Aston Martin LWB Volante

First registered in January 1998, this particular car was supplied new by Aston Martin main dealers, JCT600, in Bradford. The car moved southwards and was purchased by Andrew Cohen of Radlett in Hertfordshire in July 1999 and sold through the brokerage services of Byron International in May 2004 to the current owner.

Finished in Galloway Green Metallic with a Magnolia Leather trim and Black Mohair hood, this genuine four seater Volante is fully equipped and boasts an outstanding service history.

This is a delightful low mileage car, presented in outstanding condition and in what many consider to be the right colour and trim combination. One of a build run of just 64 cars, this Long Wheelbase Volante offers true four seater luxury cruising with an added bonus of outstanding performance and road holding. With Spring just around the corner, there is no better time to buy this car for a truly enjoyable summer. Location: Surrey,United Kingdom Website: Byron Garages Phone: 01737-226-224 Email: CLICK HERE TO EMAIL Insurance Estimate For This Car... HPI Check This Car...

An HPI Check costs just �19.99 online. With more vehicle information than anybody else and full telephone support if you need it, we can tell you whether the car you want to buy has been stolen, written-off, clocked, or has outstanding finance.

Aston Martin DBS

This is a car with a quite extraordinary history - it appears to have spent over half its life in various forms of storage.

We have little record of its early life, the first we know of the car was when it was acquired in 1992 when it had been standing in a barn for 10 years, with the engine head off, awaiting attention. It was not bought for the Aston Martin heritage but the rather more prosaic reason of a fine registration number.

The car was sent to a restorer in Hailsham in East Sussex where the car was dismantled but they never got round to the job of re-assembly although the engine appeared to be in one piece.

It was fully eight years later that, at the owner's request, Aston Martin Specialists, Newlands Motors, collected the car from Hailsham in late 2000 and set about restoring the car. They fully expected to have to work on the engine, but running it up after re-assembly, the pressures and all functions were 100%.

There was a brief couple of years of intermittent usage before the car was returned to storage for another 4 years until the current owner asked Newlands Motors to recommission the car.
Location: Surrey,United Kingdom Website: Byron Garages Phone: 01737-226-224 Email: CLICK HERE TO EMAIL Insurance Estimate For This Car... HPI Check This Car...

An HPI Check costs just �19.99 online. With more vehicle information than anybody else and full telephone support if you need it, we can tell you whether the car you want to buy has been stolen, written-off, clocked, or has outstanding finance.

Rich Chinese driving growth of luxury auto market

Rich Chinese driving growth of luxury auto market

By ANITA CHANG (AP) – 23 hours ago

BEIJING — The businessman climbed into the Rolls Royce Phantom with the gold-plated Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament and sank his feet into wine-red carpet. He says he has a Mercedes S600 sedan and a Jaguar sports car at home but needs something for work.

"I just have to consider whether it's too flashy. But otherwise there's no problem. The price isn't a big problem," said the 32-year-old visitor to the Beijing auto show, who would give only his surname, Liu.

Free-spending new rich who have made China a key growth market for luxury goods makers are more important than ever to U.S., European and Japanese creators of high-end automobiles. Sales here are surging while they sag elsewhere and manufacturers are pulling out the stops to woo Chinese buyers.

China is "increasingly becoming the engine of our industry," said Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG. Sales of its Mercedes-Benz cars in China soared 112 percent in the first quarter of this year to 23,600 vehicles.

Volkswagen AG's Audi unit, BMW AG's Rolls Royce, Fiat SpA's Ferrari and other makers of high-priced wheels are seeing similar gains.

The surge has been propelled by an economic boom that created a new crop of Chinese millionaires and several dozen billionaires in a country that had almost no private cars 15 years ago. China's mainland now has 825,000 people worth at least 10 million yuan (US$1.3 million), according to Rupert Hoogewerf, a researcher of wealthy Chinese.

The new rich "need some luxury products to validate themselves," said Wang Honghao, editor in chief of the Chinese automotive magazine Trends Car. "Whether it's luxury cars or luxury luggage, or perfume, clothes, accessories, it's all the same."

China's auto market, the world's biggest since last year, defied the global downturn on the strength of Beijing's 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion stimulus), which boosted stock and real estate prices.

Luxury car sales in China soared 66 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, well ahead of 14 percent growth in the United States and a 6 percent fall in Germany, homeland of Benz and BMW, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

BMW AG's Rolls Royce says sales in China, its third-largest market after the United States and Britain, rose 200 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to more than 20 vehicles despite a base price of 6.6 million yuan ($970,000).

Rolls Royce's China sales are so strong that it added a production line and hired more workers partly to meet Chinese demand.

"I see China will even overtake the U.K., our home market, this year and that we will see the Chinese market as the second-most-important market after the U.S.," CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said.

As China's jet-setting elite gets more sophisticated, luxury automakers are focusing on building their brand image with this niche audience.

Rolls Royce publishes a Chinese-language luxury lifestyle magazine and invites customers from China to visit its factory in Goodwood, England, to see their cars being made. Mercedes-Benz hired movie stars Zhang Ziyi and Li Bingbing to promote its cars. Luxury automakers are opening dealerships in cities as farflung as Chengdu in China's mountainous southwest and holds private gatherings for buyers who want to share their enthusiasm for cars.

Chinese customers are getting more discerning and companies need to work to reach them, said Matthew Bennett, regional director of Aston Martin Asia Pacific.

"It's simple things like increasing the number of people in the company who can speak Mandarin," he said. "The growth in China doesn't come for free. You have to invest and it will come."

China's most popular luxury car is the Audi A6L, favored by government officials. Sales were up 14 percent in March over a year earlier to 9,983, though that was driven partly by stimulus spending that is winding down this year.

Aston Martin — which showcased a DBS like the one James Bond drove in "Quantum of Solace" — sold about 80 cars in China in 2009. Bennett said China is likely to become the company's top market in Asia by next year, though he would not give a sales target.

Bennett got a surprise when he showed the company's concept Rapide, a 12-cylinder, four-door sports car, to VIP customers in Beijing in January.

"We had about five or seven people on the night who said, 'Yup, fine, I'll take it,'" he said. "They hadn't seen other colors. They hadn't driven the car. We hadn't confirmed the price at that point. They said, 'No, no, I'll have it.'"

The price: 3.6 million yuan ($530,000).

The luxury car market already is big enough that manufacturers are willing to make basic changes to suit wealthy Chinese customers.

Mercedes unveiled an extended E-class sedan at the Beijing auto show aimed at Chinese buyers, who are more likely to sit in back and have chauffeurs. The new Mercedes gives them an extra 5.5 inches (140 millimeters) of legroom in back.

Zetsche said the company is open to changing other cars.

"I don't think it would be wise generally to adjust and change the vehicles to become 'more Chinese,'" he said. "On the other hand, there are specifics in this marketplace. ... To acknowledge these specifics makes sense and therefore we have this extended version."

Luxist Drives the Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black and Rediscovers Faith

We'll admit right now that we have never been completely taken with the Aston Martin DBS. It wasn't that we didn't like it - on the contrary, it is every bit the fabulous car. It's just that we found the DBS slightly... too much, in the same way you could have too much pampering or too much caviar. Even as you're finding the words to decline the next round of Beluga you're thinking "Wow, can't believe I'm about to give this the stiffarm, but..." It is all about the fact that the DB9, to our eyes, is just right. Nothing needs to be added to it, and as fabulous as the DBS is, it marks the addition of that not-needed something.

Then the DBS Carbon Black came for a visit, so now you can consider this our about-face: the DBS – rather, this DBS – is our first choice in Astons, so much so that we'd only look at the others after driving this one into some shallow, oily grave and then giving up on hopes for its resurrection.

Gallery: Luxist Drives the Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black

It pains us to sound this worn-out note, and we take as our only consolation the fact that we aren't sweet-talking you about a Cadillac Cimmaron we're flogging on AutoTrader: the Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black looks much better in person. More accurately, it looks better than you'd ever guess from its press shots, where oddball lighting and even odder CGI and Photoshopping killed the car's blackness – which kinda kills the whole point of coming to the party.



Parked before you, its high-strength steel drenched in Carbon Black paint and accented with brightwork and carbon fiber, the car takes its place as the first OED definition of "Blacked-out." It is everything an ebony car should be: low, wide, and terribly, awfully, gloriously black. The coupe devours so many photons that the sun might even appear to rise a little later and set a little earlier. If, as a scientific experiment, you wore all black while you drove the car, scientist's fears of an Earth-based black hole would come true and you'd most likely disrupt the time-space continuum in ways that physics doesn't yet have words to describe. You could conceivably find the Planet of the Apes. It is a frighteningly black car.

It is the eating of all those visible light waves that puts the DBS Carbon Black at the top for us, because it swallows the bodywork lines and other details that highlight the DB9 structure underneath. The resulting smoothness renders it as no longer a DB9 with add-ons, but a single and whole car with a sinister line from which your eye extracts the vicious highlights: the width of the grille, the front lamps in their elongated recesses, the Magnum Silver mesh-covered ducts in the hood, the lone bit of light that manages to live on the horizontal surfaces of the car's wider rear fenders, the carbon fiber filaments supporting the mirrors.



Even the wheels earned our applause, which was another reversal since we weren't fans of them in the press shots, either. Placed in the three-dimensional world, though, the 20-inch, ten-spoke diamond-turned wheels with a graphite finish regain all of their dimensions. They aren't flat at all, with five sets of dual spokes fingering up and out from the hub and increasing in thickness, ultimately latching onto gloss black rims.

Enjoying the ocular meal every time we approached the car, it just made us want to say, "Can I get an amen?

"



Inside it's an Aston – and we should all know what that means by now – but with a few touches: semi-aniline leather and Alcantara, piano black decor with matrix alloy trim, and carbon fibers door trim and pulls. The seats are also fashioned from the fibrous stuff, and then wrapped in cross-stitched Obsidian Black leather. They save 37 pounds while maintaining full-fat comfort; we drove the car from LA to San Francisco and suffered nary an ache. We haven't met an Aston driving position that we didn't like, and the DBS keeps up with its siblings as far as that goes – the driver's seat is the perfect cubicle in which to do a day's work.

