’s director of design, Miles Nurnberger. ‘Consequently, Valour is gloriously unapologetic; an old-school brute refined and reimagined through the lens of 2023. Making a return to a chiselled shape, moving away from the more sculptural forms that define current series production Aston Martin’s, with bold details and modern materials root in the present.’

Bespoke options, provided by the company’s Q Division, are typically limitless, although the company’s design department will be happy to conjure up a custom livery based on a collection of stripes and graphic forms. There’s no word on price just yet, but suffice to say that if you’re in the market for such a vehicle, then you’ve probably already received a call from Aston Martin’s team. 

Aston Martin Valour, price tbc, AstonMartin.com

In a fridge at The Little Car Company’s factory at Bicester Heritage in Oxfordshire is a bottle of champagne. The idea is that anyone who drives a mile in one of the company’s bespoke electric classic cars and doesn’t return with a smile on their face wins the bubbles. To date, four years after the company was established, the bottle remains unopened. 

The Little Car Company (TLCC) is the brainchild of Ben Hedley. Founded by 2019, its first project was the Bugatti Baby II, a meticulous recreation of the famous pre-war single-seat Type 35 Grand Prix car. 

Built at 75 per cent scale, with exacting attention to detail, the prototype, Hedley proudly tells, was sent over to Bugatti's HQ at Molsheim in France for approval, where it received a rapturous reception. Hedley originally intended to create a modern update of Ettore Bugatti’s own Bugatti Baby, a driveable 50 per cent scale model built in 1926 for his son Jean that went into limited production for eager customers. 

The Little Car Company and its electric dream machines

The original plan had been to create a precise half-scale replica, but Hedley and his team quickly realised that building a ‘junior classic car’ without considering its potential as a grown-up toy would be a missed opportunity. To that end, the Bugatti Baby II was designed from the outset to be as delightful to drive as the original, only this time with electric power at its heart. 

‘I’ve come around to electrification in classic cars,’ Hedley admits, pointing out that ‘the originals are just too expensive to drive’. Examples of the Type 35 have reached prices of nearly £4m in recent years, thanks to its combination of provenance, brilliance and the eternally attractive Bugatti name. TLCC’s Baby II is true to Hedley’s assertion that ‘we don’t do replicas, we do reinterpretations’, with elements taken from Bugatti’s production cars, as well as limited editions built for owners of modern machines like the Mistral. 

‘The brands have realised that they’re educating the next generation of customers,’ Hedley notes, with the second model in TLCC’s portfolio tapping directly into the cerebral cortex of Dinky toy owners who went on to acquire the real thing. The DB5 Junior, officially licensed by Aston Martin, is a very different beast to the stripped-down Bugatti. Plusher and more luxurious, it’s also much more complex, with 1,200 parts versus the Baby II’s 700. The braking system is by Brembo, taken from a Ducati bike, the dampers are by Bilstein, and the car was signed off by Darren Turner, one of Aston Martin’s experienced racing drivers and handling specialists. 

It’s available in three versions, a ‘basic’ model, a high-performance Vantage model and the ultimate in cinematic collectables, the No Time To Die Edition. The last, which starts at £90,000, incorporates a genuine smoke screen, retractable headlight machine guns (not genuine), a revolving digital number plate and more. ‘I was a massive James Bond fan,’ Hedley admits. ‘It sounded like a brilliant idea, but it was actually next-level complexity.’ Just 125 will be made.

Finally, there’s the Testa Rossa J, an immaculately beautiful reconstruction of Ferrari’s legendary late 1950s racing car. Various versions of this classic machine were built, but TLCC have chosen the 1958 250 TR model, bodied by Scaglietti with its distinctive ‘pontoon fenders’. Keen competitors can specify the Pacco Gare model, which increases the power, and adds a roll hoop, spotlights and a tonneau cover. Like the DB5 and Baby II, every element is hand-assembled, with many suppliers drawn from the real world of classic car parts – wire wheels from Borrani, steering wheels from Nardi, instruments by Smiths and tyres from Pirelli. 

‘Ferrari was the last brand on our radar,’ Hedley recalls. ‘I went to Milan to present three options, but they’d already chosen the Testa Rossa. Yes, they’re tough to work with, but once you’re through the door they’re brilliant.’ With a hand-formed aluminium body over a tubular frame, and genuine Ferrari badges on the nose, it’s about as authentic as it could possibly be.  

Remember your racing goggles

We’re back to that bottle of champagne. Bicester Heritage is set within the grounds of a former RAF base and still has active runways. Handily, the extensive taxiways double up as a compact racetrack, so TLCC has plenty of space to show off what its little cars can do. The combination of scale, light weight and a zippy electric motor brings another crucial element to the package; all of these cars are enormously fun to drive. The Bugatti and Ferrari tip the scales at barely 250kg, with the DB5 slightly heavier at 350kg.

All models follow a similar approach, with an electric motor driven by a modular battery system. Want more power? Add another battery. In the Bugatti you sit low but exposed, sticking out of the upright cockpit like a true vintage racer. The small scale means that both DB5 and Testa Rossa offer a similar go-kart-style experience, albeit it’s slightly harder to squeeze down behind the wheel. 

Once you’re there, the little cars of TLCC can be thrown around Bicester’s wide track with abandon. The power is instant, the steering razor sharp. All three cars can be made to slide satisfying around corners, with the squeal of rubber on tarmac the only sound you’ll hear. The Ferrari is a particularly exhilarating experience, with the Pacco Gare’s extra power helping the sleek little machine scythe through the air – racing goggles would have been a good idea. The champagne stays on ice. 

The batteries provide enough juice for around an hour of tearing up the track – and slotting in a new one is a simple trackside operation. Hedley says plans are afoot for an endurance race event with teams of adults and children sharing the driving.  About 90 per cent of TLCC’s cars are exported, with an optional bespoke packing crate serving as a storage garage once they’ve arrived. Many buyers already own the real thing and want their little version to exactly match the livery and trim of the original car. The company also offers a ‘flying doctor’ service for repairs and upgrades. 

‘We build our cars to road car standards, but brands have asked us not to make them road legal,’ Hedley says, adding, ‘although clients have.’ TLCC fans might be interested in the company’s next projects. In a crashing tonal change, the other prototype in build (apart from a very secret project for another storied British manufacturer) is TLCC’s Tamiya Wild One MAX, an electric off-road buggy based not on a real car, but on a remote-control car made by the iconic Japanese modelmaker in the 1980s. 

As a scaled-up model, the Wild One MAX is effectively ‘life-sized’, even though at 3.5m long it’s shorter than a Fiat 500, than with the added bonus of being road legal. The Wild One MAX has a top speed of around 60mph, as well as massive ground clearance for bashing dunes and an optional windscreen. It would take some grit, but you could certainly commute in this if you tried hard enough. Small electric cars now have a new kind of champion. 

Bugatti Baby II, from £31,000, BugattiBaby.com

Aston Martin DB5 Junior, from £39,000, TheLittleCar.Co

Ferrari Testa Rossa J Pacco Gare, price on application, TestaRossaJ.com

Tamiya Wild One MAX, price tbc, WildOneMAX.com

The new Aston Martin DB12 blends clever technology and exacting craftsmanship with brutish design inspiration from the earlier DBS, along with an all-new interior and a steady-eyed focus on the future of the brand. It’s an evocative continuation of the ‘DB’ line that started all the way back in 1948 with the 2-Litre Sports model, the original ‘DB1’. Over the past 75 years, we’ve seen the company run all the way through DB2 to DB11, with the notable omission of a ‘DB8’ (it was deemed to be a confusing name for a V12-powered car). 

Leaving aside the awkward fact that the DB12 is a V8-powered car, Aston Martin is happily ploughing on with its famous naming tradition (presumably kicking the awkward thought of an unlucky DB13 down the road for a few more years). Superficially, what we have here is a substantial upgrade and overhaul of the DB11, introduced in 2016. Aston Martin describes the DB12 as the ‘world’s first Super Tourer’, slicing and dicing the niches at the upper end of the car market still further to suit its current agenda and target audience. 

Up close with the Aston Martin DB12

The first thing to get out of the way is that this car has nothing to do with electrification whatsoever. Although Aston heralds the DB12 as ‘the first of its next-generation sportscars’, there’s not yet any talk of hybridisation, let alone electrification. Aston Martin’s first production PHEV will be the limited-edition Valhalla, a date for which hasn’t yet been announced. In comparison, DB12 is old-school muscle, albeit with a rich veneer of new technology. The latter is evident in the all-new interior, a game-changing development that pushes DB12 straight to the top of its class. 

The interior was always DB11’s Achilles’ heel, an overbearing cascade of switches, dials, displays and outdated interfaces that was, at best, a mild inconvenience that couldn’t quite obscure the essential brilliance of actual driving. Luxury has moved on since then, and even the mildest of inconveniences are no longer tolerated. Hence Aston has made a big investment in a new interiors approach, combining digital and analogue with an all-new bespoke infotainment system and an altogether less oppressive feeling. 

You still sit low and cossetted within the cabin in a sporting driving position that precludes any sight of the end of the long bonnet as it falls away to the signature metal-vaned Aston Martin grille and (Peter Saville-designed) wings logo. Aston Martins aren’t shrinking, and the DB12 adds a few millimetres in every direction on to the already sizeable DB11, so it’s lucky that the steering is so direct and precise, allowing you to place the car on the road with ease. 

The sprightliness comes courtesy of refined and enhanced suspension, with fully adaptive dampers (soft for cruising, firmer for twistier routes), and an uprated 4.0 twin-turbo V8 that puts out 680 PS. That’s theoretically enough for a 202mph top speed, an academic stat that maintains parity with rivals like Ferrari and McLaren, and a 0-6mph sprint in 3.5 seconds.

Such comparisons are all the more potent in 2023 given Aston Martin’s ongoing success in Formula 1 (following a rocky start in 2021). Not only does the sport give the manufacturer a regular chance to trounce its long-running rival Ferrari, F1 also pushes the Aston brand into new markets. It’s an expensive but valuable marketing strategy that is boosted by the company’s very real motorsport origins. 

A ‘Super Tourer’ must be more than just a sprinter, however. To justify this designation, the DB12 needs to have a broad suite of talents. For marketing folk, this means hunting down empty sectors in the Venn diagram of automotive luxury, not as hardcore as Ferrari, nor as luxurious as Rolls-Royce, not as traditional as a Bentley, more tasteful than a Lamborghini, yet somewhere close enough to every benchmark to deserve its own slot.

None of this would matter is the DB12 was not beautiful. In our opinion, it’s the best-looking Aston Martin since the DB9, a fluid composition that maintains the proportional perfection of its predecessor with tighter detailing and an overall muscularity that evokes the 70s-era Vantage. ‘DB12’s styling, features an all-new front-end treatment, wider stance and more muscular surfaces for increased presence,’ explains Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s executive vice president and chief creative officer. ‘The interior has also been completely redesigned,’ he adds, ‘with clean horizontal lines that emphasise the sense of space and provide the perfect contemporary backdrop for new a new state-of-the-art infotainment system.’

These digital details matter more and more. Alongside the crisp typography and simple graphics on the screens, there is a companion Aston Martin App, which communicates directly via the car’s on-board e-SIM. The latter also allows OTA updates of the DB12’s software, with additional services due to be added over time. A subscription service provides expanded functionality, including vehicle management and diagnostics, remote lock and unlock and theft alert. 

The optional surround sound upgrade marks Aston Martin’s first partnership with British audio specialists Bowers & Wilkins. The 1,170W system uses 15 speakers for immersive 3D sound, with components embedded within the car’s structure for better acoustic performance. The infotainment system also supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while oft-used functions like heating and ventilation are operated by physical controls. 

Another first is the inclusion of a ‘Wet’ driving mode in the DB12’s Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) system, selected via the knurled rotary controller in the new centre console. There’s a lot of power to play with, and while the ESP can be overridden if desired, the on-board systems do an excellent job at keeping things in check if you run out of road or ability. There’s also more urgency and vitality than even the fastest DB11, with a propulsive shove accompanied by that howling V8. If this noise is not to your liking, you probably have no place behind the wheel of such a car; at least, that’s what Aston is reasoning right now. Despite the thick-rimmed wheel, the steering is precise and direct, making this a hugely involving car to drive when desired; for everyday driving, it is as docile and refined as a limousine. 

