Aston Martin DB5 Reviews

The name is Higgins, Mark Higgins. And while you may have never have heard of him, you’ve very likely to have been stunned in amazement by his work.

Mount Isa is not a place you would go hunting for James Bond. His car? Now, that's a different story.

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A new model Aston Martin is being "torture tested" in Alice Springs, just weeks ahead of going on sale.

While Australian new-car sales may be heading for another record and most Top 10 brands are up, the latest figures show prestige marques are outpacing the rest of the market.

James Bond is set to lock horns with old foes the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (SPECTRE) in his 24th film, and his new DB10 is going along for the ride."Magnificent, isn't she?" says Ben Whishaw's Q as the purpose-built Aston Martin is first revealed to the British spook.It's hard to disagree, given we have been staring lovingly at the Bond special since our first look at the end of last year.We still don't know exactly what is sitting under the bonnet, but according to the Quartermaster, the DB10 will do the zero to 60mph (96.5km/h) sprint in 3.2 seconds. That puts it in the same performance ballpark as a Lamborghini Huracan, McLaren F1 and Koenigsseg CCX.This isn't the typical car one drives straight off the showroom floorThe figures are made more impressive by the fact Bond does away with any fancy dual-clutch paddle-shifting automatic transmission, instead opting for a more traditional manual gearbox.And in true 007 spirit it is clear this isn't the typical car one drives straight off the showroom floor (Casino Royale's Ford Mondeo excluded).While we have seen the DB10 in previous teasers for the new film, this new trailer does show Bond's car is capable of shooting slightly more flame out of the exhaust than you'd typically expect as he deals with a Jaguar C-X75 foe.Rest assured though, Q does hint there's "a few little tricks up her sleeve".Hopefully those tricks will keep the DB10 in better shape than Bond's last two cars. His DBS met a world-record setting end on a Montenegrin back road in Casino Royale, and the iconic Goldfinger DB5 came to grief thanks to the business end of a helicopter gunship in Skyfall.The Aston Martin DB10, and Daniel Craig's Bond, will be seen in full flight when Spectre hits Australian screens on November 6.

An all-electric Aston Martin with more than 1000 Newton-metres of torque and a 0-100km/h sprint time in the three-second range is the next target for the British brand.

They would have learned everything they need to know at the world's most successful new car show, the Goodwood Festival of Speed.Goodwood has been running for many years, but more recently it's morphed from a garden party at the stately home of the Earl of March into a genuine motor show which draws every major maker in the UK - and beyond.So what began as a chance for the owners of historic racing cars to exercise their old-timers is now a major event that draws more than 200,000 people each June on the same weekend as the Glastonbury music festival.Some fantastic retired racers still sprint up the Earl's driveway but it's the modern stuff which is drawing the big crowds and the big brands.Goodwood is an event and a destination, proving that cars are still more than just appliances for a lot of peopleMercedes-Benz uses the weekend to unveil its facelifted A45 AMG and new C63 S, Aston Martin rips the covers off its $2.5 million Vulcan and launches it up the hill, and Peugeot shows its 308 GTI for the first time. Mazda, which is the star brand at the show and has its Le Mans winning rotary 787B doing noisy demonstration runs, has its all-new MX-5 in action.There is also a moving motor show where ordinary fans can take a passenger ride and a supercar cavalcade including all of the world's most desirable cars, right up to the 400km/h Ferrari FXX K.And that's the real key to the Festival of Speed. The cars move and there is lots of interactivity for visitors, from off-road driving events to racing car simulators and even kiddie slides.Did I mention Ken 'Gymkhana' Block in the outrageous Ford Mustang that starred in his most-recent internet video hit?Old-school motor shows are just giant showrooms, but Goodwood is an event and a destination, proving that cars are still more than just appliances for a lot of people. If it can work in Britain then the same formula should be just as tasty in Australia.

The most aggressive product plan in the history of Aston Martin will reinvent the classic British brand by 2020.

