Aston Martin Releases $70,550 / €48,995 Fashion-Trendy Cygnet

The Cygnet is on its way to becoming a true Aston Martin, but not in the sense you might think. We are referring to its price tag with the release of a new limited run special called “Cygnet & colette” that will set buyers back a whopping €48,995, equal to £43,800 and US$70,550!
That’s £18,000 or US$29,000 more than theentry-level Cygnet. This kind of money can buy you a Porsche Boxster in the UK and you would still have more than £7,000 left for spending! And all this for a car that is essentially a re-trimmed Toyota iQ…
As fashionistas may have already guessed by know, the limited edition Cygnet was created in collaboration with Parisian fashion and style boutique, colette.
On the outside, it features a Lightning Silver paint job with bespoke colette blue styling details including a race collection inspired front bumper and bonnet livery, mirror caps and diamond turned road wheels.
Inside, the Cygnet special gets a “Bitter Chocolate themed interior” with hand-trimmed leather and quilted details.
Other unique elements include:

• Stainless steel hand formed and engraved door handle badges
• ‘Cygnet & colette’ branded hand enamelled boot badging manufactured by Thomas Fattorini
• Quilted Alcantara sun visors to complement the quilted leather door and seat inserts
• Hand trimmed, quilted colette blue leather occasional cushions for the rear seats
• ‘Cygnet & colette’ branding on satellite navigation start up
• A unique ‘Cygnet & colette’ key ring machined from solid aluminium with blue enamelling

The British automaker said its Aston Martin Works Tailored division crafted the ‘Cygnet & colette’ and that more special editions are to follow.
“The colette car is the first of the exclusive ‘Cygnet &’ collaborations,” said Aston Martin Director of Design, Marek Reichman. “These cars will give Aston Martin a relevant platform to reach out to new customers in urban areas.”
Aston Martin plans to build only 14 examples of the ‘Cygnet & colette’ city car with first deliveries expected by the end of the year.

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2010 Aston Martin Rapide: Production Amidst Slow Sales

If yοu read the reports οf Aston Martin shifting production οf its Rapide frοm its Magna Steyr contract facility in Austria tο its οwn plant in England, and wondered hοw the company cοuld absorb anοther assembly line, we cοuld have οur answer right here.

Accοrding tο reports, Aston is preparing tο significantly cut production οf the Rapide in respοnse tο lagging sales. The four-dοοr Aston was planned in 2007 fοr 2000 units per year, but shortly after that, the glοbal luxury market collapsed, and sales prοspects fοr the four-door cοupe began tο dwindle.

As a result, prοductiοn of the Rapide cοuld be reduced to just 1,250 units per year, οr even further. And if οne model's sales are dwindling, we might assume that sοme οf the others – such as the Vantage οr DB9/DBS lines – could be cutting back prοductiοn as well, leaving excess capacity at the company's headquarters in Gaydοn, Warwickshire.

Whether demand is there οr nοt, sources estimate that the premature terminatiοn οf the Magna Steyr deal could end up costing Astοn as much as £10 million – that's οver $16 milliοn at current exchange rates.

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Investigators Uncover Multi-Million Pound Tax Scam in India; European Exotics And Foreign Diplomats

In what sounds more like the plot of a The Fast and the Furious movie than real life, investigators at India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence office (a.k.a. India’s IRS) have uncovered a massive exotic car smuggling operation in the nation’s capital of New Dehli. It all has to do with India’s notorious 100% import tax on new luxury vehicles.
It began with one New Dehli luxury car dealer, Sumit Walia, importing brand new luxury cars on forged invoices. These invoices listed the cars as second-hand, which saved Walia – and his customers – some 40% on import tax. Some of the cars – which included Porsches, Bentleys and Aston Martins – were found to have been stolen from the streets of Britain, France, Singapore and Japan.
A month later, another scam – involving a London-based British-Indian car dealer and diplomats from New Delhi’s North Korean and Vietnamese embassies was uncovered. The diplomats would act as middle-men for rich buyers; buying the exotics under their names and therefore getting them tax-free. An official Directorate of Revenue Intelligence office had this to say about the investigation:
“Our investigators suspect around 300 to 400 luxury cars have been imported on fake papers and sold in all major cities across India using the same modus-operandi. The cars have been sold to politicians, celebrities, cricketers, Bollywood actors and many businessmen in the last four to five years.”
Some 40 cars have been impounded, including several Porsche Panameras and Aston Martin Rapides valued at £250,000 and £290,000 per unit. A £350,000 Bentley Continental Supersport was also among those vehicles recovered. Other vehicles have simply been abandoned by their owners on the streets of New Dehli. Investigators found that most of these vehicles were either illegally registered or displayed temporary plates.

