Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Aston Martin DBS.

According to Autocar, the lucky few that have put a deposit down on the new Aston Martin DBS will have to wait an additional three-months to get behind the wheel of the body-kitted Bond car. The problem apparently stems from suppliers who aren't able to deliver Aston with the one-off parts necessary to complete the DBS. As such, coupes are sitting unfinished at Aston's plant, but sources within the automaker say that they're willing to hold off on deliveries to ensure that all the parts are top-notch. Unfortunately, we doubt that some of the bespoke bits can be salvaged from one of the vehicles that's already been delivered.


[Source: Autocar via Winding Road]

At 6:30 this morning, a stunt driver shooting a scene for the upcoming James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, lost control of an Aston Martin DBS while filming a chase scene and plunged into Lake Garda in Italy. The film's executive producer, Anthony Waye, said that the scene was being shot in the pouring rain, and although the DBS didn't survive it's unplanned excursion into the water, the driver sustained only minor injuries and was released from the hospital earlier this afternoon. MI6 declined to comment on the incident, but a spokesperson for the agency remarked that the submersible kit for the Aston was under development. Too little, too late Q.

Thanks for the tip MaTTia.


[Source: Reuters.it - translated]

Click the image above for a gallery of high-res shots of the Aston Matrtin DBS Volante.

Somewhere in the Swedish boonies there's a stunning burgundy mule testing its wares in the snow: the Aston Martin DBS convertible. Differing from its hardtopped sibling in only its roofline and side window profile, rear seat passengers will need all the champagne they can swill to forget about how little headroom they have. The roofless version of Bond's chariot will get to 100 KPH in just over four seconds, and will run you something like $300,000 in the States, and probably the same amount in euros.

UPDATE: Daylight pictures added to gallery.

Click image for DBS photo gallery

Ever since Ford sold Aston Martin earlier this year, there was speculation as to whether the marque would provide James Bond's company car again when the 22nd installment of the movie series hits theaters next November. Speculation over. Aston Martin announced today that its flagship DBS would return to play the hero car alongside Daniel Craig as 007 in the still-untitled film (Bond 22 is the working title). Since Ford still has one flick left on the three-picture deal it signed with the producers, we expect to see cars from the Oval populating the screen as well. In any case, we're glad that Bond's keeping his wheels. They suit him.

[Source: Aston Martin]

Click image for our Aston Martin DBS hi-res gallery

When the good ship Lotto comes into port for us, one of the items very high on the shopping list is the Aston Martin DBS, which adds a dash of toughness to the slinky lines of the DB9 and generally causes the car-aware to trip over their tongues. Thanks to some recent updates over on Aston Martin's media site, we now know what color we're ordering ours in after Yolanda Vega pulls that crucial sixth matching number out of the lottery contraption. The color is Racing Green -- specifically, Aston Martin Racing Green. This is the same shade developed by DuPont for Prodrive's Le Mans-winning Aston Martin Racing DBR9, and with those dark gray wheels, all that's missing is the yellow or orange "lipstick" around the radiator grille for maximum effect. Incidentally, the other colors announced for the DBS are Lightning Silver, Infa Red, and Casino Royale (heh). For good measure, we'd also snag a Velocity Yellow Corvette Z06 to bolster the GT1 wing of the mythical Autoblog Super Garage. Yeah, we tend to daydream a bit on Fridays.

[Source: Aston Martin via EGMCarTech]

Top Gear has laid hands on the new hotness that is the Aston Martin DBS, and after watching Jeremy Clarkson take us on an eight-minute tour of the car and what it can do, we desperately want to win the lottery. In his review, he literally places it head-to-head against the DB9 (prettier and less costly) and the Vanquish S (faster in a drag race), and for a time, you almost think he's disappointed in James Bond's latest company car. But as the segment concludes, he has an epiphany of sorts, explaining that its the best car he's driven this year and detailing what makes it special. Then the Stig takes the wheel and does his thing. What's the final verdict? Where does it rank against the other exotica that's lapped the Top Gear test course? We won't give it away, other than to say that it keeps some pretty heady company on that ranking board. Follow the jump and check out the video for yourselves.