It was here Jaguar unveiled its legendary E-Type in the early '60s and the top end of town has revelled in revealing outrageous — and outrageously priced — supercars since then.Apart from the mainstream luxury brands, there is a host of boutique car builders who like to rub shoulders with, and occasionally outdo, the elite.Only 24 Vulcans will be made and, as the saying goes, if you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it. You will need especially deep pockets given this is a race car, and spare parts won't exactly be "off the shelf". The entire body and chassis are handmade from lightweight carbon-fibre. And the U-shaped steering wheel looks like something from a fighter plane. The Vulcan is Aston Martin's latest track weapon, said to have a handy 600kW from its 7.0-litre V12. This is Aston's answer to a one-make racing series for the super-rich.The EXP-10 Speed 6 is a new two-seater sports car concept from the German-owned British brand. It will sell alongside the Bentley coupe and sedan that are already on sale and the SUV that is a few years away from showrooms. It signals a new, sportier design language aimed at younger buyers who may shun the brand as being a bit stuffy. In the same vein as Mini, Bentley's designers have been locked in to variations on a distinct theme for years. Now they've cut loose. The brand hasn't nominated what kind of engine will power the car.The 488 GTB is the first turbocharged mid-engined Ferrari since the epic F40 supercar (built from 1987-92 and producing 351kW/577Nm)) and is only the second turbo V8 in the company's modern era after last year's California T. As with almost every brand, Ferrari is moving to turbocharging because it can extract more power from smaller engines that burn less fuel. A sign of the times, the 488 GTB (reviving the 40-year-old badge from the 308 GTB) easily eclipses the F40's output with an impressive 492kW/760Nm pushing it from rest to 100km/h in 3.0 seconds.British F1 firm McLaren joins the long list of supercar a 750kW twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8. The show car is finished in the same colour scheme as McLaren's LeMans winner from 20 years ago. McLaren's one-make racing series for the well-heeled kicks off later this year.Lamborghini has extracted extra kilowatts and trimmed 50kg from the regular V12 Aventador to produce its limited edition lightweight model. The LP 750-4 Superveloce has 750hp (560kW), can reach the speed limit in just 2.8secs and will likely cost more than $800,000 when it arrives in Australia late this year. Lamborghini, unlike Ferrari, has no immediate plans to adopt turbo engines.Switzerland has the highest per capita Porsche ownership in the world, so it's only fitting the brand should release two new sports cars at the show. The Cayman GTS 4 is a manual-only, track-focused baby 911 that will sell in Australia for $190,300. It is powered by a 283kW flat-six engine capable of launching it to 100km/h in 4.4 seconds.The 911 GT3 RS ups the ante to 368kW for a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds.This wild, track-ready supercar has no connection to cricket's hallowed turf. SCG in this case is short for Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, a company founded by a former Hollywood film director and avid collector of Italian supercars. Glickenhaus, who worked on Wall St for a while, lives in New York but spends most of his time building road-registrable track cars in Turin, Italy. The all carbon-fibre supercar weighs only 1350kg and is powered by a Honda 3.5 litre V6. Glickenhaus says it can lap Germany's famed Nurburgring in 6 minutes 40 secs "for 24 hours straight". And it can be custom-built and delivered to your doorstep for about €2.3 million.The Danish supercar maker shot to fame after being monstered by Top Gear. Clarkson and co gave the maker a hard time after one of its cars broke down, caught fire and then clocked a lap time slower than a BMW M5. The maker cried foul, saying the time had been set in wet weather.Undeterred by the negative publicity, the maker has shown its mid-engined two-seater, powered by a 6.8-litre V8 that puts out 810kW and is capable of 0-100km/h in 2.6s.Spano, a low-volume supercar builder, started in Valencia 10 years ago. The latest incarnation has a twin-turbo 8.0-litre V10 (690kW/1220Nm) and the maker claims it will reach 100km/h in 2.9s on the way to 370km/h. The monocoque chassis is made from carbon-fibre, titanium and graphene — said to be the thinnest, lightest and strongest compound known to man. Just 99 will be built.