Ford Mustang Exotica Hides an Aston Martin Under its Hood

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.

Other modifications include a performance brake system, an upgraded suspension, 19-inch lightweight alloy wheels and more.

The Mustang 'Vanquishd' has since covered a mere 2,000 miles (apparently as a show piece) and is now up for sale in Canada at Kijiji with the asking price set at $79,000.

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Sir Stirling Moss Buys an Aston Martin Cygnet

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 carthat’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.

Sir Stirling Moss specified the car with an Aston Martin Racing Green hue on the outside while for the interior he chose an Obsidian Black leather treatment with a contrasting coarse silver stitch.

During the handover at the Royal Automobile Club last night, Sir Stirling Moss said: “My greatest partner in everything that I do, Susie is an amazing person and frankly the best wife a man could have. Since seeing a pre-production Cygnet in January I knew that it was the perfect car for Susie; a proper little piece of British luxury and perfect for our life in town.”

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Aston Martin V12 Zagato 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.

Prices, not including local taxes, start at £330,000 GBP, which comes to around US$528,000 or €369,000 at the current exchange rates.

The V12-powered supercar was created by Italian coachbuilder Zagato to celebrate its partnership with Aston Martin in the 50th anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato.

It made its first public outing at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este in May, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes, and then went on to successfully complete the grueling 39th Nürburgring 24 Hour race.

Based on the existing Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the Zagato model features a bespoke, handcrafted aluminium and carbon fibre body with power provided by the British firm’s 6.0-litre V12 engine producing 517-horses and 570 Nm (420 lb ft) of torque.

“The V12 Zagato is an elegant yet brutal design which reflects the great balance between race performance and pure Aston Martin style,” said Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Director of Design.

“The original DB4GT Zagato was a true icon, powerful and graceful; the new design is a true representation of the spirit of DB4GT Zagato. The muscular organic forms define the thoroughbred nature of the car’s racing credentials," he added.

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ASTON MARTIN V10

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

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.
Check out Leerentveld's AMV12 Concept as well as his older AMV10 study in the gallery below and tell us what you think in the comments area.

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

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

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

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

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2010 Aston Martin Rapide: Production Amidst Slow Sales

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

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

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

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

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