Which brings us to the first of three special points we noted about the interior. This model was a 2+2, with two optional items behind the front thrones that were referred to as "back seats." Half of that expression (hint: the first word) is true. If you had a really small baby in a really small chair it might fit in back. But really, you'll have as hard a time getting the seat in the car as the baby will understanding why you're installing him in Aston Martin's equivalent of what a supermax prison would call "The Hole." You could move the driver's seat forward, but then the cockpit isn't perfect perfection anymore. Or you could omit that back "seat" option and save yourself $3,785 dollars. It's not like you're worried about money, but that's more than the cost of the carbon black treatment itself, which only rings the till up for $2,720. Instead, get the stitched leather, two-bottle champagne holster that drapes over the rear tunnel. A much better use of that area.



The other note, pun intended, was the 13-speaker, 1,000-watt Bang & Olufsen stereo. Even mass-market premium cars are coming with some excellent audio equipment – Mercedes has Harmon-Kardon and Jaguar has Bowers & Wilkins, for instance – but this system could be even more phenomenal than you'd expect it to be. Rear speaker placement is tough in coupes, even if they have just enough space in back to not have back seats, the effect of which effectively puts you in a pure two-seater as far as sound goes: all the noise comes from the front. Playing with the balance and fader usualy just muddies things up.

Not so here. One thousand watts is a thoroughly unnecessary number best used for "Whip it out" contests and destroying your auditory canals, but B&O uses those watts wisely at all volumes: the proper sound, crisp and full, envelops the cabin properly. Sonic reproduction from CDs is outstanding, and B&O has found a way to make your average bitrate iTunes music sound so good that someone from Apple should write a 'Thank You' note to the Danish company every time you plug in your iPod. Even better, it appears that Aston has updated its iPod integration software, making the trek through your artists and playlists much more easy than it used to be.



The third point is this: an Aston cabin is a beautiful thing and simple to use. Even the navigation system, which has also had an interface upate, was a piece of proverbial bread pudding. Although we will toast the day the company jettisons the plastic doorjamb of a nav unit, it's not like we ever even used it. Due to that intergalactic blackness, see, clocks stopped wherever we went so we never had to worry about being late.

Besides, we had nowhere to be but behind the wheel burning gas – destinations were optional. Place the Emotion Control Unit in the slot and hold it there while the car clears its pipes. Be warned about that start-up: you will wake your light-sleeping neighbors on a typical residential street. No matter, though, you're now the master of a mighty machine.

The car comes standard with a six-speed manual, which is our preference even in Los Angeles, but this car had the six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic. We are nominally not fans of paddle-shifters, but the Aston variant is excellent. We signed up for the Touchtronic 2 fan club last year after driving the DBS Volante in Pebble Beach, and there is still a rainbow that ends at a pot of gold in the transmission's bell housing. Shifts up and down are utterly seamless and damn-near instant; the psycho-electro-mechanical idea of shifting that has to travel from your brain to your flexing fingertips is the only hold-up in the equation.



But before you get to a shift, you must take off from a standstill, and that opens the door to another aspect of the unique Aston experience: the DBS is a performer, but there is almost nothing jarring about it – nearly everything happens within an envelope just short of disturbing. The 6.0-liter V12 rumbles with 510 horsepower and 420 pound-feet, the rear-wheel beneficiaries of that potentiality pushing the 3,767-pound coupe from zero to sixty miles per hour in 4.3 seconds. That's the same as a PDK-equipped, 3,161-pound Porsche 911 Carrera S, but it doesn't exactly feel it. Load up on the carbon disc brakes, 15.7-inch rotors up front with 6-piston calipers, and you'll decelerate in quadruple-time, but it only feels like double-time.

Hit the gas again and the exhaust signals its approval. That turns into a throaty wail of approval when the bypass opens up at 4,000 rpm, but still, it never gets overbearing. (Nor does it get old.) It is just enough. You can putter around town, you can set the cruise at near triple digits and enjoy the sounds of the car or the sound system, or you can point-and-shoot from turn-to-turn and have more fun than you ever would with a Canon.



Even though that brings us to the only jarring aspect of the car: it is as stiff as Marble Arch. The steering was brilliant – we could point and place the car practically by thought. If the road was smooth as sour cream, we owned it. Owned. If the road wasn't, as LA's canyon roads tend not to be, the car did a stutter-step through every turn. Even the Adaptive Damping System couldn't overcome the DBS' skittishness. Having worked our way from smooth twisties to bumpy, at first we couldn't figure out where the DBS' immaculate manners went, especially when we remembered driving the DBS Volante last summer on a pockmarked Carmel Valley Road and being chuffed by its agility.

Then we remembered a colleague's review of the 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, wherein he regretted that the coupe was so stiff that he'd choose the convertible without the twist-minimizing Sport Pack. We would still take the DBS coupe just because that's how we roll, even though it doesn't have a Sport Pack option that we could un-check. But we'd miss the Volante when it came time to manhandle any esses that featured irregular road surfaces. Let's keep things in context, though – the DBS is fantastic even when it's letting you know how unyielding it is. But the mere fact that it is unyielding in that one instance, when otherwise it is a pile of Carbon and Obsidian Black warm fuzzies, makes that one instance stand out.



No matter, for $283,350 we'd take it immediately. Get rid of the back "seat" and we could even get the price below an even $280K – not that our wealth management team would care about that trifle. Nor would it care that we'd probably turn right around and spend that money on a larger gas tank, since the 12/18 EPA numbers work to keep the 20.5-gallon unit regularly free of octane. Again, no matter. Piety is a priceless affair, and we found the DBS Carbon Black the motoring equivalent of The Lord's Prayer: a reverent way to worship the act of driving, and an everyday reason to intone, "Amen."

Tags: aston martin, aston martin dbs, aston martin dbs carbon black edition, dbs carbon black, dbs volante

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

1996 ASTON MARTIN DB7 AUTO GREEN SUPERCHARGED 3.2

For sale is one of the greatest cars on the planet which after 14 years is in good condition and goes very well.

The car is a cheap supercar to drive as it can do 27 miles to the gallon on a run. Unfortunately need sale due to other commitments.


Mileage

The current Mileage is around 109250.


Registered Keepers

I am the 7th keeper of this absolutely awesome and reliable car. I'm also a member of the Aston Martin Owners Club.


Service History

It has a full Aston Martin Service History with Service book stamps to prove it (19 stamps including from Chiltern Aston Centre).

All services have been carried out at recommended intervals or sooner

It was last serviced in February 2010 by an Aston Martin DB7 Specialist Centre.

Tax Oct 2010 & MOT Nov 2010.


Mechanical

The engine runs perfectly and engages all gears smoothly as designed


Alterations / Modifications

No alternations or modifications


Interior

The interior is in good condition, Air con works which is a common problem on DB7's and cost £k's to repair (need remove dashboard to locate part).


Bodywork

The body work is clean and has no dents. The bodywork is good condition for it's age and mileage, there is a scratch/mark on the front lower bumper and the odd stone chip.

It looks fantastic in green, and polishes up very well as can be seen in the pictures. It is a real head-turner.


Wheels

The wheels are in good condition.

The tyres have only 2500 miles on them and have lots of life left in them. One tyre is new (under 1 month old).


Key fobs

1 key and remote with car including an emergency release immobilser tool.


Questions/Viewings

This is a great opportunity to get classic car performance motoring at a great price.


Any questions or to request to view or further information, please contact me. Advert Age: 1 days Location: uk, United Kingdom Contact: jason carter Phone: 07071682133

Email: CLICK HERE TO EMAIL Insurance Estimate For This Car... HPI Check This Car...

An HPI Check costs just �19.99 online. With more vehicle information than anybody else and full telephone support if you need it, we can tell you whether the car you want to buy has been stolen, written-off, clocked, or has outstanding finance.

Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia Holds Aston Martin Vantage Gt4 Test Drive In Abu Dhabi

Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia Holds Aston Martin Vantage Gt4 Test Drive In Abu Dhabi Posted: 28-04-2010 , 13:31 GMT

Yas Marina Circuit, one of the world�s finest motorsports facilities, was the venue of a key event in the Abu Dhabi sports calendar when Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia organized an exclusive test drive of the Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

The participants enjoyed a passenger ride of Aston Martin GT4 Vantage, driven by Darren Turner, one of Aston Martin's most professional pilots. The guests also experienced the luxury to drive Aston Martin road cars in presence of the professional driving coaches appointed by the Aston Martin team. The road cars included DB9, DBS and DB12. Finally, guests were offered exciting helicopter rides that give them a bird eye view of Yas Marina circuit and Abu Dhabi city.

The Aston Martin Racing Team was in attendance for the event, accompanied by Aston Martin Racing Chairman Mr. David Richards. Also, present was COO of Dabbagh Group Mr. Waheed A. Shaikh; Mr. Sajid Saeed, Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia Exec. Vice President; Mr. Sameer Fakeeh Vice President Sales at Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia; Mr. Talib Khushnood, Gulf Oil General Manager of sales; and Mr. Sulaiman Shaukat (Brand Manager - Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia.

�We at Gulf Oil are very proud of our relationship with Aston Martin Racing, and this partnership between both the brands is growing and is bringing good results for both companies in terms of business and sports,� said Samir Faqeeh, Vice President Sales at Gulf Oil Saudi Arabia. �We at Gulf Oil wish Aston Martin Racing success in the future racing events and believed that this event will bring a positive change in the business as well.�

Ford Earnings Preview: On a Roll and Set for an Upbeat Quarter

As the economy continues to improve and consumers once again venture out to the nation's new-car showrooms, Ford Motor (F) appears to have benefited more than most automakers from rising industry sales. Ford's first-quarter earnings, due to be released Tuesday, are expected to show that the Dearborn, Mich.-based company continues to prosper from a strong product lineup and a renewed focus on its core brands.

