Aston Martin DB2 - History car info and photo

Price: Upon request

Year: 1953

Location: Europe

Chassis N.: LML/50/333
Engine N.: VB6B/50/1167
Colour: Black
Interior: -
We are happy to offer this beautiful 1953 Aston-Martin DB2 Saloon for sale. Delivered new as a U.S. specification LHD model, this car spent most of its life in the U.S. and in Argentina. 
In 2005, the previous owner imported the car from Argentina where a restoration had already been partially completed in order to transform this Aston-Martin DB2 in a classic rally car. The mechanical and body work had already been completed when the work was stopped. 
After entering the previous owner’s collection, the car remained untouched. We purchased the car still in the same condition as it was at the end of the bodywork restoration. The mechanics have been thoroughly checked and are working perfectly. 
The most exciting aspect of this car is that the new owner will be able to personalize entirely what he wants. The color of the upholstery, the presence of a rollcage and even the specifications of the engine can all be made to order, depending on the final use for this Aston-Martin DB2. It can be finished as a concourse condition cruiser or as a safe classic rally car. The cost will of course vary depending on the setup and we can assist you with the supervision on the work. 
This Aston-Martin DB2 is immediately available in France.

2013 Aston Martin Rapide S Spy Photos

Its 470-hp V-12 and gorgeous shape make the Aston Martin Rapide one of the most gratifying sedans on earth, but the $200,000-plus Aston is way slower—and way more expensive—than most of its loosely defined competitive set, which includes the Porsche Panamera Turbo and Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG. While we don’t expect the Rapide to get any cheaper in future iterations, we do expect it to get quicker. Some have suggested that the car seen here is merely a face-lifted car, but we believe the lightly camo’d Rapide caught in these spy photos is a prototype of an upcoming, rapide-r Rapide likely to be called Rapide S.

This particular mule’s nose is slightly modified, with a front clip that features an additional air channel along the lower lip. The rear camouflage effectively hides any subtle changes Aston Martin may have made to the bumper and taillights, although its taller integrated ducktail spoiler is one indicator that this particular Aston is serious about high-speed stability.

Impossible to discern from the pictures, of course, is the degree to which the Rapide S’s performance will improve, but expect the 5.9-liter V-12 to see a bump of 40 or so hp. (In the DBS, this engine makes 510 hp.) Certain to accompany the zestier V-12 will be tweaks to the suspension and brakes—this prototype seems to have carbon-ceramic rotors—and no uplevel offering in this pricing stratosphere would be complete without unique wheels.

Expect to see the new Rapide S join Aston’s lineup sometime in 2012—likely for the 2013 model year—at a premium of around $20,000 to $30,000 over a standard Rapide. View Photo Gallery

carmax.blogspot.com copy by caranddriver.com

2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S - news and info photo

The S trailing the name of this Vantage stands for “sport”—hardly astonishing news—but the differences between sport and standard (one simply cannot employ so mundane a descriptor as “base” in connection with an Aston Martin) are a bit elusive. S means a little more motor, a little more brake, a little more rubber, a little less weight, some small trim distinctions, and, of course, a little more money.

Tweaking the Recipe

The engine is Aston’s familiar 4.7-liter aluminum V-8, with improved intake airflow, new mufflers, and new programming that keeps the exhaust system’s bypass valves open longer. The net is 430 hp and 361 lb-ft of torque, gains of 10 ponies and 15 lb-ft. Although it’s a small gain in output, the S’s new transmission (more on that in a moment) should help it whittle the Vantage’s 0-to-60-mph time down from the 4.3 of the last example we tested to about four flat. Beyond that, the menacing V-8 sounds that emerge when the bypass valves open up and the engine soars toward redline are almost worth the price premium on their own, with or without the extra thrust.

Engine output flows through a new single-clutch seven-speed Graziano automated manual to a limited-slip rear differential; the carbon fiber driveshaft spins in an aluminum torque tube. From there, power is applied to the pavement via a set of fat (285/35) Bridgestone Potenzas on 19-inch cast aluminum wheels. (The front tires measure 245/40-19.)

There are no chassis rigidity distinctions between Vantage and Vantage S, and none was needed. The bonded aluminum tub is as stiff as a railroad trestle. But the elements attached to the tub—dampers, springs, and bushings—are a bit more stern than those in the, uh, everyday Vantage. Allied with a quicker steering rack, the sum of the upgrades is an exceptional level of response.