So is the DB12’s Super Tourer designation justified? The romance of the road trip is changing fast, as is the cultural acceptance of driving fast. The DB12 is a celebration of a new era, yet it looks forward while keeping one oily foot in the past. For traditionalists, it’s a car without any conceivable downsides, meaning that current customers and Aston fans can and should rush to sign up. But where does that leave electrification? We’re now at a point in time where a hybridised supercar no longer feels heretical, so could there ever be a PHEV or EV in the DB’s future? Perhaps a designation of tomorrow’s ultimate touring machine would be more convincing if there was. 

Aston Martin DB12, from £185,000, AstonMartin.com

The magnificent new Bentley Batur, claims the brand, is the first-ever limited-edition hypercar that can be realistically used every day. Based on the eminently practical Continental GT, the Batur is for those who don’t want to be a sweaty contortionist in an Aston Martin Valkyrie or Mercedes AMG1, or travel everywhere with a support vehicle full of butlers, like the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail. As a company spokesman explained, Bentley’s ethos is to create cars that make you feel better at the end of a long journey, rather than worse. 

At over £1.6m a pop, we hope new Batur owners will also retain their sense of financial security at journey’s end, for aside some from some headline engine fettling and brand-new bodywork, the Batur is, whisper it, not a massive departure from the current generation GT. Both have the same fluid proportions and grand physical presence, qualities that have defined every Bentley ever since the company started making cars back in 1919.

Ultimately, the Batur is Mulliner’s show, a canvas upon which the in-house coachbuilding division can go to town and deploy its full arsenal of skills, from bespoke to leatherwork to 3D-printed gold. Mulliner’s affiliation with the company dates back to the 1920s, when it would craft bespoke bodywork for what were essentially race-bred engines strapped to tried and tested chassis. 

The independent company was one of many offering a similar service to the high-end automakers of the inter-war era, only to see the craft slowly die out with new construction methods and technologies from the late 1950s onwards. Mulliner was acquired by Bentley in 1959, and is now a fully in-house operation, located in an old-school workshop on Bentley’s Crewe campus. It’s where Bentley builds its continuation cars, like the magnificent recreations of the 1929 Blower and the Le Mans-winning Bentley Speed Six, as well as executing the most indulgent and complex customer requests. 

The Batur, like its sister car the Bacalar convertible, is effectively one such massive customer request. It’s also a bold step for Bentley, which has watched many of its rivals in the luxury sphere move into upscale limited editions as a way of catering to the desires and deep pockets of their most ardent fans. Bentley wasn’t sure if its brand credibility would reach so deep into UHNWI territory, but no-one baulked at the Batur’s sticker price; clearly there’s more mileage to be had out of the company’s little black book. 

Our Bentley Batur test drive

First things first: the aesthetic. While the Batur is unashamedly about the mighty W12 engine at its heart, there are strong hints here at the future shape of electric Bentleys to come, as revealed to us by former Head of Bentley Design Andreas Mindt, who described it as ‘purified Bentley design’. 

The core visual components of this new era represented in the Batur include powerful rear haunches (allegedly inspired by a resting lion), the massive, upright Bentley grille, and the long, long bonnet. The latter elements matter not a jot to a clean-sheet EV design, but Bentley will need to bring decades of design heritage with it during the transition, so expect proportions to remain inspired by classic GTs for the time being, even though radical interior ideas have been mooted in the recent past.

A classic GT is what this car is, as well as being a titanically sybaritic statement. Comparing it with the Continental GT is akin to the difference between a first class seat and a private jet; both are exceptional experiences, only the latter is in a league of its own. 

Our very privileged time behind the wheel of one of only two completed cars to date took place on the volcanic rock-strewn roads of Tenerife, in the midst of a rare tropical storm, so we can’t attest to the car’s dynamic abilities. Suffice to say, the treacherous conditions had no bearing on the cabin ambiance, with its rich material palette, monumental sound system (a £50,000 option developed in collaboration with French audio specialist Focal), or even the distant noise of that mighty engine. 

Paul Williams, Bentley's head of powertrain, explains how the mighty W12 engine has been retuned for more overall power, giving the car a zero to 60 sprint of around 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 209mph, both marginal gains over the original, but significant enough to those that care. Progress is effortless, refinement first rate, and comfort and accoutrements nothing short of excellent. 

One of these first two completed cars was Bentley’s final validation machine; the other the original engineering prototype. You wouldn't know it to look at them, given the exacting finishes and lustrous paintwork. The latter car has already travelled over 25,000 miles, a figure that could conceivably be more than all the other Bentley Baturs collectively achieve over the next few decades. 

But should such extravagant machines be put to work as regular transport, their lucky owners have surely made a wise choice; no one straps into a low-slung, Formula 1-inspired slingshot for a brief spin on public roads, unless they’re a masochistic extrovert. In contrast, the Batur doesn’t shout (depending on colour choice) and could even be considered as the ultimate expression of stealth wealth.

It’s unlikely that all 18 Batur customers will be chosing low-key options. Mulliner prepared four sample specifications to show what could be achieved, with a good eye and a bit of training, with bodywork in a number of vivid and exotically named colours like Wasabi, Sunbeam, Daybright Blue and Black Crystal. Given that the combination of interior colour and material choices run into the billions, a bit of informed curation is probably wise. 

One senses that the more striking elements, like the 18ct gold Bentley Dynamic Drive Selector, are answers to questions that were never asked, but once an option is on the books, someone somewhere will no doubt want to select it. Only the windscreen and A-pillars are shared with the original GT, with a wider track and sleeker, precisely fitted panels made of carbon fibre – hand-built allows for much tighter tolerances. 

Despite this wealth of experience and willing buyers, Bentley still finds itself playing catch-up. Rolls-Royce is the first ultra-luxury brand to stick its head up above the parapet of electrification, bringing the new Spectre electric coupé to market a full 18 months ahead of Bentley’s first electric effort. Behind each legendary British badge is a Teutonic titan of the contemporary motor industry (Rolls has BMW, Bentley has the VW Group). 

Although each parent company is well advanced down their respective roads to full electrification, the Spectre still has a whiff of the unknown about it, being first out of the gate. In contrast, Bentley's EV will need to arrive fully formed and completely resolved. If nothing else, the Batur shows there’s still an inexhaustible appetite for luxury innovation, and that Bentley is hell-bent on finding new ways to push the envelope ever further.

Bentley Batur, all 18 examples pre-sold, BentleyMotors.com

Aston Martin’s Q New York is the first in a series of ‘ultra-luxury’ flagship dealerships for the car maker, which is going all-out in a push towards the upper echelons of the auto market. The British company, with its tangled web of international shareholders, has weathered some precipitous ups and downs over the past decade, with seemingly the only possible salve being investment, and lots of it. 

In Formula 1, the money hose seems to be finally paying off, with a strong showing so far in the 2023 season. The new DB12 will keep the company abreast of the competition in the luxury GT arena, and the lessons learned from designing and building the massively complex Valkyrie hypercar mean that Aston’s next mid-engine supercar, the Valhalla will also be a limited edition model and not a regular series production car. 

All this is nothing without having physical footholds in your major markets. Aston is rightfully proud of manufacturing in the UK, and this heritage remains a strong draw for customers. Q New York brings an atmosphere of rakish British luxury to the Big Apple, combining event space, bespoke architectural elements and the latest technology. 

The new site at 450 Park Avenue is open by appointment-only space, and intended for customers to commission, specify and even track the progress of their Aston Martin as it is hand-assembled and finished at Gaydon, in Warwickshire. 

America is getting all the attention as the market for Astons is heating up, thanks in part to the DBX SUV. It’s also where Aston Martin’s bespoke Q service is on the rise; up 92 per cent last year. The company likes to think of Q by Aston Martin as tailoring for your car, with myriad material and colour options, all represented here. 

Choosing between them isn’t always straightforward, which is why Q New York has a live video link to Aston Martin’s design team in Gaydon for advice and recommendations. 

Their commission takes shape on a 35ft x 10ft ultra-HD LED wall, with the latest rendering technology creating a photorealistic preview of what they can expect. Those on the outside also get a good insight into the Aston world, thanks to the bespoke ‘champagne frame’ window that showcases a single car beneath a massive 2,100-bulb chandelier.

The space opens with the American debut of the DB12, alongside an Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro hypercar. Potential customers from outside New York will be offered a full concierge service, with travel, dining and accommodation suggestions provided by Aston Martin’s team. 

With an architectural backdrop of grand windows, fireplaces, bold lighting and large scaled pieces of furniture, it’s as if a little slice of Eltham Palace or some similarly grand but esoteric modern country house has landed in Manhattan. Aston Martin has always had architectural ambitions, with recent projects including a townhouse designed for Tokyo, a condo tower finishing up in Miami and bespoke interiors for Adjaye Architects’ 130 William in New York. 

‘Creating wondrous places, spaces and experiences are important design statements for us,’ says Marek Reichman, Aston’s executive vice president and chief creative officer, ‘This space is our version of creative performance design and precision craft at their finest – with sights and sounds, shapes and forms, and vivid colours and textured materials – all presented using the latest technology to provide customers with the engaging Aston Martin experience that they deserve.’

Q New York, 450 Park Avenue, New York, AstonMartin.com

This is the new Aston Martin DB12. ‘New’ needs to be qualified, for the car you see here is the successor to the closely related DB11, introduced back in 2016. It was definitely time for an overhaul, given the increasingly shortened market lifespans of modern cars. However, DB12 needs to do several things: retain the loyalty of Aston Martin owners and inspire new customers while also pointing the way towards the future. 

Aston Martin DB12, a ‘Super Tourer’

In one respect, the exterior design might be considered as conservative, even though it is undeniably beautiful from every angle. The DB12 hones the lines and proportions established by the DB11 and amplifies the details. A new front end incorporates a deeper, broader manifestation of Aston’s famous grille, more akin to the one found on the Aston Martin DBS. There’s also a hint of the One-77 hypercar in the relationship between vents and wheel arches, filled with massive 21in wheels. 

Headlights have been further enhanced with the addition of new LED units and daylight running lights, while the frameless wing mirrors are smaller and more aerodynamic than before. Aston’s new wings badge, shaped in collaboration with Peter Saville, graces the long bonnet and the new car is also a tiny bit wider than the DB11.

Ultimately, the DB12 is about continuation, maintaining the sense of grand occasion, perfect proportions and out-and-out dynamism that have been integral to the history and evolution of the ‘DB’ cars over their 75-year history. The DB12 is also slightly repositioned; no longer described as a Grand Tourer, it is now a ‘Super Tourer’, an appellation Aston Martin hopes will set it apart from its rivals. 

The emphasis on comfort, convenience and luxury is most obvious in the DB12’s interior, which has been given a complete and necessary overhaul. It’s safe to say that the DB11’s weakest point was the layout of the dashboard and the state of the tech. Even with AM’s legendary craftsmanship and material quality, there was an ergonomic awkwardness and inherently dated feel from the outset.

The DB12 rights that wrong. ‘The interior has been completely redesigned,’ says Aston Martin’s executive vice president and chief creative officer Marek Reichman, ‘There are clean horizontal lines emphasising the sense of space and providing the perfect contemporary backdrop for new a new state-of-the-art infotainment system.’

Gone is the high central ‘waterfall’ dashboard that has been a feature of the DB series since the original DB9, and in its place comes a more linear, low-set fascia, with a cascade of function buttons and dials, a distinctive gear selector (no longer operated by buttons) and a seamlessly integrated touchscreen for audio and navigation. The new interior uses materials rather more sparingly, with clearer delineations between upper and lower fascia. Leather is deployed with the usual aplomb, prominently hand-stitched with a unique new quilting pattern.

Volume, temperature and fan speed are all controlled by physical dials, another massive bonus, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both fully supported. Aston Martin also has a new audio partner, Bowers & Wilkins. The HMI is Aston’s first-ever bespoke system (it previously relied on Mercedes’ tech, and before that, Volvo’s), and supports satellite and 3D mapping, over-the-air updates powered by an on-board e-SIM and a companion Aston Martin App.  

Dynamically, the DB12 promises a great deal. The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 (there’s no longer a V12 option) has been boosted to a power output of 680PS, delivering a 0-60mph sprint of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 202mph. The suspension system is also all-new, with adaptive dampers that should give the car a broad range of capabilities, from dynamic sports car to long-distance driving machine. 