Expectations are that Ford earned more than a $1 billion during the first three months of the year, according to a consensus estimate of seven analysts by Bloomberg. On a per-share basis, analyst forecasts call for Ford to earn 31 cents on revenues of $28 billion. In last year's first quarter, the carmaker reported a loss of 75 cents a share on sales of $24.8 billion.

"There's a lot of momentum at Ford right now in terms of customers' perception of their products," Standard & Poor's equity analyst Efraim Levy told Bloomberg News. Said Levy, who advises holding the shares: "We're hitting the point where it's time to give them the benefit of the doubt, rather than view them with skepticism."

Flirting With No. 2

Ford boosted sales in each of the first three months of the year, reporting 43% year-over-year increases in both February and March. In the early going, Ford even managed to overtake Toyota Motor (TM) as the No. 2 vehicle supplier in the U.S., largely because of the Japanese automaker's series of high-profile safety recalls. To reverse falling sales, Toyota responded by offering generous incentives, such as zero-interest loans and cheap leases. That allowed it to once again secure second place in March.

The first quarter also marked the sale of Ford's last holding in its former Premier Automotive Group unit. In March, it sold Swedish luxury-car maker Volvo to China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. for $1.8 billion. The sale was an integral part of Ford's "Way Forward" restructuring plan, first developed in 2006. It calls for the company to, among other things, focus on the Ford brand. In addition to Volvo, Ford has jettisoned Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.

Riding higher on the ongoing Wall Street rally as well as on improved sales, Ford shares also moved up smartly in the quarter, gaining about 45% since Jan. 1. On Monday, the shares closed up nearly 2% at $14.46 each.

Ongoing Momentum

The longer-term outlook for Ford remains upbeat, with analysts on-average recommending the stock as a buy. With strong momentum at its back, Ford's sales aren't likely to reverse anytime soon. As consumers continue to regain confidence in the economy, big-ticket items such as cars should keep selling well.

The big unknown for Ford -- and other automakers -- is how long Toyota will continue its aggressive incentives aimed at wooing back leery car buyers. Still, Ford has managed to increase in sales without relying too heavily on incentives, a move that could further bolster profitability and its image in the months ahead. Tagged: alan mulally, auto bailout, auto industry, Detroit

China in the Driver's Seat

The Ferrari 599 GTO was introduced in China, with buyers there already placing orders.

“The Chinese don’t understand us,” Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s global chief executive, told me in a recent interview. “They don’t understand why we make only two-door cars. They don’t understand why we don’t make a limousine.”

If Ferrari does someday make a stretch limo,  it will be because the Asian market demanded it. China, or what is being increasingly referred to as the “C-Factor” in the auto industry, is likely have a significant say from now on in how automobiles are designed, built and sold.

The fact that luxury coupe makers like Porsche, Aston Martin and even Bugatti have designed their first four-door models is directly attributable to the Chinese market. So that begs the question: Can a four-door Ferrari be far behind?

“We aren’t there yet,” Mr. Felisa told me. “But we reserved a very special car to introduce in Beijing, in the 599 GTO, to show how important China is to us.”

The 200-m.p.h. 599 GTO is the fastest Ferrari ever offered and only 599 will be built. Although a price hasn’t been announced publicly, the entire production run has already been spoken for, Mr. Felisa added; at least 20 were purchased by Chinese buyers.

Exhibit A in making a case that China could dominate the car industry was this year’s Beijing auto show. More than 1,000 cars were on display; some 65 concept cars made debuts as well as nearly 100 new or prospective alternative-fuel vehicles. That total was more than were unveiled at the most recent Detroit, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles auto shows combined.  By the time Auto China reconvenes a year from now in Shanghai, the show could outstrip Geneva as the world’s most important auto salon.

“China is rapidly becoming the world’s most important automobile market,” Mr. Felisa said.

Last year, China surpassed the United States as the world’s biggest automobile market, ending more than a century of American dominance. The swap in places was sudden and dramatic: China’s sales grew by more than a third to 13.6 million units in 2009, while the United States market plunged 21 percent to 10.5 million. Sales in the United States are expected to rebound to about 12 million units in 2010, after a disastrous two-year recession that helped to bankrupt the Detroit auto giants General Motors and Chrysler. But the Chinese market is not idling, waiting for the Americans to catch back up; sales to the increasingly car-crazy Chinese are forecast to continuing growing – perhaps to as many as 20 million units yearly by 2015.

As recently as 10 years ago, total annual sales in the Chinese market was barely two million vehicles. In fact, this is only the 11th Beijing auto show, or Auto China, as it is officially known. The exhibition alternates host cities every other year with Shanghai; up until two years ago, the two China shows were more like automotive trade shows or flea markets.

Home-grown Chinese autos are expected to proliferate and grow rapidly in sophistication; many Chinese automakers have announced ambitious plans to take leadership in hybrid and electric vehicle production.

An indication of how China’s car manufacturers expect to quickly attain expertise in areas like greentech, and even safety, is underscored by Geely’s recent acquisition of Volvo and all its considerable intellectual capital from Ford. Ford, meanwhile, announced it was studying expansion of its partnership with the Chinese automaker Changan; G.M. already has in place a large-scale joint venture with China’s S.A.I.C.

But automakers outside of China have also taken note of the potential to sell their own cars in Asia. Many, particularly German automakers, like Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche, presented vehicles at the Beijing show that were specifically designed with Chinese tastes in mind. Notable among these were BMW’s Gran Coupe design study and a stretched-wheelbase 5-Series sedan. VW unveiled several new models here, including four electric vehicles and its newest full-sized luxury sedan, the Phaeton.

Ford introduced  its Start concept vehicle, which was powered by a unique EcoBoost 3-cylinder engine. G.M. showcased 37 production and concept vehicles, including the Sail hatchback and a Chevy Volt variant called the MPV5 electric crossover.

Volkswagen announced in Beijing that it would open two new manufacturing plants in the country and design several models specific to the Chinese market in the immediate future. VW also announced plans to invest a further $2.2 billion in the Chinese market.

FIA GT3 – Silverstone event preview

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© United Autosports

Now in its fifth year the FIA GT3 European Championship has continued to attract teams and drivers from across the world resulting in large grids and action packed racing on Europe’s leading race circuits. Although present in all the major national GT Championships, the GT3 pinnacle remains the FIA GT3 European Championship and has proven to be an excellent proving ground for drivers on the way to the top of GT racing, the FIA GT1 World Championship.

On the GT1 World grid this weekend are two GT3 champions – Christopher Haase (2009) and Henri Moser (2007) – and three GT3 race winners from last season – Christoffer Nygaard, Frederic Makowiecki and Maxime Martin – who will all be competing alongside some of the best GT drivers in the world.

The 12 race, 6 event championship takes in some of the best circuits across Europe including Silverstone, Brno, Jarama, Paul Ricard, Algarve and Zolder. The GT3 teams also have the opportunity to contest the Spa 24 Hours at the end of July.

There are new cars, new teams and new rules for 2010. Joining the grid for the first time is the BMW Z4 GT3 prepared and raced by the Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport team. Three of GT3 Europe’s regular teams – Mühlner Motorsport, Prospeed Competition and Trackspeed – will race the new Porsche 911 GT3 R, while the Marc VDS Racing Team have been developing the Ford Mustang Marc VDS GT3. Argo Racing are also joining the GT3 grid with the new Lamborghini Gallardo LP560.

The FIA GT3 European Championship has received thirty-four full season entries and in these tough economic times that is an impressive number. 2009 FIA GT3 European Team Champions Hexis AMR are defending their title with the Aston Martin DBRS9, while last year’s Driver’s Vice Champion Thomas Accary, who will be racing with new co driver Luc Paillard this season, hoping to make the step up to the top spot in 2010. The nr 1 Aston will be driven by Frederic Makowiecki and Manuel Rodrigues, with Makowiecki having the double challenge of racing in the GT1 World Championship races as well as GT3 for the French team.

Danish driver Christoffer Nygaard also has a double workload this weekend when he competes in both GT1 and GT3 at Silverstone, but unlike Makowiecki, who will be racing an Aston Martin in both championships, the Dane will be racing a Ford GT in GT3 with Finland’s Mikko Eskelinen and an Aston Martin DB9 with Stefan Mücke in GT1 World.

The Audi R8 proved to be the car to beat in 2009, helping Christopher Mies and Christopher Haase to the driver’s title and, thanks to a new rule that allows GT1 teams to enter a 2-car team in GT3 even if the maximum of six cars for each model has been reached, no less than eight Audis will be seen on the grid in 2010. Sainteloc-Phoenix Racing and Team Rosberg are back for another season and are joined by new teams United Autosports from the USA and Black Falcon from Germany.

Six Corvettes Z06Rs will also be on the 2010 grid with 2007 Team Champions Callaway Competition joined by Graff Racing from France and Swiss team Toni Seiler Racing. The BMW Alpina B6 made its first appearance in 2009 and towards the end of the season the results started to come with a podium finish in Zolder. Team S-Berg Racing from Austrian will be hoping to continue the upward performance of the car in 2010. British team Chad Racing are also competing on the European stage this season with the Ferrari 430 Scuderia.

In a change for 2010 the FIA GT3 European Championship is adopting the new Formula One style points where the top ten cars and drivers are awarded points from 25 for a win down to 1 for 10th place. Both of the two 60-minute races score full points so the maximum a driver and team can score from a weekend is 50 points. Success ballast is also added to the top three cars at the next meeting, with 20kg for a win, 15kg for 2nd and 10kg for 3rd.

The FIA GT3 European Championship can also be seen live on television across Europe on Motors TV and Bloomberg television, with all the races streamed live on the championship website.

Beijing Auto Show in review

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This piece was written by Ash Sutcliffe of CCT for Just-Auto.com:

This year’s Beijing Auto Show was most notable for its lack of notability – at least in the sense that Chinese auto shows used to be jaw-droppingly notable.

