Just look at it. Don't you just want to pinch its little cheeks?
(Credit: Aston Martin)Aston Martin has released photos of its upcoming Cygnet subcompact. We've seen this one before, but now it's completed and ready to roll. The Cygnet is based on the Toyota iQ city car, but with the face and accoutrement of a DB9. Unfortunately, I'm also fairly certain that there will be no power upgrades to go with the visual refresh.
(Credit:
Aston Martin)
(Credit:
Aston Martin)
I have to admit, it's a cute little car and the Aston features seem to fit nicely in a Super Deformed sort of way.
Inside, the Cygnet retains, for the most part, the iQ's cabin layout, but with a slathering of Aston Martin leather and a few glossy black bits. One new feature is an iPod Touch cradle mounted in the center of the dashboard. It looks a bit precariously mounted, but with only a 97hp 1.3-liter engine turning the wheels, we don't think that excessive Gs are something a Cygnet driver will have to worry about.
With only 97hp on tap, there's little chance of that iPod Touch breaking loose.
(Credit: Aston Martin)Why go through the trouble of making something so absurd? Well, the Cygnet/iQ's low 120g/km of CO2 should pull Aston's fleet average emissions down to something more in line with the European standards.
Pricing hasn't been announced, but the general consensus points toward the $32,000 mark, which to be frank, is a bit much for a city car. But with Aston Martin levels of ultraluxury and Toyota-grade reliability, perhaps Aston Martin will sell its estimated 2,000 units per year.
The Aston Martin Cygnet goes on sale in late 2010 in Europe only.
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG's retro design evokes the 300 SL.
(Credit: CNET)
With all the very expensive new cars being unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show, you would think the economy never went into recession. It did, and yet here they are, a parade of new automotive objects of lust from the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, and Rolls-Royce. Some emphasize sport, some luxury, but all have way more of each than your standard economy sedan.
Leading the parade is the spectacular new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a monster of a supercar with retro styling evoking the gull-winged 300 SL. Porsche shows off a couple of 911s, the styling only slightly updated but big improvement where it counts: in the engine, transmission, and suspension. Ferrari comes up with a replacement for the F430, managing to improve on that already fantastic supercar. And then there's Abarth, which offers up a tribute to Ferrari in the form of a heavily modified Fiat 500.
A number of convertibles follow, the tops chopped off of an Audi R8, Lamborghini Reventon, and Maserati GranTurismo. And finally, a couple of stately sedans from Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce take the floor.
Aston Martin engineers work on the concept Cygnet.
(Credit: Aston Martin)There's an old joke, part of which says that in hell, the cooks are English. If that's true, then today's news suggests our world is far from fiery. Aston Martin has taken Toyota's iQ small car platform and built a luxury commuter car.
Aston Martin suggests the iQ-based concept Cygnet would work like a yacht's tender to a DB9, DBS, or Vantage. There is even a suggestion in Aston Martin's press release that the Cygnet could be sold as an option to one of Aston Martin's bigger cars.
We like the idea that a luxury car doesn't have to be a huge gas guzzler. Lexus is already exploiting that theme with its new HS 250h. And we can imagine that a fuel-sipping iQ would be quite nice fitted with wood and leather coachwork, a pothole-absorbing suspension, and sound-deadening cabin. Especially as dense traffic in urban areas means you're not exactly tapping the 470 horsepower available in a DB9.
(Credit:
Spantax)
Certain cars feature such atrocious designs that they become automotive legends. Think cars such as the AMC Pacer and Pontiac Aztek. In the last year, we've seen quirky designs that may reach such legendary status from the vaunted brands BMW, Acura, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin. Some of these designs are attempts at entering the crossover segment, building an SUV with the fuel economy and ride quality of a car. Others attempt to expand model lineups dominated by sports cars, giving the prospective buyer who wants to add a baby seat an option. Take a look at these photos to see the results of these design efforts.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
The Aston Martin DB5 is the traditional James Bond movie car, but as we focus on tech cars, we stepped into the present with a look at the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, which includes navigation, Bluetooth cell phone support, and even iPod integration. Still a fabulous-looking car, the DB9 also provides the handling JB would need while outrunning Spectre agents.
GT cars, the stuff that posters on the walls of high school boys' bedrooms are made of, made a strong showing at the 2009 Geneva auto show, with new examples from Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, among others. The variety we found at the show included standard gas engines, hybrids, and full electric versions, and all boast astounding performance figures.
You know a car is famous when a mere clone of it can fetch $300,000.
Such may be the scenario when an Aston Martin DB5 that isn't even connected to James Bond's goes online for bidding on March 12.
Liquidation house Eddison describes the car as "identical" in its "metallic silver grey" (ahem, that should be called "Silver Birch") and leather upholstery, which unfortunately is cordovan rather than the correct black. So much for "identical."
But even if this car trades on the Bond legacy like a distant cousin claiming peerage, it will be easy to forgive the high bidder: real Bond DB5's are the most esteemed cars in pop culture--and worth a lot more than $300,000.
Four of them exist: two film cars from "Goldfinger" and two promotional cars commissioned for the release of "Thunderball." The most desirable of that group is clearly chassis DP/2161/1, the "action" car from "Goldfinger" that had all the gadgets: most notably the ejector seat; most presciently a navigation system.