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2011 Aston Martin V12 Zagato Concept

As we mentioned before, Aston Martin will be celebrating the iconic DB4GT Zagato’s 50th anniversary with a new concept car developed in collaboration with the Italian design house Zagato. The concept car made its first appearance at the Villa D’Este Concours on May 21st, 2011 and will make its racing debut at Nürburgring on May 28th.

Dr. Ulrich Bez, Chief Executive said: "The DNA of both Aston Martin and Zagato has combined successfully to make some of the world’s most desirable collector cars in the past and in this special anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato it is appropriate to explore a modern collaboration. Now is the right time for a new Aston Martin Zagato and in combining our design intelligence I think we can create something fitting of the iconic DB4GT Zagato that has gone before and since established itself as one of the most famous Aston Martins of all time."

The original Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato made its first appearance in 1960 at the London Motor Show. It was essentially a much lighter DB4 GT that got worked on by the Italian Coachbuilder to include a 3670 cc straight-6 DOHC engine that produced 314 HP with a top speed of 154 mph.

This review has been updated with the official specs and info.

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2011 Aston Martin Zagato Concept

Aston Martin will be celebrating the iconic DB4GT Zagato’s 50th anniversary with a new concept car developed in collaboration with the Italian design house Zagato. The concept car will make its first appearance at the Villa D’Este Concours on May 21st, 2011 and will make its racing debut at Nürburgring on May 28th. Only one teaser image depicting a rounded sports car has been revealed as of now, so expect more news on this celebratory model in the next few days.

Dr. Ulrich Bez, Chief Executive said: "The DNA of both Aston Martin and Zagato has combined successfully to make some of the world’s most desirable collector cars in the past and in this special anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato it is appropriate to explore a modern collaboration. Now is the right time for a new Aston Martin Zagato and in combining our design intelligence I think we can create something fitting of the iconic DB4GT Zagato that has gone before and since established itself as one of the most famous Aston Martins of all time."

The original Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato made its first appearance in 1960 at the London Motor Show. It was essentially a much lighter DB4 GT that got worked on by the Italian Coachbuilder to include a 3670 cc straight-6 DOHC engine that produced 314 HP with a top speed of 154 mph.

When production for the new Aston Martin Zagato concept car goes underway in 2012, we expect a limited number of units to be produced, much like the 20 unit limit provided by the original model.

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Aston Martin DBX

In terms of coolness, Aston Martin’s are ice cold, baby. You have proper classics like the DB5 and the DB4GT Zagato and modern classics like the Vanquish and DBS. The less said about the Cygnet the better. So now there’s a new kid on the block, the Virage, for those who want something a little faster than the DB9 but not quite as fast as the DBS.
So that’s that, then? Well, no quite. You see, it’s getting to the stage where you need a trainspotters guide to tell one Aston model from another. They’re great cars, though without a tape measure and an eye for subtle differences in head- and taillights and body vents, they’re very similar looking. Too similar, one might say.
Enter two Polish industrial design students, Norbert Adamowicz and Łukasz Kadula, whose take on Aston Martin is something completely different yet strikingly traditional. The DBX is a sharp edged, mid-engined two seater targeted towards younger customers. The two 21yo students say it extends the design language introduced on the awesome limited edition One-77.

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