Brakes are always a key element in the process of elevating sporty to sportier still, and that’s true here. The front rotors grow slightly to 15 inches, and the rears carry over at 13. All corners are vented and grooved, with six-piston calipers grabbing the fronts and four-pot pincers in the rear. It’s worth noting that much of the foregoing is pretty conventional hardware—nonadjustable dampers, single-rate springs, cast-iron rotors—but it works. Very well. Stylistically, the S models its rockers, decklid, and front and rear fascias after the V-12 Vantage’s, but they are difficult to identify at a glance, even for a seasoned Aston aficionado.

At Speed

Neither are the dynamic distinctions between the two readily discernible. Fortunately, we had a racetrack at our disposal to help illustrate the improvements. The heart of the Ascari Race Resort near Ronda, Spain, is a 3.4-mile road course entailing several modest elevation changes, blind corners, and a couple of hold-your-breath, close-your-eyes high-speed curves that may or may not be taken flat-out in a Vantage S—further research is needed. It is a perfect venue for putting a luxury sports car through its paces without worrying that a herd of goats might be marching along just around the next turn (something we observed on public roads).

When the last checker was thrown, the Vantage S had established a mostly positive impression of its capabilities and limits, which are high, indeed. There’s plenty of grip, and at the limit, mild understeer is easily overcome with the throttle. A high intervention threshold for the stability control meant we could leave that safety net in place without feeling like our experience was dulled.

The speed-sensitive steering is a little quicker than that of the standard V-8 Vantage and utterly devoid of secrets—the driver’s sense of connection with the front wheels approaches race-car tactile. Although the S’s 3600-pound curb weight is less than 100 pounds lighter than the Vantage’s, its combination of tightly controlled body motions, right-now reflexes, and substantial grip make it feel almost sprightly. Powerful, fade-free brakes and supportive seats contribute greatly to driver confidence.

There’s just one asterisk. The single-clutch gearbox, chosen for packaging and weight-saving reasons, doesn’t quite measure up to the car’s other mechanical elements. Nor does it match the performance of the dual-clutch boxes found in many of the Aston’s peers. It offers two modes, sport and normal, but upshifts in the base setting are a little slow and convulsive, reminiscent of BMW’s unlamented SMG tranny. In sport, there’s more urgency, particularly when shifts are tucked close to redline, but even then the responses are a bit deliberate compared with something like the whap-whap shifting of, say, a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Fast Elegance

Like other members of the Aston Martin lineup—we’re not counting the Cygnethere—the V-8 Vantage S is handsome and beautifully crafted inside and out. The seats may not quite match the snug race-car embrace of Porsche or Ferrari’s best, but they are sufficient and comfortable. Interior leather, enhanced by handsome stitchery, seems to have been contributed by leisure-class cows, and the level of fit and finish measures up to anything in this class. The Vantage S might look traditional compared with a car like the 458 Italia, but traditional doesn’t mean the Aston is a wallflower. It still attracts attention wherever it goes, drawing admiring glances and provoking fights among valets.

Compared with other cars that have this much curb appeal, even the S model Vantage looks like something of a bargain. The standard V-8 Vantage with Sportshift starts at $126,365, and another $13,250 puts you at the threshold of the S coupe. A Vantage S roadster also is available, its $152,615 price representing the same premium over a non-S cabrio. Whether or not the S is worth its premium is a question of priorities. If all you want is performance, V-8 Vantage S money will get you into a speed-freak Porsche 911 Turbo. But if exclusivity is high on your list of priorities, the S does trump the base Vantage, and no 911—except maybe the limited-production GT2 RS—enters into Aston Martin’s realm.

  by carmax.blogspot.com

2012 Aston Martin Virage - Car news and review photo

In case you’re wondering, “virage” is a French word that means “twist, bend; turn, curve.” It’s a noun, not a verb. But what the word seems to mean in the exclusive dialect of Aston Martin automobiles is, “V-12 GT priced between the DB9 andDBS.”

The Virage and the two DB cars share the same architecture, versions of the same V-12 engine, and the same general styling—that last bit being something that can be said of all Astons except the Cygnet. Aston pitch people tell us that the distinction between DB9, Virage, and DBS is that each is tailored to meet “the needs of its owners.” What our jaundiced ear hears is that the Virage is for the buyer who imagines he needs something a little fancier than the DB9, but also needs to avoid the vast financial leap to the DBS.

Wants and Needs

Wants and needs get to be interchangeable at this price, so we’ll spell it out in terms we can all understand. DB9 pricing starts at $189,230. The base price for the DBS is $273,275. The numbers go up from there, culminating with the DBS Volante (convertible) with automatic transmission at a resounding $290,954.

You don’t need to be an MIT mathematician to see the gap in those numbers. Does it represent an actual yawning hole in Aston’s lineup, one through which potential customers might flee? Seems unlikely to us, but that’s the gap the Virage is intended to plug. It will start at $211,610 ($226,610 for the Volante) when it reaches U.S. dealers sometime in late June as a 2012 model.

