Fake Videos of the Day: Tank Crashes Aston Martin & Mad Man Cuts Off Parking Meter

As you probably should already know by now, not everything you see and read on Youtube is real. One recent example was a video showing a new Lexus IS F being crushed, and which many websites rushed to adopt the poster's unfounded claims that it was destroyed for street racing by California authorities.

Today, we stumbled upon two more clips, one allegedly showing a man cutting off a parking meter with a saw after receiving a ticket, and another with an Abrams tank destroying an Aston Martin coupe.

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Watch an Aston Martin Rapide Crash Filmed from the Inside

Most people tend to freak out after an accident with their cars even if there are no fatalities or injuries, but not Mr. Roberto Ricci, who had the misfortune of wrecking his prized Aston Martin Rapide sports saloon during a joy ride.

If you see Ricci's super cool reaction after the crash, you'd think that the Rapide suffered only a few minor scratches, when reality is that the car was brutally bashed / borderline repairable write-off.

The incident occurred in late July when Ricci, who is the founder and owner of RRD, makers of surfboards, windsurfs, sails and kites, took Dave White, editor of Mpora, for a quick ride in his Rapide after a guided tour of his company's facilities in Italy.

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Aston Martin Launches New Cygnet in Hong Kong and Japan

Perhaps the most controversial Aston Martin model ever made - or to be more precise, re-made, the new Cygnet luxury city car has arrived in two more markets outside of Europe, in Hong Kong and Japan.

Essentially a heavily luxed-up version of the Toyota / Scion iQ, the Cygnet is available to order now in Hong Kong and Japan from the Aston Martin dealership network with deliveries expected in the first quarter of 2012.

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Aston Martin Says it Can't Satisfy Demand for $49K Cygnet

Aston Martin’s chairman Ulrich Bez has admitted that sales of the subcompact Cygnet are “not as high as we hoped”. He claimed though that the reason is not the lack of customers, but of supply.

“I’m not satisfied with sales of the Cygnet” Bez told British magazine, Autocar. “We can’t deliver as many as customers want, as we don’t have enough stock. It is the sort of product a customer wants and decides they want on the spot –they don’t want to wait for their car to be built, but to drive it away there and then,” he added.

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IAA 2011: Aston Martin One-77 Shows up in Frankfurt with a Different Hue Right Next to the Cygnet

It’s been more than two years since we first laid eyes on Aston Martin's stunning One-77 supercar, but we're still enamored with its striking looks. At this year's edition of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, the British automaker brought along an example of the One-77 finished in funky brown color. Read more »

Aston Martin Displays V12 Zagato Specials in Frankfurt

Making their first appearance at a mainstream event in Frankfurt, are two Aston Martin V12 Zagato showcars, which we first laid eyes on at the Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza in Italy back in May.

The British firm has already confirmed the limited production of the Zagato-penned model, which will go on sale in the summer of 2012. Only 150 cars will be built, each carrying a base price of £330,000 or approximately US$520,000, and that does not include local taxes…

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IAA 2011: Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition Specials

Aston Martin is heading to the Frankfurt Motor Show with two new Carbon Edition DBS sports cars that build on the 2009 special edition of the same name and model series.

The latest DBS Carbon Edition will be offered in two new hues including Flame Orange and Ceramic Grey together with the existing Carbon Black.

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Britons Vote Ford Mustang as the World’s Manliest Car

Bluebeards Revenge is a UK brand of shaving cream and post-shave balm scientifically proven by Science™ [sic…] to reduce beard growth- or so it says on their webpage. The brand recently conducted an email poll of 1,835 Britons, asking them to rate the world’s “manliest” and “least manly” cars.

The results are in, and –drumbeat please- the winner is the Ford Mustang that was found to be the “manliest car on the planet” with a net total of 21% of the vote.

Runners up were the Aston Martin DB7 (15%), Range Rover (13%), Dodge Viper (11%) and Hummer H1 (10%). On the opposite end of the spectrum – the world’s “least manly” cars – were the Volkswagen Beetle (31%), Mazda Miata / MX-5 (20%), Ford Ka (11%), Toyota Prius (9%) and Nissan Cube (8%).

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Aston Martin to Show Production V12 Zagato at Frankfurt Show

Five decades after the launch of the legendary DB4GT Zagato, Aston Martin and Zagato collaborated to create a 21st century reincarnation of this automotive icon. The result was the new V12 Zagato, which will be displayed in road going form the Frankfurt Motor Show from September 13. Read more »

Ford Mustang Exotica Hides an Aston Martin Vanquish V12 Under its Hood [with Video]

We’re pretty sure that, during the time Aston Martin was under the ownership of Ford, the thought of stuffing an exotic V12 powerplant under the bonnet of a Mustang must have crossed the mind of a few company engineers.

And while we never saw something of the sort officially from Ford, an independent custom shop actually realized the idea with the 2005 Ford Mustang 'Vanquishd' show car that was presented at the 2006 SEMA aftermarket gathering.

Built by Western Motorsports, this one-of-a-kind Mustang gets a 6.0-liter V12 engine with 600 ponies from a 2001 Aston Martin Vanquish. Power is sent to the chunky rear wheels through a 6 speed manual Tremec T-56 transmission.

