Review of Aston Martin Vanquish

The new Aston Martin Rapide is a lovely car, to be sure, and driving one around town creates precisely the same effect on the populace as would a young Paul McCartney striding through Waterloo Station in 1964. Never mind the panties. Investment bankers throw their tighty-whiteys at this car. But what does it prove? It proves that if you care absolutely nothing about outward visibility—the Rapide has the sightlines of a Normandy pillbox—and that you don’t care that the front roof pillars (the A pillars) are thicker than a Clydesdale’s fetlock; and that in order to get in the car rear passengers will be obliged to remove their heads and feet; and that once there they will have their noses grinding against the entertainment system’s headrest-mounted screens; and that the car’s sun visors are three fingers wide and virtually useless; […]

British sports car maker Aston Martin expects to sell fewer cars this year compared to last year due to the economic crisis, the company’s chief executive told German newspaper Die Welt in an interview. Aston Martin sold 5,800 sports cars last year, which was the second-best year in the company’s 95-year history, Ulrich Bez told the paper in an article published on Saturday. “In light of the current weakening in consumer spending we expect 4,500 to 5,000 unit sales this year,” Bez said. Islamic investment firm Investment Dar (TIDK.KW) owns a controlling stake in Aston Martin. The fund was part of a consortium that bought the automaker for about $950 million from Ford Motor Co (F.N) in March 2007. Staff

Almost three quarters of UK consumers would buy British if given a £100,000 budget to spend on a new car, according to new research from online insurance company swiftcover.com. Sweeping aside their German and Italian rivals, British marques emerge as unanimous favorites amongst UK car buyers, with 69 per cent claiming they would opt for a British brand if they had the money to do so. Topping the ‘Dream Car’ list with almost a quarter of the votes is Aston Martin (24%), followed by Range Rover (19%), Bentley (16%) and Rolls Royce (10%). German and Italian luxury marques faired badly by comparison – with just one per cent opting for a Lamborghini, 9 per cent for a Ferrari, 9 per cent for a Porsche and 2 per cent for a Maserati. The top ten swiftcover.com “Dream Cars” for 2008 are: […]