Aston Martin is having a rollercoaster year. With production back at full tilt after the logistical vagaries of the pandemic, much longed-for success on the Formula 1 track, as well as a fresh injection of investment from Chinese industrial titan Geely, the 110-year-old company is well set for the next stage of its evolution. We’ll experience the DB12 in the metal in a few weeks’ time and deliver a verdict on the drive, dynamics and a hands-on with the software and sound system. For now, all the signs are promising. 

Aston Martin DB12, available from Q3 2023, price tbc, AstonMartin.com

Those of you hoping for Aston Martin’s bold step forward into a new electrified future will have to wait a little bit longer. This is not that car, and nor (we suspect) is the next one, or even the one after that. Instead, the Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate edition is designed to usher out a model and an engine that have been at the core of the Aston Martin experience for many years. 

Taking the Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate for a spin

All 499 units of the production run have already been pre-sold, 300 of which are coupés and 199 are open-topped Volante models. We sampled the former, trying out the Warwickshire-based company’s own example of this run-out collectors’ edition. 

Since it debuted in 2018 as a vastly more powerful, restyled and upgraded version of the DB11, the DBS has been Aston Martin’s flagship model. The DBS name itself can be traced back to the 1970s, but in the modern era there was a notable predecessor in the 2007 DBS, which had a similar visual and mechanical relationship to the Aston Martin DB9. 

The original DBS models were given the ‘Superleggera’ appellation, a historic name that was somewhat at odds with the car’s size and weight. For the past couple of years, ‘superlight’ has been quietly dropped. In the case of the ‘770 Ultimate’, the number refers to the engine output in PS (‘PferdStarke’, or metric horsepower), making this the most powerful production Aston Martin ever made. 

There are tweaks and fettles all over this machine to get that power get down without incident. Spoilers and diffusers front and rear have been uprated, and there are dynamic changes like a new steering column, firmer cross-bracing and re-tuned suspension. The Ultimate edition can also be recognised by the horse-shoe engine vent in the massive front bonnet and the lavish application of carbon fibre trim wherever possible. 

The engine itself has increased turbo boost and other tuning enhancements to increase the power output, with a responsiveness, soundtrack, and thirst befitting of 5.2 litres and 12 cylinders. The 8-speed transmission and carbon ceramic brakes are retained from the ‘standard’ model, while the 21-inch wheels are a new design specifically for this model. 

In the metal, the DBS 770 Ultimate has unrivalled presence. It really is one of the most handsome machines produced by this aesthetics-obsessed car company, a perfect blend of traditional proportion, muscular detailing, and fluid lines. The interior hasn’t aged quite so well, although the tang of leather and the thrum of the V12 offset any misgivings one might have about the ageing displays and layout. Treat the DBS like an instant classic, not a cutting-edge device, and it makes a lot more sense. 

Options and accessories are a bottomless well of possibilities, ranging from a four-piece bespoke luggage set to a unique drinks case, as well as the undivided attention of the Q by Aston Martin bespoke division, should you require more. 

It would be a crying shame if none of these final models is properly used. The DBS has always been a fantastically romantic grand tourer, splicing the joy of travel with the untrammelled ability to overtake, thanks to that ever-eager V12. The DBS 770 Ultimate dials up the potency a notable amount, with just 3.2 seconds required for the sprint to 60; double that to get to 100mph. In-gear acceleration is simply astounding, regardless of which of the car’s three driving modes, GT, Sport and Sport+, is engaged, and the theoretical top speed of 211mph remains indecently lofty and practically unattainable. 

The breadth of ability of this car is impressive. The big Aston is equally at home on a fast stretch of autoroute, utterly planted and stable, with its engine barely ticking over at speed, as it is on the winding roads that criss-cross the Cotswolds. The steering is communicative and fast, the throttle response instant, the sound unmistakable. 

There’s very little subtlety at play, but that’s exactly what the DBS has always been about; a strong character with a charm that conquers all. With two years in hand before the first pure EV bearing the famous winged badge breaks cover, AM still has time to revisit, revise and finesse its traditional front-engined range. The V12 might be entering its twilight years, but this is a fond but ‘ferocious farewell’.  

Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate, AstonMartin.com

The age of extinction is very nearly upon us. This, the latest special edition from Aston Martin, is a chance to celebrate the passing era, a time when dinosaurs well and truly ruled the Earth. Consider the Aston Martin DBS as the T-Rex of the combustion-powered epoch. When it debuted back in 2018 as the DBS Superleggera, it was the undisputed flagship of the Aston Martin range (a position it has subsequently given over to the Valkyrie hypercar and its successor, the Valhalla), a ferocious beast that commanded respect and awe in equal measure. 

A lot has changed. Five years is a long time in the motor industry, especially one undergoing budget purges, market shifts, sales upheavals, and a technological revolution. In that time, Aston’s ownership has shifted into the hands of Canadian fashion billionaire Lawrence Stroll, global crises have come, gone and stayed, and the legislative march against combustion engines has continued its steady, implacable advance. 2023 also marks Aston Martin’s 110th year. And the end of the line for the DBS.

Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate

The Aston Martin DBS might be antediluvian, but it won’t have any shortage of admirers. It is powered by the company’s massive V12 – constantly uprated and refined but still as ideologically awkward as a wood-burning stove. The DBS Ultimate delivers 770PS (hence the name) and claims to be the most powerful production Aston Martin ever made (the Valkyrie, which puts out over 1,150PS, is a more bespoke, hand-built affair). Just 499 Ultimates will be made – 300 coupés and 199 Volantes – and Aston says the order books have already closed.

The DBS represents the ur-form of the front-engined supercar, with a long bonnet and a sweeping, fluid belt line that rises from the front grill to just above the rear wheel arches. Relatively subtle changes have been made to the charmingly brutish styling, including a large horseshoe-shaped vent in the bonnet. Carbon fibre is everywhere, inside and out, and there are multi-spoke 21in wheels in three different finishes.

Even though there’s stiffer suspension, recalibrated suspension, and more accurate steering, the Ultimate should ride just as well as its predecessors. The supremely comfortable interior is starting to show its age, not difficult in this era of rapidly evolving screens and interfaces. This is offset by a deluge of hand-finished elements, from quilted leather to hand-stitched seats, and Alcantara and carbon-fibre finished surfaces.

Regardless of whether you drive the open or closed DBS, it is one of the all-time great GT cars, a machine that makes an event of every journey. Granted, it is big (and thirsty, and noisy), but no one ever drove an Aston Martin to melt into the crowd. Likewise, the noise made when undertaking the 3.2 second sprint to 62mph will be as far from the silent thrust of the EV as can possibly be imagined. What on earth will this automotive centenarian do next?

AstonMartin.com

Welcome to № 001 Minami Aoyama - as Aston Martin continues its architectural side hustle with the launch of a new luxury home in Japan, designed on spec in collaboration with Japanese luxury concierge Vibroa. The conceptual house builds upon Aston’s earlier Sylvan Rock proposal for New York state, as well as the Aston Martin Residences in Miami, due for completion in 2023.

Step inside № 001 Minami Aoyama

At the core of this concept, developed in collaboration with multi-disciplinary Tokyo-based design studio Intentionallies, is a garage/gallery, a place to showcase cars off to the interior spaces while also provided two highly desirable parking spots in the Omotesando area of Tokyo’s Minami Aoyama district. In this vein, the concept is also a development of the trend for bespoke supercar garage design.

№ 001 Minami Aoyama is much more than just a showcase for cars. Arranged over four storeys, the detached townhouse makes the most of its site in the densely built-up city, culminating in a generous rooftop terrace reached by a folding steel staircase.

Interior finishes are pared back, dark, and beautifully crafted from a range of high-end materials that reflect the design of Aston Martin’s current generation of luxury sports cars. The front façade is defined by fluted ribbons of steel that form an abstract geometric pattern that doubles as a privacy screen.

Inside, in addition to the automotive gallery – visible to the house’s dining area – there is a wine cellar, private spa and gym, home cinema and generous home office space. Aston Martin’s design team specified the fixtures and finishes throughout.

‘Tokyo culture holds an important creative space within our design studio,’ says Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, ‘Outside, we’ve created a striking architectural form with clean lines and seamless boundaries so the residents can connect with and experience this unique location. Inside, we’ve catered to the senses, using a holistic combination of elements and materials to create a calm and relaxing space for them to retreat.’

Aston Martin is making a big push for the Japanese market, building on decades of enthusiasm for the brand across the country. The Aston Martin Owners Club Japan dates back to 1972, and the company regularly holds drives and events for its many admirers. ‘I see fashion, architectural and even culinary references from Tokyo being considered by our team when developing their work, so its presence can really be felt within our practice,’ notes Reichman.

Aston’s other recent architectural collaborations include a set of apartments within Sir David Adjaye’s 130 William tower in New York. The company reports that № 001 Minami Aoyama has already been sold to an established Aston Martin collector, and will soon be built by Tokyo’s Onocom, a pioneer in digital construction processes. Completion is due in November 2023.

AstonMartin.com

Intentionallies.co.jp

This is the new Aston Martin Valhalla, the final production-ready version of the company’s latest hybrid supercar. The first iteration of Valhalla broke cover at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2019, way back in another era for both Aston Martin and the wider world. New management, ownership and strategy have all led to the Valhalla concept getting a thorough overhaul under the auspices of the company’s new CEO, Tobias Moers and Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman. The result is a supercar struck through with cutting edge tech, as befits a company that is now very much part of Formula One. 

Valhalla will be powered by a bespoke twin turbo V8 in combination with two electric motors, a shift from the original plan to use an all-new Aston Martin-designed V6 hybrid. That engine concept is no more, so instead the V8 comes – suitably customised – from Mercedes-AMG, which already supplies a regular V8 for AM’s DB11, DBX and Vantage models. Under the skin, the Valhalla is closely related to the Valkyrie, the company’s flagship hypercar. Both have been shaped by Formula One technology and knowhow, particularly in terms of aerodynamics and materials, but the Valkyrie will be built in strictly limited numbers (150 road cars, plus a few variations), costing from around £2.5m. Valhalla exists in slightly less mythical realm, and production numbers should be substantially bigger, although you can still expect a high six figure price tag. It’s still very much a stepping stone on the way to a ‘regular’ mid-engined Aston, which should surface mid-decade in the form of the next-generation Vanquish.  

The first thing to note is that the production Valhalla has ramped up the signature Aston Martin design cues, losing the concept’s rather anonymous, albeit striking, mid-engine layout and proportions. The cabin is wider and less of a squeeze than the concept, with a view to making it more of an everyday proposition. There’s a more prominent grille than on the original concept, referencing one of the marque’s defining qualities, and the headlights have also been made larger to balance this out. The lower body and rear end of the car are defined by great rippling swathes of carbon fibre to shape and steer the air towards the rear diffuser. By placing the aerodynamic surfaces closer to the ground, Aston Martin’s design team has been given the freedom to create a clean, dramatically proportioned body shape above. It’s a symphony of swoops and curves, with surfaces diving beneath one another as the panels make their way down the flanks of the car. The doors hinge forwards and cut into the roof for easier access to the as-yet unrevealed interior, and there's plenty of exposed ultra-light carbon fibre, inside and out.  

The 4.0 litre V8 develops 750 PS and is supplemented by an e-motor on the front and back axle, adding another 204 PS for a colossal combined power output. Despite the presence of batteries, the weight is still relatively low, and the plug-in hybrid system offers a modest zero-emission range of around 10 miles. With all systems turned up to max, there’s a promised 0-62mph sprint of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of around 217 mph. Weight saving include the ‘e-reverse’ mode which does away with a conventional reverse gear in favour of electric-only backward travel. That the Valhalla design places such emphasis on downforce is a key learning from Formula One; Aston Martin wants to increase the synergy between its mid-engined range and the racetrack. The company is emphatic that Valhalla is a car designed to be driven – preferably on a track. 

We’re many months away from getting behind the wheel of this next generation machine. With form and spec locked in place, the company is starting the process of locking in the required function. Based on this reveal, there’s every indication that Aston Martin will continue to hold its head up high as a supplier of supreme objects of desire.

INFORMATION

Aston Martin Valhalla, pricing tbc

astonmartin.com

Wimbledon is here and that means tennis, of course, but for the more gastronomically inclined it also means something more important – strawberries and cream.  