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Sir Stirling Moss Buys an Aston Martin Cygnet for his Wife

You would never think that an Aston Martin would need any sort of marketing push from a personality like Sir Stirling Moss, but to play around with our own words, up until recently, you would never think that Aston Martin would actually try to sell a hugely overpriced city car that’s a rebadged Toyota model…

In any case, the British racing legend is one of the first customers to receive the Aston Martin Cygnet, which he purchased as a birthday gift to his wife, Lady Moss. Appropriately, there was a photographer in hand to capture the gift-wrapped Cygnet.

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Aston Martin V12 Zagato Given Green Light for Production, Priced from £330,000 / $528,000

It’s official; Aston Martin has not only confirmed plans to build a strictly limited number of the new V12 Zagato show car, but it is also accepting orders with first deliveries expected from the second half of 2012.

Production of the British firm’s new supercar model, which is the collaborative work of Aston Martin and Italian design house Zagato, will be limited to 150 examples that will be hand assembled at Aston Martin’s global headquarters at Gaydon.

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Aston Martin to Bring the V12 Zagato to the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Only a few weeks after making its public debut at the Villa D’Este Concours and winning the design award for concept cars and prorotypes, Aston Martin’s new V12 Zagato raced at the Nurburgring 24-hour race. Now, the British automaker is bringing the stunning model, which was created by the two companies to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary DB4GT Zagato, to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Read more »

Aston Martin Rapide Auction Proceeds Given to Toyota to Aid Tsunami Victims

Last month we reported that Aston Martin’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, announced that he would auction off his company car, a fully-loaded 2009 “Concours Blue” Rapide, during this year’s annual Bonhams event at Newport Pagnell on June 21.

The buyer was furniture designer and Aston Martin enthusiast David Linley, who paid £100,000 ($160,000), which was handed over to Toyota which can better direct it to charities providing aid to victims of the recent earthquakes and Tsunami that devastated Japan.

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AMV12: Sabino Leerentveld’s V12-Engined Aston Martin Hypercar Concept

Take these three cars: the Jaguar XJ220, the Aston Martin DBR9 and ItalDesign’s BMW Nazca M12 Concept and amalgamate them into an Aston Martin Bulldog for the 21st century and there’s a good chance you’ll have Dutch designer Sabino Leerentveld’s AMV12 design study.

Taut, masculine lines blend seamlessly with Aston Martin’s signature styling to create something truly unique. Presumably fitted with a V12 engine, this front / mid-engined (I honestly can’t tell) design study proposes a model that would theoretically sit above the limited edition Aston Martin One-77.

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

The Cygnet is on its way to becoming a true Aston Martin, but not in the sense you might think. We are referring to its price tag with the release of a new limited run special called “Cygnet & colette” that will set buyers back a whopping €48,995, equal to £43,800 and US$70,550!

That’s £18,000 or US$29,000 more than the entry-level Cygnet. This kind of money can buy you a Porsche Boxster in the UK and you would still have more than £7,000 left for spending! And all this for a car that is essentially a re-trimmed Toyota iQ…

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Aston Martin Prepares Two V12 Zagato Concepts for 24h Nurburgring Battle

The world’s toughest 24-hour race at the Nurburgring circuit this weekend will see Aston Martin entering a bevy of sports cars led by not one but two specially prepared racing examples of the freshly revealed V12 Zagato Concept.

Based on the existing V12 Vantage chassis, the concept model was designed by Italian coachbuilder Zagato to celebrate its partnership with Aston Martin in the 50th anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato. The prototype received its public debut at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este in May this year, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes.

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Aston Martin Cuts Back Production of Rapide Due to Poor Sales

Seems like the recession isn’t hitting just common people, but is also affecting the market for $200,000-plus supercars. One such example is the Rapide, Aston Martin’s sports sedan, whose sales are falling way off initial expectations.

According to media reports, the British carmaker is cutting back production of the Rapide to 25 cars per week, which translates to 1,250 per year, or 750 less than initial estimates.

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Silverstone Organisers Ask: What is the Best British Sports Car of All Time?

The fifteen finalists in the Silverstone Classic’s, “Best British Sports Car of All Time” vote-in have been announced, and boy is there some choice picks. Before we get to that though, can I just point out a misnomer in using the, “of All Time” qualifier?

This assumes (prophetically?) that Britain will not be making any more sports cars in the future, whereas, “Best British Sports Car So Far” would be a far more accurate description. But enough with semantics: who are our lucky finalists? Read on….

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Mercedes-Benz’s Parent Company Nearing a Decision on the Fate of Maybach

It’s no secret that for quite some time now, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company Daimler has just about had it with Maybach and is looking to either shut down the über luxury car brand and call it a day or partner up with British sports carmaker Aston Martin on the development of a new model.

According to a report from Autoweek, the time has come for the German carmaker to make a final decision with the fate of Maybach to be decided by July 1. At a recent press event in Stuttgart, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told journalist that "there is a higher likelihood to come to a positive decision" for Maybach if the company can find a partner. Up until now, the only automaker that has showed interest in working with Daimler on Maybach is Aston Martin.

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