The Commanders Club (in uncharacteristically causal attire) with chassis DP/2161/1 in Los Angeles in 1992.
(Credit: Commanders Club)The Commanders Club, of which I am a founder, had the pleasure of inspecting DP/2161/1 in 1992 when it belonged to owner Anthony Pugliese who acquired it via auction at Sotheby's for $275,000 in 1986. We found the magic was in its honest patina as a used but not abused working film car with a direct link to Bondmania. Many of the gadgets like bumper rams, machine guns, and homing screen worked in a rudimentary fashion, but the tire shredders that extended from the wheel hubs were nonfunctional film illusions.
In true espionage fashion DP/2161/1 has been missing since 1997 when it was stolen from a secure hangar in Boca Raton, Florida, where Pugliese stored it when it wasn't touring. The full story is fascinating. Many call the car priceless but it's probably worth $4 to $6 million today if still in good condition, wherever it is.
Of the other three Bond DB5's, two (DB5/2008/R and DB5/1486/R) are believed to be in private collections and one (DB5/2017/R) is at the Louwman Collection at the Dutch National Automobile Museum. They are celebrated cars, but can't approach the value of DP/2161/1.
When it comes to authenticity, however, no DB5 can really claim highest rank in the Bond community: in the novels Bond, like Ian Fleming himself, was a Bentley man.
The new Aston Martin DBS gets a Bang & Olufsen audio system.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)The Aston Martin DBS is a beautiful car, and sitting in one is a very special experience. Sitting in a DBS and listening to a Bang & Olufsen audio system takes that special experience and adds a choir of angels. The high-end Danish audio-components maker lends its expertise to Aston Martin with its Beosound DBS system, now coming as standard in the new DBS. At the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show we sat in the DBS as a Bang & Olufsen representative played a variety of music through the system.
The car spun around on its turntable as a drum-and-bass track played at full volume. The staging was perfect, giving the aural illusion that a drum kit was five feet in front. Each beat on the kit gave us the distinct sound of bass, snare, and cymbal. The bass guitar joined in, and we could hear the flex of the strings. Another track with a female jazz singer placed her right over the hood of the car, then an orchestral track made banks of strings and woodwinds clear enough that we could almost tell which instrument was first chair.
Acoustic lenses pop up from the dashboard.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Bang & Olufsen's priorities are staging and imaging, making the sound come from a distinct place, as if you had the best seat in the house, right in front of the stage. To accomplish this effect in the Aston Martin DBS, the company found places for 13 speakers, including two pop-up acoustic lenses at opposite ends of the dashboard, just like in the Audi A8. And where most companies are happy to put a tweeter at the base of the A pillar, Bang & Olufsen got to put mid-range speakers up there, mounted in the front top edge of the doors. Woofers are also mounted in a unique position, on either side of the console, in the front footwells. More speakers are mounted in the rear, along with a subwoofer, while a tweeter and mid-range acted as a centerfill in the middle of the dashboard. Mounting is of very high quality--we heard no rattle as heavy bass made the whole car feel as if it was moving.
Mids sit near the A pillars, in the door sills.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)A thousand watts of amplification power this system. Thirteen channels, one for each speaker, with Bang & Olufsen digital processing ensure that the audio comes out clean and well-placed. Ostensibly the DBS has two rear seats, but Bang & Olufsen ignored that charade and focused the sound on the driver and passenger seats. The audio can be set to focus the sweet spot on the driver, but when the passenger seatbelt is buckled that sweet spot is enhanced to include the passenger. Even wilder, the system is tuned for dual imaging, meaning that there are two sweet spots, letting driver and passenger enjoy equally good quality.
The Beosound DBS system uses advanced audio adjustment to overcome changing environment sound, monitoring engine speed, and noise in the cabin. The system changes levels quickly to compensate for noise in a manner that is supposed to be seamless to the car's occupants.
(Credit:
Aston Martin/Jaeger-LeCoultre)
As if Aston Martin DBS owners don't feel enough like James Bond while driving, Aston Martin and luxury watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre have announced the AMVOX2 DBS transponder watch. The transponder watch will allow wannabe-007s to lock and unlock their DBS coupe by pressing the open and close positions respectively on the watch's glass.
The wristwatch features a prominent DBS logo, as well as bezel and dial details designed to reflect the gauges of the DBS. Aston Martin says the transponder module only adds a few grams to the weight of the watch and that the electronics inside have been shrunk to half the size of the same system in the DBS key.
For security and safety purposes, the transponder system can only be paired to the DBS at the dealership.
The AMVOX2 DBS transponder watch will be available in titanium or a very un-James-Bond pink gold this December and should add a whopping 27,500 euros (about $41,000) to the DBS's $262,000 suggested retail price.
As much as we like the idea of keyless entry hidden in a slick-looking watch, it'd be nice if the watch included more advanced smart-key tech, such as proximity detection or keyless start, or more 007-worth features, such as a laser cutter or remote detonator.
(Credit:
Aston Martin)
At the British International Motor Show, we find a room full of supercars. Get ready to drool as we show you a Pagani, an Aston Martin, and a Bugatti, along with less well-known cars such as the Invicta and Gumpert.