The weirdly wonderful or eye-catching obvious doppelganger has been replaced by something quite a bit more sophisticated. Chinese car manufacturers have seriously brought their car designs up to global design standards and have been keeping the offices of Bertone, Pininfarina, and Ital Design Studio seriously busy throughout 2009.

The awkward looking designs of yesteryear have largely disappeared from the Beijing Auto Show, which ultimately serves as a giant window into the world of the Chinese Automobile Industry.

On the first day of the show big-hitter car company CEOs were present, including Daimler’s Dieter Zetsche and Renault-Nissan’s  Carlos Ghosn. Domestic auto leaders were also evident, including  the charismatic Geely leader, Li Shu Fu. The on hand Big Wigs certainly reinforced the rising sense of global prominence for the Auto China show.

Perhaps the most notable point of the first two days of the show were the grim faces of Western and Japanese auto executives – easily spotted by their company logos on their lapels. They went from stand to stand looking grimmer each time they reached a Chinese auto stand.

In previous auto shows they posed with broad self-satisfied grins on their faces, standing against awkwardly designed and clearly inferior Chinese cars. It was reminiscent of colonial hunters posing next to their dispatched big game prey. This time, however, they understood that Chinese cars are better and edging closer to entering their main Western markets.

The only happy looking Western automotive executives we saw were the ones that are in the business of selling luxury cars. Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley, Land Rover, and Jaguar all appeared to be doing sterling business and attracting massive crowds to their relatively small stands.

Both Chery and Geely signalled high ambitions with a surfeit of cars on massive all encompassing stands. Their respective ranges appear to have quite a bit of overlapping cars with both of them producing several MPVs, small hatchbacks, and coupes.

By contrast, Brilliance and BYD appeared to be showing a more conservative hand with only one car in each segment; although Brilliance have yet to launch an SUV and BYD are ahead in that segment,

Great Wall Motors broke away from its usual SUV oriented line-up with a range of sedans that were both impressive and well designed.

Beijing Auto wheeled out its latest line of SUVs. Some 20 years after BAIC’s joint venture with Chrysler began, Beijing Auto is actually making very good looking SUVs of its own. And Beijing Auto’s own version of the recently brought in Saab looked good, too.

A major theme at the past Chinese auto shows has been electric and hybrid cars. At past shows they’ve always been window dressing concept cars. This time it was remarkably different with all Chinese auto manufacturers bringing production ready vehicles to the show.

The only delay now is the lack of charging infrastructure within China. Now that the cars are ready, the government is likely to have a major push on electric charging stations. Watch that space.

Whilst hybrids and electric vehicles are gaining traction, there appears to have also been a big jump to small but powerful turbo-powered engines this year on the back of government taxes and incentives to encourage smaller displacement engine sales. That shift in the market helped by turbochargers will continue.

If China’s auto industry ambitions were underlined by the exhibits on show, it is perhaps also worth mentioning the A-list credentials of the Beijing venue.

The expansive new exhibition centre is well built with two clear wings (easily split into east and west wings) that make it easy to go from hall to hall; it is easy to walk around. It is quite a contrast to the Shanghai exhibition centre, which is essentially laid out in a gigantic V-shape, making it a long long walk back to the beginning when you’ve got to the end of a row of halls.

But there is  still a problem in Beijing. Getting there and out again is no piece of cake.

The downside to the new auto hall is that public transport to the facility is  terrible, and necessitates reliance on taxis. Be warned: they will  only take you if your destination is far enough to make it worth them driving you. Less than 20km, and it appears they’re happy to let you walk.

This year’s auto show takes place in what is expected to be a massive sales year for the Chinese market. As China bounces away from its early 2009 minor blip of a recession at a massive pace, the Chinese car market is likely to continue to hit new heights.

Auto China 2010 in Beijing revealed an industry growing in self-confidence, its domestic market zipping along nicely while the more mature Western markets languish. Western makers should take note that the Chinese are learning fast and that their automotive products are not the joke they once were.

Rise and fall of a Main Line investment adviser

Posted on Sun, Apr. 25, 2010

Rise and fall of a Main Line investment adviser

By Harold Brubaker

Inquirer Staff Writer

Main Line investment adviser Barry R. Bekkedam pitched deals for the wealthy who needed lots of income to support high-end lifestyles.

Bekkedam, with his taste for Ferraris, Aston Martins, and private-jet travel to meet clients, also knows something about expensive living.

That drive for income, typically found only in exclusive private deals, entangled Bekkedam in a Florida Ponzi scheme - a debacle that has forced him out of the investment-advisory business and left him stunned at how things fell apart.

"I rip my eyeballs out for an investment that didn't work. What did we do wrong? How did it not work? In some . . . in this environment . . . there's nothing you could have done," said an exasperated Bekkedam, referring to the collapse in certain real estate markets.

"When prices drop 50 percent, what can you do? There's no metric to have planned for that."

Bekkedam's firm, Ballamor Capital Management, had at least 30 percent of its clients' assets in private investments that were restricted by federal securities law to investors with at least $1 million in net worth or income of at least $200,000. Such investments are designed to generate greater returns; the risk is that there is no public market for them.

During an interview last month in the Radnor Financial Center, home to what had been the Ballamor offices, Bekkedam, 43, still looked fit and lean. He wore a light-blue dress shirt, faded jeans, and loafers with dark socks. He refused to have his picture taken, pointing out that he never sought coverage during good times.

Bekkedam is perhaps best known here as a basketball player at Archbishop Carroll and Villanova University in the 1980s. He has not sold Ballamor, which he founded in 1997 and expanded quickly to a peak of $3 billion in assets under management - though private deals are tricky to value.

In its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing, dated March 31, the company claimed $1.67 billion assets under management. One client, a medical-malpractice insurer on Long Island, accounted for about $1 billion, said Bekkedam, who is a native of Ontario, Canada.

Unable to sell because his company was in too much distress after its run-in with convicted Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein, Bekkedam reached a "cooperation agreement" under which another registered investment adviser, Family Endowment Partners L.P., of Waltham, Mass., will assume responsibility for his clients, if they agree.

Family Endowment has been meeting since last month with former Ballamor clients to try to win them over and is trying to determine the status of the two dozen or so private partnerships involving Ballamor clients.

One of Bekkedam's earliest clients, South Jersey resident Martin M. Monteleone Jr., said he was moving to another local investment firm and trying to get out of the private deals, though he has nothing against Bekkedam.

"I don't think Barry is dishonest in the least," Monteleone said. "He got ahead of himself."

Ballamor clients invested $30 million in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lawyer Rothstein's fraud through the Banyon Income Fund, which promised investors a 15 percent return on money that was supposed to be used to buy legal settlements at a discount.

Banyon was a mistake, but "I didn't do anything wrong," Bekkedam said.

Fierce ambition fueled the fast rise of Bekkedam in an industry in which it is difficult to persuade people to turn money over and then even harder to manage it successfully for the long term. But for much of the last decade, Bekkedam's rise was aided, as was the economy overall, by generally increasing asset values.

Then came the financial crisis, which obliterated investments of all sorts.

"Our goal was to build investments for the 100-year flood," Bekkedam said, "not knowing that the 200-year flood could happen."

Suddenly, he had to spend time tending investments, dealing with companies that could not make their debt payments.

To compensate for these circumstances, Bekkedam had, at the end of 2009, more employees than ever, he said. "Adding those people allowed me the flexibility to focus on making sure that investments in this environment were able to recover."

One of the most troubled investments was the Stokes Land Group, a Jacksonville, Fla., real estate developer with projects from North Carolina to northern Florida. A $125.5 million investment in common and preferred equity in 2005 was followed by a $25 million loan in 2006.

Bekkedam said Stokes management had projected that Ballamor investors would eventually recover half their money. Stokes chairman E. Chester Stokes Jr. did not respond to requests for comment.

Ballamor clients also ran into trouble with their $10 million investment in an Atlanta bank that failed in December. Bekkedam blamed the failure of RockBridge Commercial Bank on bad timing. "Management didn't do anything wrong," he said.

But Rollo Ingram, who was RockBridge's chief financial officer for the first year of the bank's existence, said the bank was a disaster because it focused on buying loans from troubled banks.

As to Bekkedam's role there, Ingram said: "I think, if anything, he was sold a bill of goods" by the people who organized the bank.

Bekkedam resents the focus on investments gone bad, arguing that he has found many successful private investments for clients, some of whom "had cash-flow needs that weren't being met by the public markets."

But many of his clients did not understand the illiquidity of private investments, he said, "no matter how many times you try to explain."

Investors cannot easily retrieve their money from certain Ballamor investments because it is tied up, for example, in a major construction development or in a private company that has a set number of years before it has to pay money back. There is no outlet, as there is for publicly traded stocks and bonds.

When asked about his reputation for fast living, Bekkedam made clear he thought there was nothing unusual about his use of a private jet to visit clients in out-of-the-way places. He cited a meeting this year with an executive who drove away in a Bentley.

Bekkedam has a $4 million house in Radnor Township that he is trying to sell and a $1.25 million home in Florida about a half hour north of West Palm Beach. But it is the extraordinary cars - like an Aston Martin and a Ferrari - that have been a lifelong passion of Bekkedam's.

As a youth, he said, he watched Magnum P.I. just for the cars - in the 1980s television series, the star drove a Ferrari.

"I'm not just some guy who has a Ferrari," he said.

Contact staff writer Harold Brubaker at 215-854-4651 or hbrubaker@phillynews.com.

Long Beach: Aston Martin Racing quaifying report

Sensational Pole for Aston Martin at Long Beach

Long Beach, 16 April 2010. Aston Martin Racing put in a stunningperformance on the first day of the Grand Prix of Long Beach being thequickest car in the first practice session and qualifying on poleposition from a field of 36 cars for tomorrow's second round ofthe American Le Mans Series.