The Car

It takes an eye keenly sensitized to Aston Martin nuance to distinguish a Virage from its DB stablemates. The grille, front bumper, and headlights are new—albeit familiar—and the side strakes shimmer with LEDs. The shape of the rocker panels has been fine-tuned, and a new diffuser spans the car below the rear bumper.

Inside, there’s a sumptuous festival of aluminum, carbon fiber, walnut, and Bridge of Weir leather—seven hides in all—beautifully designed, beautifully stitched, tantalizing to the olfactory sense as well as the eyes and fingertips. Aston claims that the interior of each car represents 70 man-hours of painstaking hand work, to which we say, “Is that all?” This is craftsmanship raised to the level of art.

Gorgeous interiors have been an Aston Martin strong suit for quite some time, just as tiny interiors have been a weakness. Like the DB9 and S, this coupe is technically a 2+2. But one look over our shoulders makes us wonder, plus two what? Elves?

Hardware

Not surprisingly, the structure beneath that voluptuous sheetmetal is familiar. Like the DB9 and DBS, the Virage is built around a bonded-aluminum architecture with the rigidity of an aircraft-carrier flight deck.

The Virage rolls on 20-inch aluminum wheels wearing low-profile Pirelli P Zero tires; 245/35s up front, 295/30s out back. Spring rates and bushings are specific to the Virage, with rates somewhere between those of the DB9 and DBS, and damping is provided by a new Bilstein adaptive system with presets in two modes, Normal and Sport. As on the DBS, braking is provided by a Brembo carbon-ceramic package, with big, vented rotors—15.7-inch front, 14.2-inch rear—squeezed by six- and four-piston calipers, respectively. Stopping power galore is a good thing in a two-ton GT capable of a claimed 186 mph.

The source of that top-speed capability is Aston’s thoroughly familiar 5.9-liter aluminum V-12. In this application, it’s tuned for 490 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque—20 more ponies than the same engine in the DB9, 20 fewer than the DBS’s output. The only available transmission also is shared with the DBs: the six-speed ZF Touchtronic II paddle-shifted automatic.

At Speed

Big asterisk here: Speed is always a function of conditions. During our short day with the Virage on mountain roads in the south of Spain, conditions ranged from rain to sleet to snow—perfect for wringing out a powerful GT on fat summer tires. It was a prescription for caution, but we were able to make a few observations.

The V-12 gives up lots of power to other players in the Virage’s competitive realm—think Ferrari 458 Italia, Mercedes SLS AMG, and Porsche GT2 RS (to say nothing of the 638-hp Corvette ZR1, at a mere $112,050)—but it’s torquey, willing, and smooth. In formal evaluation—a comparison between the DBS and Ferrari 599GTB—this engine powered the DBS to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 12.6 at 117. The Virage is a little heavier than the carbon-fiber intensive DBS—about 200 pounds coupe to coupe, according to Aston Martin—and it’s down 20 horsepower. Figure on a 0-to-60 time of 4.5 seconds and a quarter-mile of 12.9.

If the engine is satisfying in spite of its moderate competitiveness, it’s hard to be enthusiastic about the Virage’s automatic transmission. We can’t call its responses slow, and they’re distinctly more eager in Sport mode than the default Normal. But for anyone who’s operated any of today’s better automated manuals, Aston’s Touchtronic is distinctly ho-hum.

At the end of a cold, slippery day, we emerged impressed by the Virage’s eager transient responses, controlled body motions, and communicative steering. The Virage may not be as fast as some of the cars in this price sector, but its combination of stiff structure, control-arm suspension, and adaptive damping add up to athletic credentials of a very high order. Like other Astons, the Virage is well balanced—the engine is mounted as far back as possible to help achieve the car’s 50/50 front/rear weight distribution—and its basic handling trait is mild understeer, which was not unwelcome in dicey conditions. Still, we look forward to some seat time in the dry.

Competent Exclusivity

So what’s the hook? Not absolute performance; there are several entries in this pricey realm that outperform the Virage. And some might say that the styling, which is more or less repeated across almost the entire Aston Martin lineup, has become a little too familiar.

Recognizable or not, though, the shape still turns heads. And for the man who values performance but is an unlikely candidate for track days, the Virage is certainly fast and athletic enough to be satisfying. Beyond that, there’s the pleasure that goes with owning something hand-built, exquisitely crafted, and exclusive. As for the Virage being worth the $22,000 premium over a DB9, why not? At this price point it gets tough to judge worth; but for just a 12-percent price hike, the Virage offers slightly better performance, a slightly nicer interior, and a slightly more-exotic shape—not to mention a unique name. View Photo Gallery