Whether you’re watching the championships or just having a picnic in the park, our strawberry custard tart is an alternative take on the traditional game-time snack. It’s an easy-to-make treat that is perfect served up with a cool glass of champagne courtesy of Veuve Clicquot. 

Discover the sweet summer recipe below or, for those chefs who like a challenge, try this other strawberry cake recipe from celebrated pastry chef Cédric Grolet. 

Strawberry custard tart

Ingredients (serves 8)

200g plain flour
2 tbs icing sugar
1/4 tbs salt 
100g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/2 vanilla pod
2 egg yolks 
90g sugar
2 tbs cornflour
250ml whole milk
120ml double cream
2 punnets of strawberries
3 tbs redcurrant jelly

Method 

• Put the flour, sugar, salt and butter into a processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
• Beat 1 egg with 11 tbs cold water and add to the moving processor until the dough forms. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins. 
• Preheat the oven to 180°C. 
• Roll the dough to fit round, 28cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Press the dough into and up the sides of the tin. 
• Prick the base and chill for 10 mins. Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. 
• Bake for 8 mins, remove the beans and parchment, and bake for a further 8 mins. Allow to cool. 
• For the custard, scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and place in a bowl. Add the other egg, yolks, sugar and cornflour, and whisk well. 
• Put the milk and cream on a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Pour onto the egg mixture, whisking as you do, then pour it all back into the pan. 
• Heat the mixture gently, stirring with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken. Cook for another minute. 
• Place a disc of baking parchment on the surface of the custard and allow to cool completely. 
• Spoon the custard evenly into the tart shell and smooth out the top. Slice the strawberries and arrange them on top of the custard. 
• Put the redcurrant jelly into a pan with 1 tbs of water, heat gently, stirring until the jelly melts. Cool a little, then brush over the surface of the tart. 

In the two years since Ian Callum left his post as director of design at Jaguar, the Scottish designer has had to contend with a lot. Launching a new design agency in the teeth of the pandemic was his first challenge. Seeing his beloved alma mater pivot away from the design direction he was instrumental in defining has also been tough to watch from the sidelines. His new agency, CALLUM Designs, is free from the complexities that can come with working for a major car company.

That’s not to say that the new agency is a free for all. CALLUM’s first project harked back to pre-Jaguar days, and the first-generation Aston Martin Vanquish, one of Ian Callum’s most famous car designs. The result was a limited edition that revisited the Vanquish with fresh eyes, new technology and a new level of sophistication. Although it’s still finding its feet in an uncertain working landscape, Callum and his team have several other projects on the go, including the much-anticipated Kincsem ‘Hyper-GT’, as well as a design for Prodrive’s BRX T1 desert racing car.

From cars to chairs

The company is also keen to go beyond automotive design and we spoke to Callum and creative designer Aleck Jones, about their next steps. Callum spent much of 2020 working remotely from his home in Scotland but the team is slowly getting back to their Warwickshire HQ. ‘Most creatives are people people – we like to communicate,’ the designer admits over the ubiquitous Zoom link. Even when they’re back at full strength, it’ll still be a relatively small outfit. ‘This studio size is right for me now,’ says Callum. ‘Our team are much younger than me, and maybe my objectives are a bit different to theirs – but I just want to do things I enjoy.’ 

The new scale brings with it a marked difference in design culture. ‘After 40 years in corporate life it had become pretty challenging,’ he admits. ‘You know the rules, you know what’s happening next. I think I’ve paid my dues in that respect, so it’s time to step out and be more indulgent and work at a better pace. Decisions can be made within days, not weeks or months. The clarity just comes out of better communications and being small and nimble.’

At Jaguar, Callum headed up a department of around 400 people. As can sometimes happen in big companies, design and management didn’t always see eye to eye. ‘There’s a huge pleasure in having direct engagement with people. There are no surprises,’ he says. Jaguar’s recent announcement that it’ll go all-electric from 2025 came as no surprise to Callum. ‘I’ve become much more aware of the outside world in general and enjoy not having to toe the company line. EVs are a perfect example. I can see that it’s imperative they happen – there’s no debate. We knew this years ago.’

Another facet of design that Callum is keen to explore is furniture. Having been associated with automotive design for almost his entire career, he admits he doesn’t have much track record in this department. ‘I buy it and I sit in it,’ he says, ‘but this is about making our own rules.’ CALLUM's first foray into furniture is a lounge chair, one that takes its inspiration from a familiar modern source, adding contemporary materials and trim to a refined new shape. ‘We’re very familiar with things like carbon structure and sustainable materials here, so creating the chair was an exercise in experimentation and curiosity,’ the designer says, ‘Ultimately, we’ll do a series of three different models – it’s a way of getting the experience and working with new suppliers.’ 

Structure, materials and more

The CALLUM team has a great relationship with Scottish firm Bridge of Weir, one of the best-rated leather suppliers to the auto industry. ‘We challenged ourselves with what we could do,’ says creative designer Aleck Jones. ‘We looked at about ten different material approaches for the chair.’ The jumping off point was the 1956 Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, a long-standing icon but one which the designers feel could be made physically and visually lighter. As well as wood and carbon, the plan is to use wool and felt as part of the trim.

‘We have a trim shop in house, something that’s always been very close to my heart. The joy of materials is that there are a lot of new options out there today,’ Callum says, ‘the use of recycled fabrics is a big thing now. In automotive design we often defaulted to leather because durability levels in cars are extremely high.’ Furniture gives the design team many more choices. ‘I did an aircraft interior once,’ Callum recalls. ‘Oh, the regulations…’

The other facet the team is keen to explore is the structure of the chair. ‘I love the efficiency in structure. Of course, a chair doesn’t have to pass any kind of crash test, which is refreshing. But car seats are still extremely sophisticated things.’ In contrast, the lounge chair has a sinuous elegance concealing a steely core and a minimal material palette. Exposed carbon fibre is paired with wood or recycled material, with fabric designs that explore a familiar Callum design territory, the tartan. The chair and the two other upcoming designs will remain one-offs unless a customer – or customers – can be found. For now, Ian Callum is happy to be working in a more experimental, hands-on capacity. ‘If you physically build something and put it in front of people, it’s better than any number of images. We’re doing it to gauge the reaction.’

As well as the chair, there are a number of limited-edition Vanquish models to be assembled, and other automotive projects in the pipeline. CALLUM Designs looks to be honouring its founder’s desire to do something different.

INFORMATION

CALLUM Designs

The contemporary car collector is spoilt for choice, with a plethora of special editions and limited series being produced by every high-end sports car and luxury manufacturer. On top of that, there are the limitless opportunities afforded by each company’s coachbuilding division, ensuring that a combination of imagination, patience and deep, deep pockets will result in something unique.

If you’re not so sure of your role as a tastemaker and fancy a return to a more celebrated golden age, you’re also in luck. For the past decade or so, the Continuation Car has become a major focus for the biggest automotive brands. The mix of highly skilled specialists, revived traditional methods and discrete updates for use on road and track make these iconic revivals attractive to drive as well as invest in. In many cases, the originals have ascended to such lofty values that day to day use is – for purposes of insurance – all but impossible. 

While you can step into a nut-and-bolt recreation of sports cars from the 20s through to the 60s, revivals needn’t necessarily mean vintage cars. We spoke to Dr Andrea Zagato, CEO of the famous coachbuilding company started by his grandfather Ugo in 1919, about the forthcoming Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato Heritage Twins by R-Reforged. Revisiting an acclaimed design from the turn of the last decade, the project continues a longstanding relationship that dates back to the early 60s. 

‘We had this opportunity from Aston Martin,’ says Dr Zagato. ‘We knew the original project was very successful – the cars’ value had increased, which is rare over such a short time.’ This time, a partnership with the Swiss specialists R-Reforged gave Zagato a chance to enhance and upgrade the original model. ‘The V12 was a true Gran Turismo model,’ Zagato enthuses, ‘it represents the real ethos of Zagato.’ Back in 2011, the car was shown at the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance in Italy before being shipped off to Germany for an attempt at the Nurburging N24, one of the world’s most famous endurance races. ‘This is the true definition of a Gran Turismo, a machine that can be exhibited as a show car and also run on the racetrack,’ he says, ‘Enzo Ferrari once said that ‘the car that wins the race is the most beautiful.’ 

More than any other Italian coachbuilder, Zagato has become associated with this fusion of performance and aesthetics. As well as working with all the major Italian manufacturers, Dr Zagato points out that the company has a long history of working with British companies, citing designs created with AC, Bentley, Bristol, Frazer-Nash, Rover, Rolls-Royce and MG, in addition to the ongoing work with Aston Martin. In all, the company has a portfolio of 440 car designs, working with 44 different companies. Just 19 examples of the Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato Heritage Twins by R-Reforged continuation will be made, and you’ll only be able to buy them as a pair of open and closed cars. The most notable addition to the original is the incorporation of a dynamic rear-spoiler. ‘Back in 2012 we didn’t have time to develop a movable rear wing, so they were all built with a fixed wing,’ Zagato says, ‘now we can use the air blade from the Aston Martin Vanquish family.’ The design is also slightly fettled and upgraded and there’s a welcome power boost of 80hp over the original. 

Zagato credits the renaissance of so-called ‘Continuation’ cars that have become hugely popular in the high-end market to a search for familiarity in an age of uncertainty. ‘We have what we call a neo-classical approach to car design, evoking the cars of the 50s and 60s,’ he muses, ‘we have a long relationship with so many companies.’ It helps that the collectors seeking out these contemporary updates of classic design are bolstered by economics; limited edition cars tend to appreciate in value, even in the short term. And if you’re still hell-bent on driving your new investment, your insurer will happily note that a Continuation model is usually an order of magnitude less expensive than the original.  

Zagato has another trump card in its hand; it is the progenitor of some of the most striking original car designs ever made. As well as its bespoke suite of Aston Martins, made in close collaboration with the manufacturer since the 1960s, there are numerous other classics in its archives. That allows Zagato to build Sanction Lost models of little-known or one-off designs, such as the elegant Porsche 356 Carrera Zagato Coupe created to honour a one-off design from 1959, a car that was subsequently crashed and destroyed. ‘We have the pictures and plans, so you can create a car today that celebrates the past.’ Another Porsche project is in the works. 

Zagato’s facility just north of Milan turns out just one hand-built car a month, with other models being produced under license by regional specialists. No-one builds cars without customers, and Zagato is safe in the knowledge that is has a loyal fanbase of well-heeled collectors. ‘Our relationship with our customers is like the owner of a small restaurant. We know every client and we have a good number of collectors who like our philosophy. Just like the restaurant customers who have a favourite restaurant – they trust in the chef to prepare and recommend their food.’