Drivers Adrian Fernandez (MX) and Harold Primat (CH) are competing intheir third race this year with Aston Martin Racing. In the morningpractice, Fernandez (MX) posted the fastest lap time of the session in1m15.112s, a full 1.370s faster than the second placed LMP1 car.

In qualifying, amongst a comparative field of petrol-powered cars,Fernandez posted the quickest lap time of 1m13.213s in the Lowe'ssponsored 007 car, 0.072 seconds ahead of the second-placed LMP1 car. Ina session that was red flagged once and with plenty of traffic to copewith, the team strategically chose their time for a quick lap. As thepit lane went green close to the end of the session and with a quickexit from the pits, Fernandez was able to negotiate the 1.968 milecircuit free of traffic.

Team Principal, George Howard Chappell said: We're obviously verypleased with pole position, it was a tough challenge from the secondplaced car but Adrian did a super job and the Michelin tyres werefantastic.

Fernandez said: It's awesome to qualify on pole and especially atLong Beach as I have a lot of friends here and this place means so muchto me. It's my first time here with the Aston Martin team and weknew that it would be tough against the LMP2s. I was right on the limitwith my quickest lap. We have a tough challenge tomorrow but I hope wecan make it our first win of the year.

Primat said: The car felt good straight away but the track is quitebumpy as it is a street circuit, so we are pleased with this result. Wemade some minor modifications in the second practice and I think we havea good and reliable car for tomorrow's race.

The Grand Prix of Long Beach commences at 16:40 (PDT) on Saturday 17April 2010. Live coverage can be found at www.americanlemans.com andthrough Radio Le Mans at www.radiolemans.com.

-source: amr

An expensive mistake

Some say there are now 1.3 million potholes. And that, using tabloid newspaper maths, is "nearly two million!".

It's hard to know what can be done. The cost of not repairing them could be huge as motorists can claim if their car has been damaged by a yawning chasm in the road. But the cost of actually sending workmen out there with some cones and a vat of bitumen could be even higher. The bill for all the high-visibility jackets alone could run into billions.

Needless to say, I have a solution, which I have nicked from the German village of Niederzimmern. There, local officials are selling potholes at ?50 a pop. In return, the pothole is fixed and the name of your company is written on the repair. Apparently it's been so successful that the roads now look like the Yellow Pages. I have no idea why such an idea could not be tried here. We have sponsored roundabouts and petrol pumps, so why not potholes?

I'm losing the point. The fact is that even if councils do get round to fixing the potholes, it won't happen for a long time. Which means all of us are going to be more uncomfortable than usual. And that's a problem because there's a trend in the motor industry to make cars more firm and unforgiving. The people we have to blame for this are Germans.

German engineers are very interested in how fast their new car can go round the Nürburgring. They want it to be faster than the car Dietrich is making at Porsche. This makes them feel all gooey and proud. But to make a car fast round the Nürburgring, it must remain composed in the corners. This means rock-hard suspension. Of course, that's okay in the Fatherland because, apart from a few pothole-ravaged villages in the east, German roads tend to be very smooth and completely perfect in every way. Rock-hard suspension, therefore, doesn't matter.

But it sure as hell matters in Third World countries such as Britain, where government money is spent on other things, such as inquiries and apologising to the Iceni for crimes committed by the Romans. When I asked the boss of AMG if he tested new cars in Britain before putting them on sale, he looked genuinely surprised. "No. Why would we?"

Well, because the M40 between junctions 8 and 9 is bumpier than the main street in Port-au-Prince and because the rest of it was utterly destroyed by the perfectly normal winter we've just had. And because city centres have potholes so deep that if you drop a stone into some of them, it will emerge after a few days in downtown Sydney. That's why.

Of course, you might think that the solution is to buy a non-German car. But no. Jaguar, Aston Martin, Nissan - even the bloody French - are also obsessed with how fast their new cars go round the Nürburgring. It's become a unit of measurement, like football pitches and Wales and double-decker buses. This means the Jaguar XKR is as absorbent as an RSJ (that's a rolled-steel joist), and even Citroëns, famed for their duck-down ride, glide like crashing skiers.

Against this background of back injuries, punctures and broken axles, Maserati should be in a good place. It is the only car company in the world - apart from Rolls-Royce - with specific instructions from its paymasters not to fit its cars with suspension components made from bone.

Maserati is not allowed to make a responsive car that can tackle the Carousel on the Nürburgring at 645km/h because, in the Fiat empire, that is the job of Ferrari. Maserati's job is to make lovely-looking grand tourers that, above all else, are comfortable.

So, in our pothole-ravaged country, the Maserati GranTurismo S, with its new automatic gearbox, should be the obvious choice for anyone after a nicely badged coupé. Cars that are useless on the Nürburgring but perfect on the M40.

Sadly, however, they have ballsed it up. Yes, the new GranTurismo S automatic rides more smoothly than most of the cars with which it competes: the Aston Martin DB9, the Jaguar XKR, the Mercedes CL and the Bentley Continental GT. But they appear to have achieved this by disconnecting the body from the wheels.

Even at normal speeds it feels loose, and if you do hit a pothole - which you will - the whole car shimmies like a pony that's seen a plastic bag. This, then, is not a car that encourages you to go quickly, and that's a good thing, because it can't.

The 4.7l V8 makes all the right noises but seems short of torque. On a drive up the Fosse Way recently, I became engaged in a convoy with a Porsche Carrera 2S and an Aston DBS, and pretty soon I was not engaged in any such thing. I was about 25km back, sweating as I struggled to keep the slow, frightened horse from sidestepping into a hedge. I pushed the "sport" button but all this did was make everything louder and the ride hard. So I pushed it again to turn it off and slowed down. Right down.

Part of the problem may be the gearbox. It's a new six-speed auto, which is fine - Merc and Jag use them - but in manual Maseratis the box is mounted at the back. In autos, it's in the front and I have a suspicion this affects torsional rigidity.

Now all this might be all right if the car looked good. But it doesn't. It's a bit like Malta. Your mind says it's good because it sounds exotic but when you analyse the details it just isn't. It looks heavy. Possibly because, at 1.8 tonnes, it is.

Inside, things are worse. Yes, I will admit there is a lot of space in the rear but this has mainly been achieved by not allowing the front seats to go far enough back. If you are tall, you will never get comfortable behind the wheel - a wheel, incidentally, that appears to have been lifted from a galleon. It's enormous.

Then you have the dials, which looked like I'd done them, and the switchgear, which appeared to have been fired at the dash from a blunderbuss. Haphazard doesn't even begin to describe the ergonomics.

Now I'm not going to suggest that the dashboard in an Aston Martin DB9 is a model of common sense, but at least the interior feels special. The Maserati's doesn't. Pity. The GranTurismo S automatic should have been perfectly in tune with the times. It should have been a great car. But it is not. It's not even a good one. - ©The Times, London

