Aston Martin

Aston Martin drivers Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam clinched the 2018 British GT Championship title at Donington Park in a historic day for the sport. Haigh became the first woman to be crowned outright British GT champion in a stellar year racing the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 alongside Optimum Motorsport team-mate Adam. Her debut season in the series included the first pole position and victory for a woman in the season-opener at Oulton Park in April, followed by another at Brands Hatch last month.

Dr. Andy Palmer, President and Group Chief Executive of Aston Martin Lagonda, today announced plans to create the Palmer Foundation, a privately-funded programme to create industrial apprenticeship opportunities for young people in the UK. Andy Palmer, who began his own automotive career as an apprentice, has undertaken to fund the scheme, which will also be supported by existing shareholders, members of the senior management team at Aston Martin Lagonda and Hitomi Palmer, wife of the CEO.

Aston Martin’s next step into the mid-engined hypercar market has been confirmed with the release of the first official details of Project ‘003’. Project ‘003’ is the third hypercar to be developed by Aston Martin following the Aston Martin Valkyrie and Valkyrie AMR Pro (formerly ‘001’ and ‘002’), 003 has its DNA deeply rooted in concepts and technology currently being developed for those revolutionary road and track-only machines.

In 2019, legendary Italian design house Zagato celebrates its centenary. For 58 of those hundred years, Aston Martin and Zagato have enjoyed a remarkable creative partnership. One in which these two iconic brands have created some of the world’s most desirable and stimulating cars, from the first DB4 GT Zagato to the latest Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake. To commemorate this landmark year, Aston Martin and Zagato are continuing their historic partnership with a truly unique collaboration. One that will come to fruition in Zagato’s centenary year with the remarkable DBZ Centenary Collection – a unique project that pays tribute to an icon of the past and creates a classic of the future. 

Aston Martin announced today that its second major UK manufacturing facility will become the brand’s center for electrification and the production home of the Lagonda brand, the world’s first zero-emission luxury marque. The Rapide E will be built in Wales when production commences in 2019. Aston Martin’s first all-electric production model creates a highly-desirable electric vehicle with the levels of performance expected of an Aston Martin. St Athan has also been named as the home of Lagonda production. As the world’s first luxury marque exclusively driven by zero emission powertrain technologies, Lagonda heralds the beginning of a new range of luxury vehicles that will commence production in 2021. The ‘Lagonda Vision Concept’, revealed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show hints at the bold design language that could be seen in future Lagonda products in as little as three years.

Aston Martin Works’ new Heritage satellite showroom in the heart of London’s Mayfair is now open for business. Situated with the Aston Martin Brand Experience Centre at No.8 Dover Street, the Works Heritage showroom is a convenient destination for customers interested in acquiring a heritage model or learning about the restoration services available at Aston Martin Works Service in Newport Pagnell. Paul Spires, President of Aston Martin Works, said: The expansion of our Heritage showroom activity into Central London enables us to engage with our customers in the location where they work and live their lifestyle. It also supports the international appeal and invigorated interest in Aston Martin Heritage cars, allowing us to deliver a personal service to customers visiting the UK.

Aston Martin welcomed its biggest ever intake of apprentices and graduates this week, all ready to start work for the world’s fastest-growing auto brand. With 50 apprentices and 26 graduates reporting for duty at Aston Martin’s Global Headquarters at Gaydon in Warwickshire, this investment in the future workforce underlines the manufacturer’s focus on remaining a competitive and agile business for many years to come. Dr. Andy Palmer, Aston Martin President and Chief Executive Officer, who started his own career as an apprentice, was at Gaydon to greet the new starters.

With development of Aston Martin’s first all-electric production car – the Rapide E – progressing apace, the luxury British marque has today confirmed a raft of technical details for the strictly limited 155-unit special edition. Working closely with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) as its development partner, Aston Martin has utilized the hugely successful leader in Electric Vehicle (EV) technology to kickstart a new era for Aston Martin’s powertrain technology and overcome the technical challenges associated with packaging the battery system and motors within the space available.

Aston Martin Racing’s new Vantage GTE recorded its first top-four finish and made a significant step forward in pace and development during the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend. Both Vantage GTEs maintained their 100% finishing records during Round 3 of the FIA World Endurance Championship, with Alex Lynn (GB) and Maxime Martin (BEL) delivering the #97 car’s best finish yet with a trouble-free run to fourth on home soil. Their team-mates Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Marco Sørensen (DEN) were also heading for a strong result until encountering a gear selection issue that required some unscheduled stops to resolve. The ‘DaneTrain’ recovered to finish eighth, ensuring the team’s third double-points finish of the season in the GTE Pro category. We have definitely made big progress with the car. We showed that we have a strong car in qualifying and that […]

Aston Martin stunned the world when it first unveiled DB4 in 1958 and now, on its 60thanniversary, an exclusive display will take place at the Concours of Elegance, hosted at Hampton Court Palace, from the 31 August until 2 September 2018. Assembled by the Aston Martin Owners Club, the line-up will include a DB4 prototype, an example of DB4 Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 plus an original DB4 GT, DB4 GT Zagato and DB4 Bertone Jet. The newly launched DB4 GT Continuation will also form part of the display.

