Aston Martin V8 Vantage

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Aston Martin

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 An Aston Martin DBS on its way to the set of Quantum Of Solace, the latest James Bond movie in Italy when the technician driving it went off the road and plunged into Lake Garda. The £134,000 ($267,578) Aston Martin’s roof was smashed in but the driver luckily had only minor injuries. The car was to be used in a scene in which Daniel Craig speeds away from a crash scene and a truck ends up in the water.

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 Carroll Shelby: racer, car builder, automotive legend, pilot, transplant recipient, entrepreneur, perhaps even rascal.

One thing is probably true, the plain-speaking Texan is a bit of all of these – and more. And despite a life-long series of illnesses, anyone of which would have crippled a weaker man, Carroll Hall Shelby, at 85, is still going strong. So it’s probably no surprise he’ll be receiving the latest in a long line of honors, today, as Automotive Executive of the Year.

The path from Leesburg, Texas hasn’t always been a straight line. Indeed, Shelby was born dirt poor, on January 11, 1923, with seemingly few opportunities. So it was probably no surprise to family and friends when he signed up for the then Army-Air Corps, during World War II, serving as flight instructor and test pilot. (Which kindled a lifelong love of flying, that continues today.)

Returning from the War, Shelby planned to settle down and do something that fit in, back in Leesburg. “I opened a chicken farm,” he recalls, with the Texas twang that’s never left him, “but my chickens all died.” Farming clearly wasn’t in his genes. But somehow, fast cars had gotten into his blood. And by the early 1950s, he was proving his mettle as a talented amateur. Turning pro, he landed “rides” with then-strong teams from Aston Martin, Maserati and Cad-Allard, unquestionably proving his skills with a 1959 win at Le Mans.

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The Sultan of Brunei has an amazingly odd car collection. he seems to have a maddening obsession with odd cars. However, what sets him apart is his seemingly unending pot of money with which to manifest his wildest automotive fantasies. Although word on the streets of Bandar Seri Begawan is his fiscal fortunes have depleted as of late, before he sold off some of his assets, he and his family created what may be the most impressive car collection the world has ever seen. In the gallery on the next page you can view a small part of his collection.

see gallery on next page

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Aston Martin continues to tease us with the V12 Vantage RS. This time, it’s been spied testing with its 6.0-liter V12 at the Nurburgring. Gone are the bling-bling rims and pop-up rear wing. This tester wears a set of blacked-out wheels and a taller fixed rear spoiler. We’re not yet sure when the V12 Vantage will hit showrooms. When it does, expect it to make about 600 HP.

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What began as a rumor that Mercedes-Benz would begin supplying Aston Martin with engines has evolved into a full-blown partnership that may include both automakers co-developing platforms and technology. The newest report comes courtesy of Autocar, suggesting that M-B is considering purchasing a stake in Aston Martin and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority would in turn receive a seven-percent slice of the Daimler AG pie. The partnership would make sense on several levels. Aston Martin, which is a small fish in a very large pool, will need to purchase major components from mainstream suppliers once its ties with Ford are officially severed. Imagine AMG-levels of power nestled inside Aston’s sensuous sheet metal. Yum. But the partnership wouldn’t be one sided. Recent reports coming out of Germany say that M-B is looking to employ a lightweight aluminum platform for the next generation SL. Aston Martin has the technology to help develop such an architecture, and with Mercedes stepping away from McLaren next year after production of the SLR ends, M-B needs a new supercar manufacturer to join the party.

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