The Clarksometer

Aston Martin DBR4-250/3

 ‘The engine reacts instantly for ideal power-oversteer control and the driver needs to respond quickly and accurately to the rapidly sliding tail, but the basic handling is sublimely predictable’ Something didn’t add up. It took me weeks to puzzle out this old Aston Martin warhorse. A beautiful and rare machine, it’s the third of four works DBR4 Grand Prix cars built in 1959 and it has been in the late Tom Wheatcroft’s Donington Grand Prix Exhibition for 39 years. Now restored to excellent condition by Hall and Hall, it runs perfectly, as I found out at Donington recently. It’s for sale, so I was given a brief blast in it.Settling into the cockpit, I felt on top of the world. Well, just look at the way I stick out of it. How did the 1959 works drivers, Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, cope with that? Both are tall men. This car should not be like that, as we shall see.Right now, DBR4-250/3 is warmed up and ready for action photography with ace snapper John Colley. The clutch pedal, well to the left, works smoothly and the right-hand five-speed gearchange is easier to operate than expected. Although a rear-mounted David Brown transaxle is fitted, it has a Maserati gate but no sequential locking mechanism. The brake and throttle pedals are well placed and the steering feels superb: really alive, accurate and direct.The car runs straight and true towards the corners and, typically of Astons of that era, the disc brakes are exceptionally good. Back in 2006 I discussed DBR4s with Roy Salvadori, Aston’s quickest works DBR4 driver:‘As I remember,’ Roy told me, ‘it was underpowered and too heavy. With the 2.5-litre engine there was very little torque but it had fantastic brakes. The 2.5-litre Cooper just had the edge on it and the DBR4 didn’t improve as  we went along…‘Today, I think, the 3-litre is the only one to have, as the slightly larger engine gave the DBR4 the performance it needed. But those brakes… I do remember them as being really superb, with a good, firm pedal. Once you could hear them whistling – I remember it now – you knew they were really working.’Unfortunately, the F1 rules then specified 2.5 litres. The larger engines came later in DBR4 history. The 2.5-litre straight-six may have been underpowered then but it feels very responsive, a real thoroughbred racing unit. A new cylinder head had to be made from scratch by Hall and Hall, and the result of this work is a very fine engine which gave 268bhp on the dynamometer. The exhaust pipes on the right indicate that it’s a ‘95-degree’ head of the correct type.Initial throttle action is perfectly smooth, the engine reacting instantly for ideal power-oversteer control. This car likes to be driven like that and the driver needs to respond quickly and accurately to the rapidly sliding tail. But it’s not tricky – the basic handling is sublimely predictable. Only the uncomfortably high seating position mars an otherwise perfect driving experience.As every Aston Martin diehard knows, the team from Feltham was enjoying dizzy success as the reigning World Champion Sports Car Manufacturer of 1958 and, to cap that, the factory won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1959 in magnificent style, with works DBR1s finishing first and second.Designed by Ted Cutting, who had risen to become chief racing designer in the Special Projects office at Aston Martin, the exquisite DBR1 was almost entirely his work and was, without doubt, the best sports-racing car of its day. In contrast to such triumphs, the simultaneous effort in Formula 1 with the DBR4 single-seater was an absolute flop.As Ted wrote in the AM Magazine in spring 1993: 'The GP car got less than half the development effort it needed… There just were not enough people in the Experimental workshop and the two design offices for all the programmes. Twelve-hour days, often seven days a week, were the normal way of doing business that year for the competition personnel…' It was hopelessly over-ambitious. Aston Martin’s Formula 1 car would have been superb in 1956, but they weren’t able to construct it until late 1957 and then it lay around because they hadn’t the resources to run it. Through 1958 the DBR4 sat under a cover in the workshop, unused. By 1959, when the firm finally got round to campaigning it, the mid-engined revolution was taking full hold in Formula 1. Running the DBR4 then, as team manager John Wyer famously remarked later, was: 'Too little, too late.'As Ted later commented: 'We found ourselves doing in 1959 exactly what we had decided not to do in 1958; that is, competing at top level in both Sports Car and Grand Prix races.'Aston Martin’s foray into the Grand Prix scene was, undeniably, a terrible failure but fascinating nevertheless. In DBR4/3 we see a rare survivor which, in its present form, is representative of that effort 50 years ago. What still puzzled me, though, is that it’s not as it raced in its first event, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1959.This car is no fake. Everything on it is 100% genuine Aston Martin DBR4, but it isn’t what DBR4/3 was or should be. Pondering over that, it seemed possible that it is one of those timewarp machines that represents a fixed point in the past: not 1959 when it was made, but ten years on when it was being run in VSCC Historic Racing Car events by its then owner Peter Brewer.But that theory didn’t hang together, either. Something was decidedly weird here and I could not put my finger on it. This is not the first DBR4 I have driven. Three years ago I did a couple of days testing in its sister car, DBR4/4, checking it over for its present owner. The car featured here should have been very similar to that, but it wasn’t. Both were delightful to drive, but very different.I decided to start again and trace the story right through, hoping something would turn up. Towards the end of 1958, Aston boss John Wyer instructed Ted to get the GP car out from under its sheet and redesign the front suspension for the 1959 season. That was completed in six weeks and a second car, DBR4/2, was built to the same design.The first DBR4s to race made their début at the 1959 BRDC International Trophy race on Silverstone GP circuit in May, driven by Salvadori and Shelby. Although Shelby’s car retired, Salvadori broke the lap record with DBR4/1 and finished a promising second. His skill had flattered the outdated design and the DBR4 never looked that good again.Those first two DBR4s were fitted with five-speed David Brown CG537 transaxle gearboxes, as then used in the DBR1 two-seater. In the single-seater, it meant that the central propshaft ran directly under the driver. That transaxle was too big and heavy for a GP car anyway, and a further snag was that it was a pig to use. It was a problem – the team knew that already in mid-1957 but, as David Brown had been able to buy the company thanks to his wealth and reputation as a gearbox manufacturer, they had to make the best of it.Two years on, it was so obvious that this box was holding them back that Ted Cutting was allowed to buy in a different transaxle. He spent a week in June 1959 at Maserati in Modena, working with Dr Alfieri on a modified version of the 5M-60 transaxle also found in the Maserati 250F GP car.Apart from being relatively compact and 50lb lighter than Aston’s existing unit, the Maserati transaxle was easier to use and, as it had the input shaft offset to the left, it placed the driver two inches lower in the DBR4, alongside the propshaft rather than over it. As Ted told me: 'Once the drivers had used that gearbox, they never wanted to go back.'To suit the new transaxle, the car had to be modified. The engine was mounted differently, angled in the tubular spaceframe chassis to suit the new propshaft line. The rear suspension remained by de Dion tube, but Ted devised a lighter arrangement. A new body was designed, narrower than before and with its centre section fixed to the chassis. It's sometimes referred to as the 'semi-stressed-skin chassis', although Ted prefers to call it non-detachable.This revised GP car was known within Aston Martin as the DBR4B and the earlier model was referred to as the DBR4A. In mid-1959 two cars were built to this new specification, DBR4/3 and DBR4/4, the latter retained as a spare.Thanks to the new transaxle and detailed improvements the DBR4B was nearly 80lb lighter than its predecessor, but it was no more successful. At that time Aston Martin was committed to front-engined cars. The racing programme was, after all, intended to promote sales of front-engined road cars. There might even have been a feeling within the company that building and racing a mid-engined car was not quite the way that a gentleman might conduct himself, but anyway, as we have seen, Aston Martin couldn’t afford a radically new design.The brand-new DBR4B turned out for the Italian GP in September 1959 with Salvadori at the wheel. Despite his best efforts, he qualified 17th, five whole seconds off pole but two seconds quicker than Shelby in the older model. Autosport reported: 'Both Aston Martins were putting up a brave show, but were scarcely quick enough to trouble the opposition.'Salvadori retired on lap 45 with transmission failure. Shelby trailed home in tenth place. The future was clear: even at the ultra-fast Monza circuit, thanks to his brilliant driving in Rob Walker’s Cooper-Climax, Stirling Moss had beaten the front-engined Ferraris on home ground. It stung Ferrari hard.Some say that the uncompetitive DBR4 effectively ended Roy Salvadori’s GP career when he had the ability, in the right car, to become World Champion. I agree with them, but he did choose to go with it.It’s an article of faith in Aston Martin legend that, had the firm come out and raced the DBR4 in 1958, it would have been competitive. That romantic notion collapses when you compare F1 lap times through 1958 and 1959. It doesn’t stand up to analysis, I’m afraid.That 1959 race at Monza was DBR4/3’s sole attempt at a Grand Prix, and collectors of the ‘matching numbers’ persuasion would probably feel that it should be restored precisely to that configuration. However, retrieving the right parts might not be so easy now.Unexpectedly, it wasn’t the end of DBR4/3’s story as a works F1 car. For the non-championship International Trophy at Silverstone in 1960 Aston entered two of the new DBR5s. In a wet qualifying session, Moss made a rare error, losing his Cooper in a puddle and hitting Roy’s new Aston, which was standing in the pits. The engine and transmission from the DBR5 were swapped overnight into DBR4/3. This engine had the improved ‘80-degree’ head, with the exhaust emerging from the left. Roy started the race but retired after four laps because of a misfire.

Luxury car makers target China's super-rich

Luxury car makers target China's super-rich

By Allison Jackson (AFP) – 1 day ago

BEIJING — An extra-long Rolls Royce and the fastest ever Ferrari road car made their debut in Beijing on Friday as dozens of luxury car makers lined up to woo super-rich consumers in the world's biggest market.

Rolls Royce sold two models -- the more expensive of the two bearing a price tag of nine million yuan (1.3 million dollars) -- in the first few hours of the Beijing Auto Show, where nearly 1,000 vehicles have gone on display.

"Chinese are hard-working and they like to reward themselves, and the pinnacle product to reward yourself with is a Rolls Royce," said Paul Harris, the carmaker's Asian regional director.

But rich Chinese will be disappointed if they had hoped to get their hands on one of the limited edition 599 GTO Ferraris at the show.

The legendary Italian sports car maker has made just 599 of the cars, which can reach 335 kilometres per hour (200 miles per hour) -- making it Ferrari's fastest consumer car.

All of the cars, whose price tag Ferrari will not publicly divulge, have already been sold, including 20 in China, said Amedeo Felisa, the company's chief executive.

Luxury car sales in China have soared in recent years to become one of the fastest-growing segments of a market that sped past the United States in 2009 to become the world's biggest.

Automakers sold 13.64 million vehicles last year as increasingly well-off Chinese consumers continued to snap up cars, helped by government incentives such as lower taxes.

"A lot of people are getting rich very, very quickly and they are willing to spend on the most luxurious goods, whether that is watches or luxury cars," said Raymond Tsang of consulting firm Bain & Company.

China has the second-highest number of dollar billionaires in the world after the United States, according to Forbes magazine, and luxury carmakers say they expect strong sales growth in the years ahead.

British sports carmaker Aston Martin entered China in 2007 and said sales were so strong it would become its top market in Asia in 18 months.

"It's the fastest-growth market for us and it has the biggest potential," said Matthew Bennett, Aston Martin regional director.

"These are car enthusiasts who love to drive, which is a very select group of people in China. They love the car, they love the brand and they like to drive."

Rolls Royce, which has made an extra-long vehicle for the "chauffeur driven" Chinese market, said it expects sales to more than triple in 2010 to 300-400 cars, making China its number-two market in the world.

Its customers were "phenomenally successful" entrepreneurs who sometimes pay for the luxury cars in cash.

"Two months ago a customer came in with cash in the back of the car," said a Rolls Royce marketing executive based in Chengdu.

"People want to buy something to show their wealth."

The Chinese market has been a saviour for foreign carmakers as sales in developed countries slumped during the financial crisis and remain sluggish.

Ferrari, which sold more than 200 cars in China last year, said the Beijing launch of the 599 GTO underlined the importance of the Chinese market to its brand.

"For us, China is very important in our strategy, especially for the future," chief executive Felisa said.

"This region is one where we continue to evolve and develop our product."

The auto show, covering an area equivalent to nearly 40 football pitches, also features 65 concept cars and 95 alternative-energy vehicles.

The exhibition opens to industry participants on Sunday but media were given a sneak preview of the line-up on Friday.

ASTON MARTIN DB7 V12 VANTAGE VOLANTE

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The car is honest with a few tiny parking marks, couple of gently scruffed wheels,which can be removed/repaired prior to purchase if so required. The mileage is 19295 from new . The car is fitted with a battery trickle charger. It is in excellent condition and any inspection is welcome. We have priced the car realistically, First Registered 11th May 2000. Advert Age: 1 days Location: West Sussex, United Kingdom Contact: Martin Kulin (mnk303) Phone: 07071678637

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£200k for Aston Martin wreck

£200k for Aston Martin wreck

Posted 23rd Apr 2010 by David Hobbs
Filed under: Aston Martin, Special/Limited Editions, Sports/GTs, Events , News

It doesn't look too clever now but this grime-stained Aston Martin is expected to go under the hammer for around £200,000 in a few days time.