INFORMATION

Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato Heritage Twins by R-Reforged. £1.75m GBP + local taxes for the pair

zagato.it

r-reforged.com/heritagetwins

Jaguar Classic C-Type Continuation

Jaguar has an archive brimming with legendary machines, with a strong secondary market of restorers and refurbishers who keep their most famous cars on the road and up to date. Unsurprisingly, the company also wants a piece of that action, established the Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works facility to maintain, enhance and recreate legendary models from the two brands, from the original 2-door 70s-era Range Rover to the Jaguar E-Type, D-Type and XKSS. This Spring, Classic Works is launching the E-Type 60 Collection – a pair of open and closed examples of the Series 1 E-Type to celebrate the car’s 60th anniversary. It’s also delved into its racing history with eight examples of the Jaguar C-Type, based on the car that won Le Mans in 1953. Authenticity is key – there’s a strong racing community for cars like this – so original engineering drawings have been deployed along with CAD technology to ensure the new car is worthy of the name. 

jaguar.com/classic

Ecurie Ecosse LM-C 

Jaguar aren’t the only ones with an interest in their past. Ecurie Ecosse is the descendant of one of Scotland’s most successful private racing teams, best known for their use of Jaguar XK120s and C-Types in the 50s and 60s and their Flag Metallic Blue racing colours. The revived company also stakes a claim to the C-Type, dubbing their precise recreation the Ecurie Ecosse LM-C. Handmade in Coventry and finished off at the company’s Henley HQ, the LM-C is a very individual choice.

ecurieecosse.com

Callum Designs: Vanquish 25 

Before he made his at Jaguar, Ian Callum was head of design at Aston Martin, arguably setting the company’s off on its current design direction with the DB7, original Vanquish and early work on Vantage and DB9. Now the Scottish designer has his own consultancy, Callum Design, launching with a very personal project. The Vanquish 25 marks the quarter century of that original aluminium-structured Aston, with Callum going back to his original design to nip and tuck any details that were squeezed out by cost considerations in the original car. With prices starting at £350,000, plus a donor car, the finishes and fittings are as exquisite as you’d hope. 

callumdesigns.com/the-aston-martin-vanquish-25

Superperformance GT40

Superperformance is a North Carolina-based specialist manufacturer of racing specials, capable of producing near-identical copies of cars like the AC Cobra and Shelby Daytona. The legal heirs of the racing legacy of Carroll Shelby, the late American driver and engineer, every Superperformance model qualifies for classic racing events. Not only that, but the company provided a full set of Ford GT40s for use in the 2019 film Le Mans ’66 (also known as Ford vs Ferrari). The company’s meticulously prepared GT40s are available through Le Mans Coupes in the UK and can be prepared for either track or road use. 

superformance.com
lemanscoupes.com

Bizzarrini 5300 GT Revival Corsa 24/65

A bold new venture to bring back one of Italy’s lesser-known automotive icons, the return of Bizzarrini was announced in late 2020. The marque’s first car is the Bizzarrini 5300 GT Revival of a 60s icon, originally designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Piero Drogo. Giotto Bizzarrini was a maverick genius whose career had a huge impact on both Ferrari and Lamborghini before he struck out on his own with a series of extravagantly outrageous road and race cars. The 24 Revival models will be perfect replicas of the car that won the 5-litre class at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1965. The newly reborn company won’t always specialise in recreations – an all-new car is also in the works.

bizzarrini.com

Aston Martin Works

Masters of the art of Continuation cars, Aston Martin is currently nearing the end of a production run of its DB5 Goldfinger Continuation car, billed by some as the most expensive piece of film memorabilia ever made. Twenty-five examples of these gadget-laden machines have been made, aimed squarely at those who never quite outgrew their love of the Dinky toys original. At £3.3m each, the cars – developed in close collaboration with EON Productions, keepers of the Bond flame – are expected to remain cossetted collectors’ items, with their film-ready gadgets wheeled out for special occasions. Built at Aston Martin Works on the site of the company’s original factory in Newport Pagnell, the DB5 comes hot on the heels of the DB4 GT Continuation and the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation models. The latter came packaged alongside an all-new Zagato model, the DBS GT Zagato, to form the DBZ Centenary Collection in honour of Zagato’s 100th anniversary in 2019. This particular pairing was priced at £6m for two, a cut above the relatively modest £1.5m charged for the DB4 GT Continuation. Aston’s archives are over-flowing with valuable examples of automotive art, so expect other limited series to emerge in the future.

astonmartinworks.com

Bentley Blower

Bentley are new to the recreation game. Choosing to step back even further in time than Aston or Bizzarrini, the company has recreated the ‘Blower’, the mighty 1920s-era racing car that cemented Bentley’s association with brawn and power. Twelve examples of the Bentley Blower Continuation Series will be hand-built by the Mulliner workshop in Crewe, all based on a meticulous deconstruction and re-build of the supercharged 1929 4½-litre “Blower” that once belonged to Sir Tim Birkin, a pivotal figure in the inter-war era of dashing and daring racing drivers. Every nut and bolt was laser scanned and 3D modelled and a full toolkit of 20s-era moulds and jig has been used to shape the metal of the dozen customer cars.  

bentleymotors.com

If you’d have canvassed the typical supercar owner a decade ago, chances are that the idea of an off-roading Aston Martin didn’t feature on anyone’s wish list. However, as Britain’s most famous sports car manufacturer is all too happy to acknowledge, times have changed. Whatever we think of big cars, they dominate the contemporary market. No manufacturer can afford not to have a crossover or SUV in its line-up, whether it’s a mass-market model or a seriously premium machine. 

Aston Martin’s answer to automotive upscaling is DBX. Over five years in the making, DBX was designed and developed during a feverish period for the company and the industry as a whole. Covid-19 has decimated production and sales across the board, while AM has weathered a financial storm and been bolstered by the arrival of a new CEO, Tobias Moers, formerly of Mercedes-AMG. In some quarters, DBX is being heralded as a latch-ditch saviour, but that’s slightly hyperbolic. It is true that the new car required a new platform and new factory (at St Athan in Wales), and it’d certainly be nice to recoup the hundreds of millions spent on development. 

But rather than represent a sign of desperation, DBX is more far-sighted. As we noted, car buyers want SUVs. There is an inherent contradiction between the urgent need to minimise the eco-footprint of the auto industry and consumers’ seemingly insatiable desire for bigger and bigger cars. The silver lining is that bigger platforms are a better fit for the hybrid and battery tech that’ll smooth the transition to pure electric cars. The cloud that continues to loom is that although bigger, heavier cars are cleaner than ever before, they’ll always be less efficient than small, lighter ones. 

For now, the world of luxury still demands a certain heft. DBX has been meticulously proportioned and detailed so that a good deal of its weight is masked, like a well-cut suit. On the road, the combination of power, active systems and dynamic feedback all conspire to make the car feel much smaller than it actually is. The long wheelbase helps, creating short overhangs, with large wheels that minimise the scale of the body (its close competitor, Bentley’s Bentayga, is a long car with a slightly shorter wheelbase, which does it no favours in terms of looks). DBX also has a socking great example of Aston’s famous grille, just one of several key details that (successfully) give this car its essential dose of brand identity. 

The interior makes the most of the added volume; this is the first time an Aston Martin has ever been able to seat five adults and their luggage. On the road, the clever engineering does indeed ‘shrink’ the car around you, although you’re never going to mistake it for anything but a substantial GT. Still, it feels smaller than immediate rivals like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, the Lamborghini URUS and the Bentley Bentayga. It certainly drives more like a sports car than some of its peers. The seating position is relatively low (although the view is still commanding) and the weight and feel of the steering is quick and reactive. There’s none of the lorry-like feedback you get from higher-riding rivals at low speed. 

If truth be told, DBX suffers slightly in a straight performance comparison with these other cars, even though its own stats go far beyond what can be achieved anywhere other than an empty autobahn or a stretch of private desert road. As a cross country machine DBX is superb, cruising in effortless near silence with a fluid, gliding ride. Suspension can raised or lowered depending on the terrain, but some words of caution – this is not a city car, or rather, it is not a car for European cities. Give it the broad pavement, wide open spaces and valet parking of the States instead. 

To be blunt, this car is about winning beauty contests, not top trumps. Of all the cars in this sector, DBX has a credible claim to being the best looking. Although the Bentley’s cabin is a more traditionally luxurious, you can delve deep into Aston Martin’s almost limitless options (both off the shelf and through the company’s Q by Aston Martin personalisation service) to transform DBX into anything from a high-tech-infused gothic cruiser through to a Jermyn Street dandy. The tastefulness of the result is entirely up to you. As a first foray into an unfamiliar space, Aston Martin DBX is a triumph, a machine that puts the Sport back into SUV while keeping brutishness at bay.

INFORMATION

astonmartin.com

There’s an unmistakeable aura of brutish charm surrounding 130 William, the new residential development from Adjaye Associates. Currently rising above New York’s William Street in Manhattan, the 66-storey tower will house over 240 high-end condos and a full suite of residential amenities, including residents’ lounge, private IMAX theatre, pool and spa. Sir David and his team have adapted the city’s industrial aesthetic into a new residential paradigm, translating the rhythmic forms of the brick warehouse into a vaulted concrete structure, its façade serrated by concrete colonnades that provide sheltered loggias for the apartments within.

Up on the 59th and 60th floor are five very special apartments, created by Adjaye in close collaboration with Aston Martin’s specialist industrial design division and Lightstone developers. Intended as a bespoke set of turnkey apartments, each unit created by the partnership adds to the fixtures and fittings specified by Adjaye Associates with a carefully selected collection of furnishings, many of which are drawn from Aston Martin’s own range, developed along with the Italian manufacturer Formitalia. Expect dark, brooding tones, bronze, smoked glass and dark stained oak, along with a scattering of design classics.

The two and three-bedroom apartments can be arranged so that the spare bedroom serves as either an office or a futuristic sounding ‘Simulator Room’ incorporating a customised version of the Aston Martin-designed Curv Racing Simulator, a professional grade machine for video game aficionados (or even real racing drivers).

As well as the furniture, custom design elements and the optional Sim, Aston and Sir David put their heads together to create a special edition car for the new owners of the apartments. The 130 William Adjaye Special Edition Aston Martin DBX is not only a bit of a mouthful, but it’s the first Aston Martin to be given an architect-led makeover. Working with Q by Aston Martin and Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman, Sir David has brought hitherto unfamiliar materials, textures and colours into the DBX interior, including grey ‘Pietra D’Avola' marble inlays and carved solid walnut trim. Parliament Green leather and a bespoke exterior paint finish inspired by the building’s dark concrete façade complete the package. Just like the apartments it complements, the car splices old world warmth with contemporary style.

INFORMATION

130william.com
adjaye.com
astonmartin.com

A common complaint about the plethora of high-end auto collectables that crowd the upper echelons of the car market is that very few are used and enjoyed. Despite manufacturers spending hundreds of millions to design, develop and build these strictly limited production runs, the most likely hypercar buyers are after profit, not performance, and will simply add their new acquisition to a roster of similarly outlandish machines and wait for inflation to do its work. 

As a result, the supercar builders are coming to the realisation that a luxury car is as much an objet d’art as a mode of transport, just as it’s long been accepted that many classics are simply too valuable to risk on the roads (let alone the track). New venture Superfuturedesign is proposing a simple solution this look-but-don't-touch approach. Working with Italian consultancy ASZarchitetti Group, the studio has created the Supercar Capsule, an interior design service aimed specifically at blending high-end autos into the home. With the car-mad Middle Eastern market in mind, each Capsule is custom-made for a specific model and space, with tailored materials and lighting designed to turn a car into a talking point.

As far as manufacturers go, Aston Martin is ahead of the game, having launched its own Automotive Galleries and Lairs division at last summer's Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Dovetailing bespoke design with architectural collaborations, the idea is to swathe your Aston Martin in an environment that it is as dramatic as the car itself. There’s a certain amount of cinematic synergy going on here – the company rarely lets an opportunity to highlight its long-standing association with the Bond films –and the end results are part Ken Adam, part Zaha Hadid, placing the car on a pedestal within a custom-designed space, with swooping staircases, walls of glass and other tropes of set design.

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German architect Fabian Evers explored similar territory with his Into the Wild concept house, designed for a private client. Evers, who has worked with Foster and Partners and UN Studio (where he worked on the design of the Mercedes-Benz Museum), ticks every box. An Alpine retreat with a spectacular view, it features a living space with a glass-walled car lift, allowing the owner's Mercedes SLS-AMG GT to be enjoyed when it's not being driven up and down the mountain roads. 

The chasm between personal mobility and traditional automotive expression yawns ever wider. Hypercars and supercars are high profile, profitable and hugely desirable. As the window of opportunity to use them as they were intended becomes ever smaller, these bespoke display spaces will be increasingly in demand.

INFORMATION
superfuture.design
astonmartin.com
fabianevers.com

For all the leaps and bounds in the everyday usability of even the fastest supercar, they’re not, by any stretch of the imagination, much use as practical family cars. According to Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s executive vice president and chief creative officer, some 72 per cent of Aston Martin owners also have another marque’s SUV in their garage, presumably for this very purpose. ‘It’s an obvious place for us to be,’ he admits.

The DBX is car number four in Aston Martin’s much-vaunted ‘seven cars in seven years’ strategy. It’s also notable for being the first foray into a whole new sector. The first three models saw the revitalisation of the company’s core sports car range, but from now onwards, Aston is in new territory, with a brace of mid-engine sports cars in the works and the forthcoming reinvention of Lagonda as an all-electric luxury brand.

The DBX has a lot of work to do. For a start, it must justify the investment in a new factory in Wales, and help bankroll Aston Martin’s other ambitious plans. As an Aston, the DBX must also be ‘the most beautiful SUV in the segment’, says Reichman, whose design approach, as always, is all about proportion. An SUV offers up a very different visual challenge, and not one of the DBX’s competitors hits the spot marked ‘elegant’.