[Source: YouTube]

Click image to view the high-res version, the DBS gallery

The Aston Martin DBS is one exclusive, expensive ride, with only 500 copies of the $250,000 car scheduled to be made each year. To up the exclusivity factor while also giving deep-pocketed DBS owners the ability to play James Bond, Swiss watchmaker Jaeger LeCoultre has designed a very exclusive chronograph strictly for DBS owners. The AMVOX2 chronograph has over 400 parts and costs an absolutely stunning $34,500. The timepiece, which is limited to 999 grade 5 titanium editions and 300 more exclusive Rose Gold wrist jewels, can actually open your DBS for you. Spending $35k on a good looking watch so you don't have to carry a key fob seems drastic to us poor folk, but when you've got money to burn, it's nice to pony up for items that are at least functional.

While the exclusive chronograph is an impressive piece of Swiss engineering, the best part of the equation is that the watch will likely never lose its value, and owners will undoubtedly be rewarded handsomely if they ever try to sell their prized bauble. Funny thing about a watch with 400 parts: when an autommaker over-engineers a part with too many components, it leads to more recalls and lower resale value. In a Swiss watch, a bunch of fancy parts makes it worth 1,000 Casios.

[Source: Auto News (subscription req'd)]

Click the image above for more hi-res pics

Neither Daniel Craig nor his latest avatar made an appearance at the Frankfurt Auto Show, but that's all right. If we had a choice of meeting Bond or his car in person, we'd have to go with the car. And there it was, the DBS, "the ultimate luxury sports car," lurking in Aston's area. Beneath the sculpted, vented snout are twelve cylinders that snarl out 510 HP and 420 lb-ft. Power gets from motor to road via two pairs of 20-inch wheels, and you'll get from 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, all the way to a leisurely 191 mph. Which is just fast enough to enjoy a Vesper Lynd before you've really got to start concentrating on the road. The question with the DBS isn't "Are you man enough?", but rather "Are you gentleman enough?" All yours for $265,000. Plus tax, of course.

For full specs on the DBS go here. And be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res pics.

Aston Martin had one of the worst displays at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, stuffed into the corner of the Ford section with precisely zero pizazz. Since Aston's new owners want to make a good impression, it looks like they're planning on kicking off the 2007-2008 auto show season with a big bang at Frankfurt. We've already told you about the fire-breathing new DBS, but the Prodrive crew is also planning on unveiling road-going versions of the V8 Vantage and the Bond-mobile. Judging by the already impressive 510 HP V12 DBS due in Q1 2008, the special edition could be a real threat to the GT3.

Aston Martin may only make 8,000 cars per year, but the British supercar maker sure seems to be in the news a lot lately. We'll keep you posted on the Aston Martin's offerings and any other unveilings from the show floor in Frankfurt at the end of September.

[Source: Auto Express]

Although we did our best to get around to all of the events up in Monterey last week, the fates sometimes conspired against us. Bear with us then as we play a bit of catch-up this week and share some pics of the unveilings and debuts you may have missed. Here we show off a few shots of the more track-like DBS from Aston Martin. Finished in a bluish silver or silvery light blue depending on your vantage point (Ha ha, vantage), we're still a bit conflicted about this newest top rung Aston. While the recently retired Vanquish was all brutal muscle with some semblance of elegance still there, this DBS looks a bit tuner-like, and although it looks like it might be comfortable at a track-day event, it loses some of the fluidity of design that has been the hallmark of recent Aston Martin design. We'll reserve judgment until after one spends some time in the AB garage (fingers crossed!). There are plenty of media pics available by clicking here and some additional pricing details that slipped directly from the horse's mouth available by clicking here.