Auction house Bonhams has listed the car for its Monaco event on 30 April but whoever walks away with it - they certainly won't be driving - can expect to spend the same amount again on restoration.

Because fewer than 1,000 were built between 1963 and 1965, the DB5 is highly sought after, this example in particular as it's a left-hand drive model. Movie buffs will also recognise it as being James Bond's car from the movie Goldfinger.

Let's hope it scrubs up nicely

China Auto Show

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See all the St. John's style, and more fun with Mounties.

Chinese Auto Maker Chery Says Signs Messi

Security workers guard Aston Martin cars to be shown at the Beijing auto show in Beijing, China,... Security workers guard Aston Martin cars to be shown at the Beijing auto show in Beijing, China, Thursday, April 22, 2010. Automakers plan to unveil dozens of new models at the Beijing auto show this weekend as foreign producers look to surging China to drive slack global sales and local brands try to raise their profile following Geely's purchase of Volvo. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan) (AP)

China's biggest domestic auto brand signaled its ambition Friday to become a global player by signing Argentine football star Lionel Messi as an international ambassador to promote its brands.

Chery Automobile Co. made the announcement at the Beijing auto show, where it plans to show 29 vehicles including four alternative fuel models.

Messi is the reigning FIFA Player of the Year and stars for Spanish giants Barcelona.

Chery exports to 70 developing countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, and company spokesman Jin Yibo said the company hopes to double exports this year to 100,000 vehicles.

Jin said Messi would promote Chery's luxury Riich brand.

"Messi is the best football player in the world, and thus he makes a great ambassador to represent out premium Riich brand," Jin said.

Chery is bringing in 200 sales agents from foreign markets to see its latest models, Jin said.

The Beijing show has become a focal point for a scramble by automakers for a piece of China's fast-growing market.

On the eve of the exhibition, Daimler AG unveiled its new ultra-luxury Maybach sedan, part of a flurry of new vehicle launches in china amid slack sales elsewhere.

The show, in a country with almost no private cars 15 years ago, has risen to the top ranks of global auto industry events as China's explosive sales growth drove this market past the United States in 2009 to become the world's biggest.

Foreign automakers are pushing to expand sales in China while young but ambitious local brands such as Volvo buyer Geely want to raise their profile. The auto show opened Friday to the media and opens Tuesday to the general public.

Daimler debuted the blue and silver Maybach at a lavish event amid the 19th century mansions of Beijing's old embassy district, with entertainment by pop singer Leona Lewis.

"Nowhere is the potential and the possibility of the future more apparent than in China today," said Ulrich Walker, chairman and CEO of Daimler Northeast Asia.

Yas Marina Circuit to end year on high, says chief

ABU DHABI // Richard Cregan, the chief executive of Yas Marina Circuit, is confident the track�s first year of operation will finish on a high note with the GT1 World Championship this weekend.The series is the last scheduled chance before the summer for motorsport enthusiasts to see racing at Yas Marina, which has hosted Formula One, GP2 cars, Aussie V8 supercars and drag racing events since opening last winter.

GT1 is a new global championship that will see cars from six manufacturers – Aston Martin, Corvette, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ford and Nissan – taking part in a one-hour race on Saturday evening.�For us to be able to host the first meeting of the GT1 World Championship is great,� Cregan said.�It is something that we have been working on since last year. Like the other different events we have had since the Grand Prix, this has been looked at with regard to giving us a global reach.

�I think it is going to be a very exciting weekend full of action.�Stephane Ratel [the creator of GT1] and his people have been working on this series for quite a long period and we have been involved in this series since the start and it is great that we are getting the opportunity to put on the first race.�There is a strong field of drivers taking part in this weekend�s action. Romain Grosjean, who drove for Renault in the Formula One World Championship last year and competed in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, will be driving a Ford for the Matech team.

Other fellow former Formula One drivers who will be lining up at Yas Marina are Mika Salo, Enrique Bernoldi, Karl Wendlinger and Tomas Enge.Cregan is confident that having a high-class field will help develop a following for a series that will also have races in Britain, Belgium, Germany, Brazil and South Africa as part of a 10-event schedule.�There are a number of well known drivers in the series that will, I imagine, draw some interest to the series,� he said.

�Having ex-Formula One drivers racing the cars and those cars being brands that you see on the streets around Abu Dhabi and the UAE can only help raise the profile of it.�Qualifying will take place on Friday with a qualifying race on Saturday afternoon before the race takes place in the evening. That will include mandatory pit-stops.Plans are already being made for the 2010-11 programme at the circuit, which is likely to see an increase the drag racing. The GP2 race, which was the track�s weakest on-crowd numbers, will link up with the Aussie V8s.

�The drag racing is going to be a very big sport for us,� Cregan said.�We are looking to hold an event once a month in the winter and we are going to send one of the top fuel cars to the States to compete in the summer in preparation for the winter.�GP2 is going to be slightly different to last year. GP2 is going to be combined with the Aussie V8s.�What we have tried to understand is that there is a small market for motorsport here at the moment and lots of events going on in the area around at the same time.

�We are learning from that and are planning things slightly differently.�As to the track�s short-term goals for next year, F1 remains at the centre of Cregan�s thoughts along with continued development.�The Formula One Grand Prix on November 14 is still the most important thing for us,� he said. �But beyond that the most important thing is to improve the show as it goes along.�gcaygill@thenational.ae

2010 GT3 Asia and GT4 Asia Cup Season Underway with Joint Test in Sepang

2010 GT3 Asia and GT4 Asia Cup Season Underway with Joint Test in Sepang 12 April 2010, By Sepang International Circuits

This past weekend of 10th-11thApril, marked the beginning of the GT3 Asia and the GT4 Asia Cup 2010 season, when drivers and teams from the two series turned up at the Sepang International Circuit for a joint preliminary test session.

Twenty-six drivers took part in the two-day event, flying in from Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Australia. The Event began on a wet Saturday morning with a brief greeting by Motorsport Asia CEO, David Sonenscher, who welcomed the return of some familiar faces and a few new ones.

“This test session is for the drivers who are new to the series or are joining us this season with new cars. The session mainly acts as a shakedown before the start of the season. It also gives everyone a chance to catch up with one another after a long break in between seasons” said Sonenscher.

Drivers were eager to start the day and the damp conditions did not deter them from going all out, including the 2009 GT3 Asia Champion, a ‘rusty’ Tunku Hammam. He was a little apprehensive about his fitness level, coming back after such a long break, but seemed excited at being back behind the wheel of his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S.

Hammam cited that his car was a little slower due to some engine problems that they are facing and said that they will be sending the car to be checked after the weekend.

Another driver making a return to the series is Singaporean Mok Weng Sun. The Team PCS Racing driver will be competing in both the GT3 Asia series and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. Mok set the second fastest time of the weekend in his 997 GT3 Cup S, with an unofficial time of 2:07.812, just four hundredths of a second behind Hong Kong’s Michael Choi.

Choi, who is making a return to the GT3 Asia series, drove the sensational new Lamborghini LP 560 GT3 for Team SPS Racing, setting the fastest time of the weekend on his last run during the second session.

SPS Racing invited Japanese driver and former Porsche Carrera Cup Asia competitor, Keita Sawa, as their private driver coach for the Team. SPS once again made their appearance as the biggest group at the circuit with five Lamborghinis driven by brothers Siu Tit Lung and Siu Yuk Lung, Sasha Chu, Billy Fung and Choi.

Making a comeback to the series is Team IMSS after a two year absence. The team was at the circuit testing their Ferrari F-430’s with a trio of Hong Kong drivers, Byron Tong, Oliver Lee and Andrew Luk. Luk claimed the fastest time on a damp track when he clocked 2:17.221 in the first session of the weekend.

Team Craf was at the test with one brand new Ginetta G50 GT3, an Aston Martin DBRS9 and a Fiat Abarth 500. The team, is working in a partnership with Eurasia Motorsport and will be joining the series this year with three Ginettas, driven by Frank Yu, Eric Cheung and Samson Chan.

For this weekend, Team Craf only had one of the three Ginetta G50 GT3s as the other two, for Yu and Cheung, are still at the factory being rebuilt after a full season in 2009. The remaining cars are due back in early May in time for the next test session and the first event.

Yu brought along the Aston Martin to shakedown the car in preparation for the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race, while the Abarth was brought along ‘just for some fun’. “Everyone wanted to test the Abarth on the track and they did. It was really fun to drive.” said Yu.

Three drivers from the VW Scirocco Cup China also took to the track to get themselves familiar with the Sepang circuit. The trio, brothers Gerard and Gilbert Yap, and Hu Chen Wei, are set to join the GT4 Asia Cup with their Aston Martin N24’s.

Team Road & Track, will be represented this year by Australian driver and GT and Classic Car race regular, Daniel Bilski. The 39 year old will be taking part in the GT4 Asia Cup in the Aston Martin N24 and set some consistent times throughout the weekend.

A few other drivers were present at the test without their cars and ‘shared’ cars with their competitors including Mark Williamson who will be competing in the GT4 Asia Cup with three other drivers for Concorde Energy.

The GT3 Asia and GT4 Asia Cup will be visiting a combined total of seven different circuits this year including three circuits in Japan and the Macau street circuit for an invitational race at the end of the season. The season will kick off on the 14-16 May 2010 during the Asian Festival Of Speed at Sepang International Circuit and will return as part of the support event for the Super GT in Sepang in June.

East Lancashire man named Enterprising Young Brit

East Lancashire man named Enterprising Young Brit

9:30pm Monday 12th April 2010

A businessman whose company is worth £20million has been crowned Enterprising Young Brit at a glittering event in London.

Antony Chesworth, 29, went £25,000 in debt to set up his shopping business ekmpowershop.com.

In seven years, the company, based in Commerical Road,Darwen, has become the market leader in UK ecommerce with 17,000 customers using their services to set up their own on-line store.