All that is set to change with this low- slung five-seater. Aston Martin’s masterstroke is in stretching out the wheelbase and pushing the 22in wheels out to the corners. The resulting short front and rear overhangs and low roof line make the car appear much smaller than it really is, an effect exaggerated by a swooping shoulder line that dips down at the rear, just as the glasshouse is kicking up to mimic the coupé-style roofline of its sporting siblings. The rear is especially successful, with an integrated spoiler referencing the Vantage model, and a trim rear elevation.

At the front, the big aluminium grille is, according to Reichman, one of the largest ever applied to an Aston Martin. The DBX can take it, however; there isn’t an ungainly angle to be found and the whole ensemble is undeniably an Aston Martin. This juggling act has been helped enormously by Aston’s ability to create its own platform, albeit with a V8 engine (along with a 4WD system) supplied by Mercedes’ AMG division.

Aston buyers are still overwhelmingly male and the company sought feedback from customers, dealers and its own advisors to ensure the DBX helps address the imbalance. The SUV’s interior is cosseting without being cocooning, combining the firm’s meticulous attention to detail with the ability to personalise materials and colours. ‘It has more options than we’ve had with any other product,’ Reichman says, and six special designer specifications will launch with the car to help make sense of the choices. ‘For the first time in an Aston Martin, the interior volume is as important as the exterior forms,’ he admits, adding that, at 6ft 4in, it’s imperative he can sit comfortably in the rear seats. Owners’ lifestyles are also catered to, whether they are climbers, skiers, riders or dog owners; a collection of bespoke accessory packs can be specified to enhance the weatherproofing, practicality and protection of the DBX’s interior and luggage compartment, including a portable washer to clean muddy paws.

All this would be for nothing if the car didn’t behave like a true Aston Martin. Here, the company has deployed its secret weapon, chief engineer Matt Becker. Becker and his team oversaw a thorough development process to maximise the DBX’s abilities. The end result is an Autobahn stormer that feels wieldy around town, with sports car dynamics on twisty routes, as well as hugely competent off-road ability. As Reichman says, ‘it drives and feels like a Vantage and stops like a DBS Superleggera’.

Thanks to Becker’s finely tuned skill set and Reichman’s elegant forms, Aston Martin can be forgiven for being late to the SUV party. After all, it’s given itself advance warning of what everyone else is wearing, ensuring that the DBX will make maximum impact. Sporting luxury just entered a new level of sophistication. 

INFORMATION

DBX, from £158,000. astonmartin.com

Can you really use a supercar every single day? Aston Martin seems to think so. The new Volante version of their flagship DBS Superleggera is not a car for shrinking violets. Removing the roof from their flagship super GT, capable of well over 200mph and with a vast V12 and crackling exhaust system, was an engineering challenge. The end result is totally uncompromising, just as aggressively elegant as its hard-topped sibling, just as fast and – thanks to the swift-operating roof – somewhat louder and even more 'look-at-me'.

Despite this raw potential and innate ability to put the driver at centre stage, the Volante is extremely, intoxicatingly useable. From the earliest days of ultra-high-performance cars intended for the road, the first quality to be sacrificed was convenience. The original supercars were low, loud, prone to overheating and thirsty for constant mechanical love and attention. And yet they became some of the most coveted automobiles ever made, defining a genre that continues to hold the attention of potential owners and dreaming aspirants

Along the way, the performance curve has ramped ever upwards. Alongside it, however, the practicality aspect has also shot off the chart. Extreme automotive power can now be tamed like never before, with the levels of performance associated with 70s supercars now available to saloons and estate cars, whilst the upper echelons of the market has moved off the scale. The Superleggera Volante joins the increasingly sizeable 200mph club, but it’s the effortless quality of the Aston's ride and refinement at any speed that sets it apart from its forebears.

The DBS was always intended to be faster, twitchier and more responsive than other Astons in the range like the Vantage and DB11; it is tuned to make a direct, unfiltered connection with the driver. That makes it rather like a giant go-kart, albeit one that is crafted and trimmed to personalised perfection. The adjustable ride quality can glide like a limousine or firm up to race-car levels of body control. Other elements are just as useful, like the two rear seats that’ll house short adults at a push. There is a (small) boot and the Volante even offers acceptable levels of fuel economy once you’re cruising relatively gently on the open road.

Still, in convertible form this car remains a massive flex, to use the contemporary parlance. It might be easy to drive, but it’s also impossible to use it in any capacity without drawing attention to yourself. In Sport+ mode, the tight gearing and even more unrestrained exhaust noise transform the big Aston Martin into a lurching, straining, snarling beast that will turn heads and invite comment, not all of it complimentary. Such are the times we live in. Yet for deep-pocketed exhibitionists who like long taking journeys, making loud noises and exploring high speeds, there is probably not a car to match it. 

INFORMATION

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, from £247,500. astonmartin.com

Arguably, the quality and depth of concept cars on display at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show was the best for years. Certainly that was the opinion of most of the commentators we bumped into while walking the halls of the Palexpo exhibition located next to the Swiss city’s airport. Which made it all the harder to whittle down to our list of favourites.

But here goes anyway. Here are the next generation concept cars unveiled at the motor show, including product design-inspired city cars to ultra-luxury electric SUVs.

Citroën Ami One

The award for ‘most photo-friendly Geneva concept’ could easily go to the Citroën Ami One. Celebrating 100 years in 2019, the charmingly idiosyncratic French brand unveiled its 2.5m long city car concept as egalitarian low-cost transport – even for those without a regular driving licence – as the tiny electric two-seater is simple to use and doesn’t go above 30mph. Special emphasis was placed on making the car more affordable to manufacture, with a symmetrical design featuring fewer unique parts. Accordingly the left and right-hand doors are identical – opening in opposite directions so the hinges can be positioned in the same place – and various bumpers and panels are interchangeable. Sit inside and the cabin feels remarkably spacious but still with significant storage. There is also a display slot where you can plug in your own smart phone to substitute for a built-in driver or satnav screen to reduce complexity and cost. Aimed to be either ‘pay-as-you-go’ via an app or owned outright with greater personalisation, Citroën’s head of interior design, Jean-Arthur Madelaine-Advenier tells Wallpaper* the car is for a new kind of traveller. ‘It’s not meant to appeal to a car freak,’ he says with a smile, ‘the aesthetic is different, it’s for a wider and younger audience. The Ami One is more like a “connected” object.’

Kia Imagine

‘We tried to create a car that’s hard to categorise, not clearly a saloon or a hatch and certainly not a dry-looking electric vehicle either,’ Alex Daniel, Kia’s exterior creative manager says of the South Korean brand’s Imagine concept. Boldly named, the result is equally so, especially the interior, with an original mix of the flamboyant and the technical. Instead of just one large infotainment central screen the Imagine’s dashboard proposes 21 iPad-sized ones, fanned out like a pack of cards from door to door. Meanwhile the leather-covered carbon-fibre seat shells ape the look of intricately folded paper and the inner door panel surfacing resembles metal that has been artfully hand-beaten. As Imagine’s interior designer Ralph Kluge concludes: ‘We wanted an airy and roomy cabin but also wanted it to be more inviting than the normal rational approach.’ They’ve succeeded.

Lagonda All-Terrain

Aston Martin had one of the busiest stands at the Geneva Motor Show unveiling four exceptional new vehicles – from a production-ready V12 hypercar to a V6 supercar concept – but the Lagonda All-Terrain concept also caught the eye for signalling the arrival of Aston’s all-electric luxury offshoot brand, starting production in 2022. Following the limousine-shaped 2018 Lagonda Vision, the 2019 All-Terrain concept signposts that there will also be a large and capable electric SUV in the Lagonda range, able to extend luxury travel well beyond the Tarmac and in a cabin environment more akin to a well-appointed front room – with lounge-style seats and softer fabrics including cashmere.

Nissan IMQ

Nissan has been showing various new SUV concepts – mainly electric-powered in some form – for a few years now. Standing out in their angularity of exterior aesthetic, global head of design Alfonso Albaisa tells Wallpaper* the concepts are examples of the firm ‘expressing its roots more than before’ and in the case of the new IMQ concept specifically, an example of the Japanese word Kabuku ‘to embrace the strange or unusual’. The closely-spaced new grille of the IMQ is particularly fresh and the interior features laser-cut fabric on the dash and door panels inspired by a latticed woodwork technique used in classical Japanese screens called Kumiko. Insiders suggest the IMQ gives strong design pointers to the next Qashqai compact SUV and the concept also highlights Nissan’s next generation e-Power system – which utilises a small petrol engine to charge the battery for an electric motor to then power the wheels – and which is already a success in Japan. The firm will be bringing the tech to Europe by 2022.

Fiat Centoventi

According to Fiat Chrysler head of design Ralph Gilles, Fiat hasn’t made a concept car for about 15 years, such has been its focus on production car realities and profitability. So the Fiat Centoventi concept came as a genuine surprise at the Geneva show. Celebrating 120 years of the Italian company – thus the name – the concept features a host of modular and low-cost ideas. These include a battery housing with extra slots so the customer can purchase more packs to facilitate greater electric vehicle range – like a home computer that can similarly cater for ‘extra memory’ needs – and a white-only exterior to which various roof, bumper, wheel covers and external wraps can be added to bring colour and personalisation. In keeping with the anniversary theme, there are 120 accessories initially envisioned and 114 of them – including seat cushions, door storage and a sound system – could be ordered online and fitted by the customer at home, or 3D-printed, in the case of one cup-holder design. The idea is these items could also be resold and traded on the internet when the owner fancies a change, all of which Fiat thinks could promote a greater community of fans for its brand.

Piëch Mark Zero

The wild card of this 2019 Geneva concept car selection is the Piëch Mark Zero concept. The Swiss-German start-up’s company name comes from co-founder Toni Piëch, the son of former VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch and great-grandson of VW Beetle creator Ferdinand Porsche no less. Big boots to fill then, but Toni Piëch believes his company brings something different to the table. The Mark Zero pairs timeless design – recalling classic Jaguar and Maserati styling cues among others – with a new technology package underneath that he says could dramatically reduce electric vehicle charging times close to a conventional combustion engine’s fuel tank fill-up. Piëch Automotive is touting a speed of 80 per cent full in five minutes as possible and says its modular hardware and software concept can accommodate many powertrain types more easily while being easier to update than traditional carmakers’ platforms too. Three types of car are being planned – a two-seater, four-seater plus a sporty SUV – to be produced by existing and experienced contract manufacturers. But the bigger ambition seems to be for Piëch Automotive to market its modular structure to other car manufacturers as part of a business-to-business model. Early days then, but interesting.

INFORMATION
Geneva Motor Show runs from 7 – 17 March. For more information, visit the Geneva Motor Show website

Prince Charles likes his outfits and interests to complement one another. Archive images from the 1960s onwards show him wearing, variously, a selection of immaculate safari suits in Kenya, yee-ha-ish western shirts and cowboy boots at a Native American reservation, and rugged equestrian duds for a game of polo. Today, His Royal Highness will be driving Wallpaper* in his beloved Aston Martin around the country lanes of Highgrove, Gloucestershire, and, again, he is dressed accordingly, in a cream linen suit.

Charles has owned the double-breasted ensemble, by Anderson & Sheppard of Savile Row, for decades, and it has suffered inevitable deterioration. ‘But I hate waste. So I got them to repair it,’ he says, pointing to his tailor’s intricate work: tone-on-tone ribbons on the foxed lapels, and barely perceptible reinforcing at the shoulders. Fundamentally, explains the prince, the suit – an old, still stylish fabrication, but running on sartorial vapours – matches his gorgeous Aston Martin DB6, which runs not on petrol or diesel but on cheese by-product and old wine.

Charles bought the car back in 1970, but after decades of ownership he felt morally and environmentally obliged to modernise it. If he was going to keep it on the road it would have to be re-engineered for alternative fuel. No longer a gas-guzzling luxury, it would be a sustainable green machine in line with his myriad eco-friendly endeavours.

‘It was difficult,’ admits Charles. For years, he had been trying to convert his various cars to bio-diesel. ‘I even tried to get the Royal Train to run on old chip fat. It seemed that other countries were way ahead of us on alternative fuels, but we then discovered a splendid company near here who specialise in turning waste products into fuels.’