Aston Martin kicks off the 2018 Monterey Automotive Week by again opening the doors of ‘Aston Martin Club 1913’, inviting attendees to get to know the Aston Martin Lagonda Group and its leadership team. This year’s theme, “Boundless,” showcases the group’s world expanding beyond automotive, to include products on land, sea and in the air. President for Aston Martin The Americas, Laura Schwab said: “While people flock to Monterey Week for its history, this year at Aston Martin Club 1913, we’ll give guests a glimpse into what’s next. We’ll showcase everything from the present – the new DBS Superleggera, to the electric – with the new Lagonda Vision Concept, and the sky-bound – the Volante Vision Concept. The creative horsepower behind this brand is limitless, and that will be evident to all who join us at the Aston Martin Club […]

Aston Martin Racing has adjusted its driver line-up for the remainder of 2018, beginning with the 6 Hours of Silverstone (19 August) and including the 6 Hours of Fuji (14 October) and 6 Hours of Shanghai (18 November). With the team focused on its FIA WEC Super Season world championship aspirations, Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Marco Sørensen (DEN) will share driving duties in their regular #95 ‘DaneTrain’ Aston Martin Vantage GTE, while Maxime Martin (BEL) and Alex Lynn (GB) will pair up in the #97. Each entry will benefit from increased track time and fewer compromises in their driving positions in a move that has become standard practice in the GTE Pro category.

Aston Martin, the producer of highly desirable luxury handcrafted sports cars, today announced it has completed the second phase of its new car assembly plant at St Athan, in South Wales. Aston Martin’s Board of Directors held their first meeting in St Athan to mark the completion of building work at the facility, which involves the conversion of three super hangars at the former Ministry of Defence site into a state-of-the-art vehicle assembly facility.

Aston Martin achieved its greatest pre-war racing successes with the 1.5-litre Ulster model and the example carrying registration plate CMC 614 is one of the finest of the 28 surviving today. Recently restored to its 1935 Le Mans specification after more than four decades of post-war track action, CMC 614 is also the most-raced Aston of all time. Aston Martin Ulster – The remarkable history of CMC 614, the fifth title in Porter Press’ Exceptional Cars Series, tells the story of this particular car and, more broadly, Aston Martin’s first 20 years. Early Aston Martins gained credibility and prestige by participating in tough long-distance races such as the Brooklands Double-Twelve, the Le Mans 24 Hours, and the Tourist Trophy on the Ards circuit in Ulster where Aston’s 1-2-3 class success in 1934 gave this model its name. CMC 614 was built […]

Aston Martin is today presenting the Volante Vision Concept, a luxury concept aircraft with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities. Produced in partnership with Cranfield University, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, and Rolls-Royce, the concept aircraft aims to bring luxury personal transportation to the sky. The Volante Vision Concept is a demonstration of Aston Martin’s design ingenuity. With room for three adults, the concept is a near future study that previews a flying autonomous hybrid-electric vehicle for urban and inter-city air travel, providing fast, efficient and congestion free luxurious travel. The Volante Vision Concept will take full advantage of the latest advances in aerospace, electrification and autonomous technologies, coupled with Aston Martin’s signature design. 

The following statement has been issued by Aston Martin in regards to the current climate of uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the British automotive industry. This comes only days after Ralf Speth of JLR issued a statement requesting clarity regarding the economic issues surrounding Brexit. The statement from Aston Martin reads: As an industry that makes long-term investment and employment decisions, the Automotive sector needs clarity and certainty across the planning landscape. Over the past few months this clarity has been lacking, but today we are greatly encouraged to see the Prime Minister and her Cabinet come to a consensus on the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU, which addresses both the concerns of industry, whilst respecting the result of the EU Referendum. As a global company, Aston Martin Lagonda naturally advocates a free trade environment and as such, we […]

Two of the automotive industry’s most evocative names, Aston Martin and Touring first came together in 1958 with the launch at the London Motor Show of the Aston Martin DB4. Wearing the trademark Superleggera insignia along the bonnet, it featured a lightweight (tube-frame) body, had 240bhp from its 6 cylinder 3.7-litre engine and was one of the most desirable sports cars of its day. The collaboration continued with the DB5 and DB6. Fast forward to 2018 and Aston Martin and Touring have teamed up once again to create the superlative Super GT. Combining British Heritage and Engineering with Italian Coachbuilding has led to the creation of Aston Martin’s new flagship model which replaces the esteemed Vanquish S. Naturally, the new car has epic performance courtesy of its 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 which produces 725PS and 900Nm of torque allowing for a […]

Word is in on this year’s Auto Express Magazine awards, and Aston Martin, MINI, and Jaguar have all done quite well. Aston Martin Awards In addition to the cars themselves, Aston Martin President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Andy Palmer was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award – which was presented to Palmer by Auto Express editor-in-chief Steve Fowler – represents an appreciation for his efforts during his long and successful career in the automotive industry.