Aston Martin One-77

The leakage of unreleased photos of a car onto the internet way before the manufacturer does a public unveiling seems to be happening more and more these days, and this time we have the honour of drooling over badass-looking product shots of the ultra exclusive and expensive Aston Martin One-77 way before its launch.

From these photos we can see that the Aston Martin One-77 keeps the classic Aston Martin shape and most of its design cues as well - the gaping front grille and the sleek wrap-around tail lamp clusters. Unlike your classic sleek and understated Aston Martin, the car is littered all-over with aggressive design elements such as on the door and on the engine hood, which I’m not really sure I like. The headlamps look like they’ve been stopped abruptly before extending to the front of the recessed area where they sit by a gaping slit - presumably this is the air intake to cool the massive front brakes needed to stop the 700hp V12-powered car.

Only 77 units are available and after knocking on the doors of the rich and famous, Aston Martin managed to find over 100 people who were interested. Aston Martin is keeping to its promise of only making 77 though, and according to them, the customization list is so vast and detailed that its most likely no two Aston Martin One-77s will be alike.

Look after the jump for three more angles of the One-77.

2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

By David Gluckman

Since its introduction in 2006, Aston's V8 Vantage has always ranked highly with our staff. Indeed, in 2007 we named it an Automobile Magazine All-Star. A great car, but there's always room for improvement, right?

And our biggest gripe was a lack of power. For 2009, the V8 Vantage will finally get the guts it deserves and attempt to shut us up once and for all - well, once would be a start.

As you might have guessed from the name, the V8 Vantage still sports an eight-cylinder. It also remains front mid-mounted but sees its displacement grow from 4.3 to 4.7 liters - made possible by a switch from cast-in to pressed-in cylinder liners. Horsepower is now up to 420 from 380, while torque climbs 15 percent to 347 lb-ft. That should do nicely.

The transmissions have been altered for that increased output, with both the standard manual and Sportshift automated manual getting a modified clutch and flywheel, respectively. That translates to improved responsiveness from a reduction in rotating mass and, for models with a third pedal, should mean reduced clutch effort. Sportshift models also get new programming that allows you to choose from Comfort or Sports mode, depending on your intentions for the car on any particular journey.

And that journey will start in a decidedly more high-tech way. Aston has chosen to fit the ECU (that's 'emotional control unit') first seen on the DBS, in place of a more traditional, this-century key. Our recent test of a DBS (Running Scared, July 2008) revealed that the ECU is more gimmick than convenience. The Vantage's cockpit gets a bit of a makeover as well, borrowing the look of its die-cast zinc alloy center console from big brother DBS, which we found to be a bit busy looking. (These changes will soon migrate to the DB9 as well). We will, however, welcome the new hard disk-based navigation system and standard iPod integration.

Standard suspension also gets an update with revised geometry and standard Bilstein dampers, as well as changes that were first introduced on the Roadster now moving to the Coupe as well. A new optional Sports Pack includes different Bilsteins, 19-inch lightweight five-spoke alloy wheels, and stiffer springs. Non-Sports Pack cars also get a new 20-spoke, 19-inch wheel design.

The 2009 V8 Vantage will be available toward the end of the year. Oh, and aside from the wheels, exterior styling is unchanged. No complaints here.

Aston Martin DBS

When the Aston Martin DBS made its debut as James Bond’s car in the 2006 movie Casino Royale, it got wadded into a ball during an avoidance maneuver. Aston’s people were unruffled by the destruction of their car. They knew the DBS had to be forcibly flipped by the moviemakers.

They also knew that a hit movie would provide great publicity and that Bond has crashed Astons before without hurting the marque’s safety rep. The company can make more, but it won’t make many. The factory is production-constrained, and no more than 600 DBS models will pass through the gates each year, with 150 to 200 earmarked for U.S. delivery. Since the DBS is priced at $265,000, one shouldn’t expect it to be reproduced like an iPod. That kind of money ought to buy exclusivity.

And that’s particularly true since Aston’s almost equally striking DB9 is about 100 grand less expensive. But there are many differences between the two, even though the DBS uses the DB9’s VH-platform technology—bonded aluminum sheet and extrusions—for its structure. Specific to the DBS is a cross-car dashboard-supporting beam with new cast members at its nodes to improve stiffness and control steering-column shake.

Unlike in the DB9, the rear subframe in the DBS is solidly mounted, and the trunk and door-frame apertures are lighter. To keep weight down, Aston engineers used carbon fiber for the hood, front fenders, and trunklid.

Although the roof and the doors are shared with the DB9, the DBS is wider front and rear (by 0.8 inch and 1.6 inches). Don’t expect any more space inside the DBS, but the interior is quite special, with carbon-fiber trim, an improved dash layout, and a sapphire “key” that docks in a slot in the dashboard and is pressed to start the engine.

With 510 horsepower, the engine is Aston’s strongest, chiefly because of a new inlet manifold and new cylinder heads with better inlet-port design. But the torque peak is unchanged at 420 pound-feet. No one will complain because the 5.9-liter V-12 pushes the 3750-pound coupe around with real authority, making some of the world’s best automotive sound effects in the process.

A six-speed Graziano transaxle was the only transmission available in the early production models we drove, and it worked smoothly and accurately, but an automated six-speed manual is expected to follow. That might suit the flexible nature of this gen-four V-12 even better.

Slowing the action is a quartet of huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors peeking from 20-inch, split-spoke alloys. They work with the transparency of conventional steel discs, with perhaps even less noise. To broaden the car’s handling repertoire, adaptive shocks are fitted with a choice of luxury and sport settings, each with a range of damping values. The result is a car that is as refined and functional as it is visually arresting and flamboyantly fast.

Hardly a car for a spy, is it?