Gloucestershire-based Green Fuels, which has since earned a Royal Warrant of Appointment, informed the prince that it could supply waste-derived bio-ethanol produced from a combination of wine unsuitable for human consumption, and whey, a by-product of cheese manufacturing. The fuel is blended as ‘E85’ by adding 15 per cent unleaded petrol, its higher-octane levels (105 versus the more typical 87 of unleaded petrol) making the car more powerful.

Aston specialist RS Williams carried out the DB6’s conversion. ‘At first, the engineers weren’t convinced that the conversion would work, but I insisted that it would,’ says Charles as we pass through Highgrove’s gates and head out on to the open road. ‘When the conversion was done, they had to admit that the car now performs better than ever.’

Charles’ cousin David Linley (furniture maker and honorary chairman of Christie’s) has a joke about the prince and his car. ‘How does Prince Charles drive his Aston Martin? Caerphilly.’ It’s not a bad Prince of Wales gag, but in truth, as Wallpaper* discovers, HRH is quite a sporty motorist. As if to demonstrate the Aston’s eco grunt, he accelerates to a corner (we’re on private land now), deftly double declutches and executes a modest wheel spin on the exit. He allows himself a satisfied grin. ‘When I first bought the car it seemed incredibly fast and powerful so I asked [former Formula One world champion] Graham Hill to teach me how to drive it. He took me to the Thruxton circuit and showed how it could hold the road at speed. Lovely man. He gave me so much confidence.’

Now gently cruising around the wooded Gloucestershire lanes in summer sunshine, HRH tells of a personal love affair with the great British marque that spans five decades and several bespoke iterations. A member of the Aston Martin Owners Club since 1973, between 1987 and 1995 Charles also owned a 5.3 litre V8 Vantage Volante, gifted to him by the Emir of Bahrain. It included an inbuilt jar to hold sugar cubes for polo ponies. Aston Martin subsequently built more than 20 Vantage Volantes to the ‘Prince of Wales Specification’ for other customers. Charles’ third Aston, a Virage Volante, was leased from 1994 to 2007. The marque has held a Royal Warrant since 1982.

Charles’ first ever car was actually an MGC GT, which he drove for a couple of years from January 1968. ‘Lovely car. I had it when I was up at Cambridge.’ (The prince studied at Trinity College.) Fitted with wire wheels, a heated rear window, an electric aerial and – a novelty at the time – a car phone, the MGC went to the Royal Mews in Windsor in 1970 and later to the Sandringham museum. It was replaced by his Aston Martin DB6 – a MKII Volante, the cognoscenti’s choice.

Introduced at the 1965 London Motor Show, the DB6 was the first model to be engineered at the company’s Newport Pagnell factory. A lengthened wheelbase and a relocated rear axle gave it a top speed of 148mph and more stability than the DB5. A ‘Kammback tail’ rear end paid tribute to the Ferrari 250. Charles’ car, a rare convertible edition, is fitted with a big red button that reads ‘eject’. ‘Just a joke,’ the Prince assures his nervous passenger.

Why Aston Martin? ‘It is one of the great cars,’ says Charles, his hands at a perfect ‘ten to two’ on the polished wooden steering wheel. ‘I adore the design and the lines. They are special. I remember Lord Snowdon had a marvellous DB5 in a beautiful gunmetal colour. It was always the car to have.’

We pull into the Highgrove gates and proceed at a steady, gravel-crunching walking pace towards the house. A painted sign wryly cautions us ‘Beware! You are now entering an old-fashioned establishment’.

The Prince Charles way of doing things, however, merges aesthetic charm with a maverick sense of responsibility and is as much future-facing as it is ‘old fashioned’. The Home Farm at Highgrove operates on organic, agro-ecological system, using homeopathic treatments for cattle and sheep as part of a drive to reduce the use of antibiotics. Ninety per cent of the energy for office and domestic use at the estate comes from renewable sources, and 60 per cent of the power is produced on site. Solar panels have been installed at Highgrove and Charles’ London residence, Clarence House, while Highgrove, as well as properties in Scotland and Wales, use biomass boilers; any wood chips used are sustainably managed. Such attention to sustainability certainly fits the description given by Charles’ tailor, who once described him as a ‘very frugal’ customer who used offcuts of suits to make coats for his dogs.

Charles founded the International Sustainability Unit in 2010, seeking solutions to key environmental challenges, such as food security, the depletion of natural capital and ecosystem resilience, and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement at the 7th International Green Awards in 2012. The cheese-and-wine-powered DB6 is a little landmark victory. Green Fuels has patented a waste-derived sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and is now building a demonstration facility to produce SAF for commercial use.

The fact that cheese whey can make his car go faster is, though fascinating and exciting, also slightly baffling to Charles. ‘Don’t ask me to explain how it all works. I am more of a tinkerer than an engineer,’ he says, his driving hands now plunged into the pockets of his recycled linen suit in that inimitable Prince Charles manner. ‘A rags and patches man.’

As originally featured in the October 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*235)

So here it is, number three of seven, a rather prosaic way of establishing that the new Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is the third of seven all-new cars to be launched within a seven year period by the revitalised, newly profitable, and freshly competitive Aston Martin. It’s also the marque’s new flagship, the very nature of which means it’s a scarcer commodity than its siblings, the DB11 and Vantage. Faster, dearer, and more exclusive, the DBS Superleggera is designed to compete at the highest level of the luxury sports car market, tempting buyers away from Ferrari and helping bolster the company’s image.

At first glimpse, the DBS Superleggera appears closely related to the DB11, the 2016 grand tourer that kickstarted the company’s renaissance. It’s true that the two cars share plenty of components and proportions, but the Superleggera is a far more sophisticated proposition. Weight-saving comes courtesy of carbon fibre (hence the name, a designation first used on the Italian-designed space-framed cars Aston built in the 1950s and 60s) and a certain stripped out aesthetic – the rear spoiler is now fixed, rather than motorised, for example. Aston makes much of the newer car’s ‘brutish’ character, in keeping with its colossal power output (more of which later), but to our eyes the new aero and dynamic refinements have resulted in one of the best looking contemporary Aston Martins in many years, perhaps since the original DB9

On the road, the DBS Superleggera introduces itself by way of a short, sharp exhaust bark, with the big V12 settling down into a throaty idle. The car practically brims with raw potential, feeling alive in a way that can only be conveyed via a traditional internal combustion engine. Electric power might offer more torque and acceleration, but for legions of enthusiasts, the visceral intensity of traditional horsepower is going to be a very hard habit to forego. That time has not yet arrived, however, and the DBS Superleggera is happy to indulge you in noise, horsepower and visceral intensity.

There are 715 horsepower available, as well as a colossal amount of torque (900 Newton metres of it, for those who like to keep track of such things). In practical terms that means the DBS's power is instantly deployable at any speed, hustling this big machine to 62mph in 3.4 seconds and on to an improbably 211mph top speed. As we all know by now, such stats are largely academic, best kept for bragging rights in supercar owning circles. In the real world, what impresses is the lithe, fluid ride and fingertip-perfect precision of the steering. Combined with the whoomph (not a technical term) provided by the engine, and the DBS Superleggera surges down the road, dives into corners and catapults itself into the next stretch of road with tremendous aplomb. It's addictive and intoxicating; one can only hope that lucky customers get to push their cars even as fraction as hard as the press fleet.

In many respects, the DBS Superleggera is a deeply traditional machine, the synthesis of old world attitudes to power and design filtered through the lens of technological advancement. Had carbon fibre bodywork, Dynamic Torque Control and high-power turbochargers been around in the 50s and 60s, you can be sure the pioneering sports car makers of the age would have deployed them with panache. But it's only now, at the tail-end of the fossil fuelled era, that the ultra-rapid, front-engined super GT has reached its apotheosis.

The DBS Superleggera is depicted in a bold Nick Knight short commissioned to accompany the launch, all spiky, faceted graphics and lurching CGI. It’s typical Knight, but quite unlike anything Aston Martin has ever done before, an indication of the new thinking that is going into this 105 year old company.

Just like in nature, automotive evolution is slow and steady; once a form reaches perfection its biggest challenge is a change to its environment. In that respect, change is definitely coming. Aston Martin is ready. The next four cars to complete the set of seven are waiting in the wings, promising new ways of thinking about design, luxury and performance. 

INFORMATION

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, from £225,000. For more information, visit the website

A well-known brand shouldn't be constrained in any way. The right design approach allows big names to nimbly hop between sectors and boundaries, taking its loyal customers on a journey to whole new realms. That’s the thinking behind the Volante Vision Concept, a striking new design from Aston Martin and a clutch of aero industry specialists, including Cranfield University, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, and jet engine manufacturers Rolls-Royce. Debuting at this month’s Farnborough Air Show, the Volante is more than a clever play on words (the name, used by Aston on its convertible models for many decades, is the Italian word for ‘flying’).

Instead, this is a vision of future air transport, a luxury three-seater that uses a hybrid-electric power train and can take off and land vertically from anywhere. For now, this kind of craft is strictly hypothetical, although the likes of Uber are reportedly well advanced on plans for a passenger drone infrastructure. Aston Martin believes, not unreasonably, that there'll be big demand for a premium version of this kind of service. As a result, the company has deployed its considerable design acumen into making the Volante Vision Concept quite unlike anything else you’ve ever seen.

The aircraft’s sleek torpedo-like fuselage contains three seats in a 1-2 configuration, with a large horizontally mounted turbo-prop to the aft, faired into the rear wing design. At the front, a Y-shaped wing arrangement envelopes two pairs of tilting and rotating propellers, giving the craft the extreme manoeuvrability needed to operate in the urban environment. The forms are simple, flowing and elegant, evoking AM’s upcoming Valkyrie hypercar. Autonomous navigation is paired with exceptional performance, while the all-glass cockpit projects information onto the huge bubble canopy.

Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr Andy Palmer, describes the craft as a ‘luxury mobility concept,’ envisioning it as the transportation of choice for hops from business districts to urban airports, country retreats or other urban centres. A whole field of legislative hurdles need to be cleared before such craft can take to the skies. By assembling a strong team of British innovators to explore the available options, Aston Martin’s bold piece of blue-sky thinking could help it get ahead in this next generation air race.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Aston Martin website

An onomatopoeic description of the experience of driving the new Aston Martin Vantage driving experience would be filled with roars, bangs, pops and exclamation marks, such is the visceral and primal immediacy of this V8-powered two seater sports car. The Vantage model is a now staple of the Aston Martin line-up, a name first introduced 70 years ago to signify a special high-powered model but which eventually evolved into a standalone car. The last time an all-new Vantage debuted was back in 2005 and its longevity was a testament to the enduring power of the design.

The new Vantage deviates slightly from the timeless beauty of its predecessor. That’s not to say it’s unattractive, but it’s certainly cut from a very different cloth. Aston Martin are making great capital of the new Vantage’s supposed animalistic qualities, stressing an aggressive, muscular character instead of a svelte elegance. The comparison isn’t too off the mark, for there is definitely something hunched, primal and faintly lupine (or even shark-like) about the Vantage’s form. It’s all facets, nips, tucks and ducts, with grills and vents treated like deep incisions or slashes in the bodywork. The familiar Aston grille has evolved into a frontage-swallowing maw, inspired by Aston Martin’s Vulcan track car and the Bond-only DB10, but also tweaked for simplicity of form and aerodynamics. It’s all a welcome departure from a (very) familiar design language, one that emphasises the difference between Vantage and the larger, softer DB11.

Vantage owners will treat this car as if it was somehow alive and kicking, not just an empty vessel for everyday transportation. Character is an important quality in a luxury sports car. Most manufacturers hope they can hark back to the long-standing romantic notion of the sports car, that of a beast to be tamed in order that you might feel some closer connection with, so that every journey becomes a battle that ultimately flatters the victor. Most modern high powered cars will scare the unwary or the inexperienced, but very few will tempt you to the edge and let you throw yourself over it. The Vantage is one such car, a machine that can be driven at 75 per cent capacity and still make you feel like you’ve won Le Mans. For most of us, that feels just about right; the combination of bellowing sound, direct, fluid steering and utterly composed road manners will have you hunting out tighter and tighter corners, or discovering overtaking opportunities that previously just weren’t there.