And his success has meant he has been able to indulge his dream of owning high performance cars including a Porsche, Aston Martin and Ferrari.

He said: “I had the idea when I was still at Lancaster University studying computer science. It was just as dot com businesses had really taken off and I realised how much people were spending online”, said the former Habergham High School pupil, from the Harle Syke area of Burnley.

“Back then there were only costly options if you wanted to set up an online shop. Now for £20 a month, we sort that out for you, it’s basically renting an empty shop off us, but online.”

Antony said he was “genuinely shocked” to be presented with the trophy for Enterprising Young Brit by Lord Mandleson.

He said: “It just goes to show what you can achieve.

“I racked up serious debt getting this off the ground, I was on the dole. I built it up cold-calling customers and only after about four years did it start making money. Then I employed my first member of staff and it all snowballed.

“Where I used to live in Burnley, there was a Michelin factory that used to give out development funds, but they refused me, saying it would never work.

“Now Michelin are one of my customers.”

Other high-profile customers include Lotus cars, ITV, Madame Tussards and the 02 arena.

Anthony said: “I’ve gone from being a poor man to being a rich man.

“I’ve always liked cars. It used to annoy me watching Top Gear knowing I couldn’t afford the cars they were test driving.

“For about seven years I had a Citroen Saxo, but then I got a Lotus Elise, a Porsche, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and a Ferrari F430.

“I’ve also got a house in Burnley and one in Polton-le-Fyle with it’s own lake.”

Antony has now bought premises in Deansgate, Manchester, and also hopes to expand to Preston, employing at least five more to his already 30-strong workforce.

Buy Wayne Rooney's Aston Martin Vanquish

An Aston Martin Vanquish previously owned by Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney is for sale on Auto Trader.

The star striker was the first owner of the 2006 Aston Martin Vanquish S, which is powered by a meaty 520bhp 5.9-litre V12 engine.

This means that the Aston is capable of sprinting from 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 200mph.

The top-of-the-range model is finished in Grigio Titanium with Obsidian Black hide and is fitted with 19-inch alloy wheels, grey-coloured calipers, 2+2 seating, sculpted leather heated seats, sat-nav, rear parking sensors, 700 watt sound system and all-round electrics.

Rooney was given the Aston Martin Vanquish S 2+2 by his then fiancée Coleen McLoughlin as a good luck gift before the 2006 World Cup.

Wayne Rooney’s Aston Martin Vanquish S cost the star striker more than £170,000. It’s now advertised for sale by Hallmark Motor Sales Ltd, for £88,975.

It has clocked up just 6,000 miles since new and comes with a full Aston Martin service history.

Wayne Rooney began his career with Everton, joining their youth team at age ten. He made his professional debut in 2002 and his first goal made him the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history at that time.

Full gallery: Wayne Rooney’s Aston Martin Vanquish
- plus every premiership footballer’s car for sale

He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before transferring to Manchester United at the start of the 2004 season for £25.6million.

He has since won the Premier League three times, the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups.

Rooney made his England debut in 2003 and has now appeared more than 50 times for his country, clocking up a total of 25 goals.

The 24-year-old has celebrated 34 goals already this season and, despite serious injury fears, is set to play a major role in this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.

Despite holding driving licenses for just six years, Wayne and Coleen have had a spectacular car collection. And like most people, the England star had to start somewhere.

Full gallery: what happens when footballers modify

In 2003, a fresh-faced 17-year-old Rooney was presented with a Ford Sportka. With its 1.6-litre engine, the diminutive Ford could get Wayne from 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds. There are currently more than 3,800 used Ford Ka’s for sale on Auto Trader, with prices starting at just £295.

After the Ford there’s been no stopping the United star as he quickly climbed the pecking order for footballers’ cars. A BMW M3, VW Golf R32, Cadillac Escalade, Chrysler 300C, BMW M6 and a BMW X5 have all graced Rooney’s front drive.

But when Rooney transferred to Manchester United, he needed to up his motoring game to keep up with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cue supercars, off-roaders and modified motors.

He has since owned a 582bhp Mercedes CLK DTM AMG, a black Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, an Audi RS6 Avant, an Audi RS4 Quattro, a Bentley Continental (and a convertible GTC version for Coleen), a Mercedes G55 AMG, a hardcore Mini GP, a supercharged Range Rover and an Overfinch-tuned Range Rover Sport.

By Rhian Angharad Jones

Short answer for a posh commute

Can't stretch to a DB9 or Rapide? Then try the Cygnet, suggests DAVE MOORE.

The Cygnet is designed specifically for the British motorist who has everything, except for city transport to match the Aston he or she uses for the weekend jaunt down to the country seat.

You see, it just doesn't do to expose oneself to colds and flu by using public transport, so the tube, bus and even the black cab are to be avoided. You never know what germs and stains you might pick up.

Which means a car it has to be, and although a Golf or Smart is classless enough to pass muster, anyone who is "something in the city", or even more important than that, needs something as special as their normal car but a little more compact.

Enter the Cygnet, which is simply one of Toyota's engaging and outstandingly clever iQ city cars after a serious course at Aston Martin's special finishing school.

The city environment is not, and never has been, a place where the traditional sporting qualities of an Aston Martin can excel. Aston Martin's sports cars thrive in the context of a thrilling open road, the sensation of driving, the pleasure of the journey and the relationship between driver and machine.

The Aston Martin Cygnet Concept redresses the balance by offering Aston Martin qualities and values in a car that is designed for the heart of the city.

The Cygnet Concept is small. At just under three metres long, the car is a highly refined piece of packaging, designed to make fast progress within dense European cityscapes.

With four seats and an intelligent interior, the car can be configured in several ways, allowing for a two-plus- two seating system, a two-plus-one seating system or a two-seater with a large luggage area.

The Cygnet has a 1.3 litre four- cylinder engine, offering carbon- dioxide emissions of 110 grams per kilometre and combined fuel- economy figures of 4.7 litres per 100km, with a power output of 75 kilowatts. The Cygnet has a six-speed manual gearbox, with the MultidriveTM CVT system available as an option. The Cygnet comes with an advanced technology package as standard, including a satellite navigation system, iPod integration and a six-speaker radio/CD player.

The Cygnet's interior is a demonstration of Aston Martin's skill at creating handcrafted interiors. The rich mix of hand-stitched leather, Alcantara and aluminium is shared with the company's sports cars.

The Cygnet Concept is not hand- finished out of deference to tradition, but because skilled craftsmanship can achieve a far higher quality of finish than machine production. It also means the Cygnet is fully open to Aston Martin's personalisation programme, allowing for practically any combination of interior and exterior trim, colour and finish to be completed to an exacting personal specification.

In this way, a customer's Cygnet could, for instance, be designed to precisely complement their full-sized Aston Martin sports car, sharing the same bespoke specification.

Aston Martin believes that between 2000 and 4000 Cygnets could be sold annually in Europe alone, with each car forming a natural extension of existing Aston Martin ownership, a supplementary product that exists in tandem with the company's range of luxury sports cars. A substantial proportion of Aston Martin owners have several cars in their fleet. Almost a quarter own a small car.

ORECA Miss The Podium, Still Reach Goals

Despite strong showings from both their cars Team ORECA Matmut left Paul Ricard having just missed out on the podium places at the 8 Hours of Le Castellet.

Saturday’s qualifying meant the French team’s cars started the race well placed, their customer Peugeot 908 starting on pole with their self-built ORECA 01 in fourth. However, competition then mechanical gremlins would dent the team’s challenge early in the race.

Peugeot works driver Stephane Sarrazin started the no.4 Peugeot diesel, but could only hold the lead of for a handful of corners as while fending off the attentions of the Audi R15 that started alongside him the Lola-Aston Martin was able to squeeze past into the lead, though both diesels would quickly repass the Gulf liveried car.

Behind the ORECA 01 was involved in a battle for fourth with the Signature Plus Aston Martin and the two Rebellion Racing Lolas but fell back to fifteenth after pitting with a thrown tyre tread on lap eight. The car fitted with new Dunlops Soheil Ayari set about regaining the lost ground, proving it’s pace and, save for the early anomaly, reliability.

“I had no worries about the competitiveness of the ORECA 01,” said driver Loic Duval. “It was well balanced throughout the race. It was really consistent and easy to drive, and proof of this was that I was going through Signes flat, and I unlapped myself in relation to the Aston Martin. Without the thrown tyre tread, we could have made it onto the podium.”

Unfortunately for the team one of the cars that Ayari, Duval and Didier Andre were able to pass was the Peugeot, which was forced to pit inside the first hour, being wheeled back into the garage with an air jack problem. The team, principal Hughes de Chaunac admits “failed to analyse the problem”, adding to the repair which cost the car eighteen minutes in total dropping it nine laps off the pace, from where they too mounted their fightback. Largely faultless running, matching and often bettering the pace of the leading Audi, saw the car quickly recover past the slower LMP2 cars and back into the leading group of LMP1 cars, plateauing in fifth in the final hour.

Still the two ORECA entered cars would cross paths in the closing minutes of the race, the ORECA 01 forced into two late pitstops that saw Nicolas Lapierre in the Peugeot leapfrog up into fourth place.

“It’s very frustrating,” Lapierre admitted, commenting on finishing fourth. “We had the speed to take the fight to the Audi and the race confirmed that we’re on the pace. We took advantage of the event to learn about the behavior of the Peugeot in these conditions, and the race has been very valuable in terms of information both for the team and for the drivers. It’s good in view of the 24 Hours but it has a slightly bitter taste.”  

“We’ve accomplished our mission,” technical director David Floury is quoted on the press release for the ORECA 01, but in a statement that could easily be applied to both cars. “On the one hand, gather the maximum amount of information by finishing the race, which confirms our reliability and that helps us draw conclusions about the tyres. That was one of the unfamiliar aspects; now we know more and there’s still work to do.”

“Without the thrown tyre tread and the bonnet changes [and air jack problems], we’d have done better.”

Photo Credit: www.oreca-racing.com

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