The final 25 per cent is only for the brave. On the track, the Vantage’s innate ability was frustrated somewhat by unseasonably wet Portuguese weather (and the accompanying slicks of water that turned the straight into a reflecting pool), but the balance and poise that come from a well-engineering race car enabled you to push far faster without the danger of any sudden loss of control. The Vantage is an undeniably quick car, but we live in an era of ludicrously powerful machines; bragging contests are over. Aston has clearly decided to hold back and not infuse the Vantage with so much lurching thrust that you struggle to put any of it down on the ground. You can make it scream if you so desire, or whisper (sort of), thanks to a ‘quiet start’ mode that does away with the theatrically loud squawk of the exhausts.

That decorum is occasionally necessary, for this is also a luxury car, with the ability to cruise in comfort without rattling windows and waking babies. The interior also abandons the wood and leather of Aston’s past in favour of a more angular approach that puts functions at your fingertips, rather than buried beneath a pile of menus. Although there’s plenty of technology at work, the Vantage still has a very analogue character. 

If all goes according to plan, the new Vantage won’t have nearly as long a lifespan as the car it succeeds. This is a good thing. Aston Martin is on a quest to build sales and expand its range and has a number of new models signed off and waiting in the wings. Seven cars will be launched over a period of seven years, all designed to do very different things. When that cycle completes, it’ll be time to start again and introduce next generation models. The Vantage remains the ‘entry level’ car in the range and for many people – us included – the quintessential Aston Martin driving experience.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Aston Martin website

Although there was a tinge of irony behind the launch of a classic British convertible in the rainy south of France, we were left with no doubt that the new Aston Martin DB11 Volante is something special, regardless of the outlook. Just as night follows day, Aston Martin – like every other manufacturer in its class – will eventually launch a convertible version of its sporting coupes. The latest model to get the drop-top treatment is the DB11, launched to great acclaim in 2016. It’s taken the best part of two years to get the Volante model to market, even though the open car (which revives Aston’s legendary nameplate) will ultimately account for 40 per cent of all DB11 sales.

The company is deep in an ambitious plan to revitalise, re-engineer and expand its entire range (it quietly pointed out, amidst the gloom of the UK’s recent car sales statistics, that it is currently the fastest growing car brand in the country) and DB11 Volante has had to wait its turn in a crowded launch schedule.

The DB11 was launched in 2016 to great acclaim, and has taken almost two years to receive an update

It’s certainly been worth the wait. The convertible sports car presents car manufacturers with a conundrum. If you replace a steel, aluminium or carbon fibre roof structure with a complex arrangement of motors, folding supports, covers, flaps, canvas and roll-over support, all you are doing is adding weight and removing stiffness. There’s also the carefully honed aerodynamic surfaces to consider, not to mention the aesthetic consequences of re-shuffling the rear bodywork. Aston Martin has trodden very carefully with the form of the existing DB11, determined not to mess up that hawkish front end and the neatly detailed tail. The changes, unsurprisingly, are on the rear deck, where the coupe’s ducted c-pillars are no more. With the top down (in an impressive 14 seconds, no less), the Volante can lay convincing claim to being one of the best-looking cars you can buy.

With the top down, the hood takes up little space behind the rear seats, leaving plenty of room in the boot

With a big twin-turbo V8 under that clamshell bonnet, the DB11 Volante is also a spirited and sonorous performer, although there’s no getting away from its scale as you nose the car down narrow French lanes. The traditional Aston interior is all present and correct in its tactile, leather-clad wondrousness, although once you’re cued in to the car’s dimensions and dynamics, your focus is on the world outside – especially with the hood down. The steering is quick-witted and the throttle a delight and there’s a supreme restraint in the overall ride quality, making this a perfect cruising machine. You can increase the ferocity of the throttle, the hardness of the ride (and the sound of the exhaust) in stages, should the clouds ever clear and the road surfaces start to look more forgiving to over 500 horsepower being pushed out through the rear wheels.

Next up for Aston? The New Vantage, a long-awaited and radically different overhaul of AM’s most sporting model. Once this ultra-sporting machine arrives, will the DB11 be seen as a more sober choice? Right now, it's as close to the perfect traditional sports car as the company has ever got.

INFORMATION

Aston Martin DB11 Volante, from £159,000 (UK), €199,000 (Germany), $216,495 (USA). For more information, visit the Aston Martin website

If you’re flying privately into Nice, have a quiet word with the captain just before the final approach. For depending on air traffic control, it’s worth knowing on which side of the plane to sit. For this is one of the most spectacular views in civil aviation. With the Mediterranean coastline laid out before you, it’s a veritable feast of property-watching. Towards the end of September, there’s another thing to look out for; the shining white arrows of the global superyacht community, scattered along the bays and marinas, gradually increasing in frequency until you see the expensive thicket of hulls surrounding Monaco harbour.

A solitary superyacht can be a thing of wonder, if not always of beauty, a monumental symbol of not just wealth but of industry, creativity and massive, massive complexity. However, taken en masse, as per the marina and bay of Monaco roundabout the height of September’s annual Yacht Show, it’s easy to be less sympathetic about the view. Massive yachts are moored puffy cheek by billowing jowl, resembling nothing so much as a particularly florid dessert, with extra layers of rich sauces and unnecessary accoutrements from an army of sharp-elbowed chefs.

This is the panorama that greets you at the Monaco Yacht Show, where every dock, jetty and pontoon overladen with the white and grey flanks of some of the world’s biggest boats. Around 125 superyachts were moored up for this, the 27th annual event, and despite the dips and dives of the global economy, the yachting community remains relentlessly upbeat. People are still commissioning yachts. Fraser, one of the world’s pre-eminent brokers and charter firms, claims to have a solid kilometre of yachts on display.

It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that superyachts have been getting bigger over the past decade, an expansion that correlates neatly with the number of newly minted billionaires emerging from territories where such wealth was once anathema. However, as Fraser’s annual review of life on the waves noted, sales growth is actually in the middle market, the 20-40 m boats that were once in danger of being swallowed up by the megayachts. Although there will always be those who live to commission increasingly massive yachts, some in the industry see the way forward in this middle ground. The ‘pocket superyacht’ is a charter favourite, offered by companies like Fraser, Y.Co, Burgess and Camper and Nicholson as an upscale alternative to a villa in the Maldives or a high season week in Courchevel. Might might not always be right.

Monaco, and the media, still favours the massive – the average size of the boats on display was an impressive 49m and the top five were all 70 m plus. Like a giant sea beast, the yacht world is an ecosystem feeding many, many smaller creatures, from interior designers and furniture makers, to porcelain and crystal specialists, art, IT and security consultants, pilots of helicopters and submarines, chefs, stewards, and managers and many, many more.

Away from the massed ranks of docked behemoths, there’s always fascination to be found in the dedicated toys and technology aimed at this very particular elite. It was also the second year of a dedicated 'car deck,' with the supercar-loving Monégasques getting a chance to check out their next ride, be it brand-new or elaborately restored.

So with memories still fresh of the swish of endless tenders shuttling foot-weary punters backwards and forth, and the sound of waves lapping against expensive hulls (not to mention the high-pitched hum of photographic drones and those coastal views from NetJets’ brand new Challenger 350), here is our selection of the best in show, both above and below the waves.

Project Triton: We kick off with a classic, the kind of collaboration that takes years to set up. Aston Martin’s announcement that it is teaming up with long-established submarine manufacturers Triton will stir the soul of that small sub-section of customers looking for a performance kick in the wet and the dry. Aston Martin Consulting has transformed Triton’s three-person sub with dynamic new lines, creating a machine that looks poised, dynamic and – appropriately enough – pleasingly fluid.

Cloud 9: The traditional grand yacht was well represented by Cloud 9, a 74 m yacht styled externally by Studio Zuccon and internally by London-based Winch Design. The whole ensemble was overseen by specialists Burgess and built at CRN Shipyard. Cloud 9 is geared towards outdoor living, with a cascade of rear decks spilling down to the ubiquitous beach club. On-deck accessories include a Teppenyaki bar and a karaoke system (think of all the eclectic party themes you could come up with), while up to 12 guests can be accommodated in the eight cabins.

Rossinavi Endeavour II: We recently featured Rossinavi’s new Aurora, but the Italian shipyard also had another debut at MYS, the Endeavour II. Team For Design’s all-aluminium yacht measures 49.9 m and the Salvagni Architetti-designed interior deploys clean lines and contemporary Italian furnishings, making it feel a world apart from the industry’s still widespread reliance on ’traditional’ style.

Glider Yachts Supersports: You’ll need plenty of space and a strong constitution to trial the Glider SS 18. Promising a frankly outlandish 96 knots top speed, this slender craft is raised up above the water on two rapier-like floats, minimising drag and giving the pilots and passengers the sensation of being in a high-flying sports cabriolet.

M/Y Legend: Expedition yachts continue to proliferate, as the escapism offered by visits to the far-flung corners of the world’s oceans gain traction. We experienced the folksy interior of the M/Y Legend, an (alleged) former Soviet spy ship converted into an ice-class super cruiser with cabins like a 70s dacha, a boatload of reproduction art and a full quota of tenders and toys, including a submarine and helicopter (keeping high maintenance, fast depreciating assets all in one place). Antarctic journeys start with an 80 k charter flight to King George Island, ensuring a truly dedicated clientele.

So’mar: Riza Tansu, the designer and entrepreneur behind Tansu, takes a different tack to yacht design. ’Yachts should be like a beach house in Malibu, not a palace in Paris,’ he says from the deck of So’mar, a 37.9 m superyacht that majors on style and space, rather than complex hydraulic push-button gadgetry. Tansu likes to chase simplicity, with a smaller crew and a greater sense of being close to the sea. His forthcoming yacht ’Cyclone’ pushes minimalism every further. His boats have a robust form that pioneered the current era of straight bow designs. ’They are little ships first, and then yachts,’ he says, explaining how he is inspired by aeronautical design and contemporary architecture.

Areti: The Lurssen built Areti has a Winch exterior and interior, although the latter has been given a far more traditional treatment than the sleek superstructure. Beneath the sizeable decks of this ultra-modern 85 m craft is craftsmanship straight out of the interwar heyday of glamorous yachting, all carved wood, gilt and marble.

Home: One of the largest hybrid-powered superyachts, the Perry Van Oossanen-designed Home was built by Heesen Yachts in the Netherlands. Winning the show’s award for most environmentally-friendly luxury vessel, the 49.8 m Home has smaller engines meaning more accommodation, as well as the ability to cruise silently on electric power. Italian designer Cristiano Gatto created the appropriately minimalist interiors, using plenty of Paola Lenti furniture.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Monaco Yacht Show website

Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner has returned to the Geneva-based MAD Gallery with a new show for its Taipei outpost. 'Disintegrating II' is an exhibition of five large-format prints, comprising the second part of Oefner’s 'Disintegrating' series, first seen at the Geneva MAD Gallery in 2013. His goal is to capture images of real objects or situations, but which are invisible to the naked eye. This time, he’s deconstructed the most beautiful – and, it must be said, valuable – automotive treasures of them all, producing photographs that look as if the cars have exploded, creating a shower of internal components.

It takes Oefner two months and over 2,000 photos to create each image. What makes his achievement all the more remarkable is that the full-sized cars, one of which is Ralph Lauren’s 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, were not touched. Oefner created the five images by painstakingly deconstructing scale-models.

This is possible because today’s state-of-the-art model cars, the large-scale items with four-figure prices, are indistinguishable from the real thing, provided no nearby objects betray their size. How else do you think they destroyed James Bond’s priceless Aston-Martin at the end of Skyfall?

Oefner photographs each component, over a thousand in each model, placing each piece in a specific position. In this manner, he can create the illusion of an exploding automobile. As tempted as one might be to think they’re computer-generated, they are not. The cars – all legendary – include the Auto Union Type C, the Maserati 250F, Ford’s GT40, the aforementioned Bugatti 57SC Atlantic and the Porsche 956.

Each of the five images is available in two sizes: 140cm x 70cm and 230cm x 115cm. The smaller of the two is limited to eight prints priced at 3,780 CHF and the larger to three prints selling for 19,440 CHF. Both are also offered as limited artist's editions – two each, at 5,000 CHF and 22,000 CHF. It's interesting to note that, at one time, 22,000 CHF would have paid for the actual cars.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the MAD Gallery website and the Fabian Oefner website 

ADDRESS

MAD Gallery
No 10, Lane 101
Section 1
Da'an Rd
Da’an District
Taipei City
Taiwan 106

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