Aston Martin Vantage News

It’s a good week for open-air supercar fans. Just ahead of the major reveal of the McLaren 12C Spider in a day or so, come leaked official shots of the Aston Marton V12 Vantage Roadster. The images show revisions to the V12 Vantage Coupe, including new alloy wheels, a redesigned decklid spoiler and front air dam. It also gets more carbon fibre accents inside and out, and revised switchgear. The suspension has been tweaked with the aim of matching the dynamics of the Coupe, and the Roadster is powered by the same 6.0-litre V12 with a six-speed manual transmission sending 380kW of power and 570Nm of torque to the rear wheels. A leaked photo of a numbered doorsill plaque suggests Aston Martin will build only 101 of the V12 Vantage Roadster. No news yet on price, but the V12 Coupe sells here for $387,000, so the Roadster is likely to slip in at around the $420,000 mark.    

The Chevrolet Camaro might be built and sold in the USA, but it was designed, developed, tested and approved down under as a spin-off from the VE Commodore. It is named this week among the 31 finalists for the World COTY (see gallery above for full shortlist), and will be judged by a global panel of 60 motoring journalists before the winner is named at the New York Auto Show in April next year.The finalists carry badges from Audi to Toyota and are as diverse as the latest green-power Honda Insight and Toyota Prius to the super luxury Porsche Panamera."The list came from the manufacturers, who sent us their eligible cars for the year. There may be one or two more yet, because a couple of companies might have some extra models before the end of the year," says WCOTY co-chairman, Peter Lyon. "For example, there is the Mercedes SLS Gullwing. We don't know yet when it will go on sale."Apart from the World COTY contest, the same judging panel also decides the World Performance Car of the Year (see gallery), World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the year.So far there are 18 potential winners in the performance category, from the Aston Martin V12 Vantage to the Renault Clio 3 Renault Sport. Judging on all fronts now advances to the semi-finals, three cars in each case, which will be named at the Geneva Motor Show at the start of March. Then it is over to the judges to drive, assess and vote."This year we have 60 judges altogether. We've capped at that number, after adding a couple of new judges this year," says Lyon. "Originally we had about 44 judges. But 60 is the basic number of the North American, European and Japanese COTY awards and that seemed like the right number.""We've got judges now for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We've basically covered 25 or 26 countries, from Australia to Russia and everywhere between."Lyon says the basics of the award have not changed for the sixth judging and he makes no apologies for the list of contenders. "The German and Japanese cars are romping it in again. It's basically a reflection of the quality of car manufacturing today. The Japanese and Germans are making the best cars in the world, full stop," he says."But we think, of all the Car of the Year awards, this is the most natural. There is no pressure on any of the judges. They just vote for the best cars as they see them in their countries." 

Last week’s Pickles auction in Sydney sold a late-model Ferrari GTB with just 2293km on the clock for $355,000, plus the 33 per cent Luxury Car Tax component.The car was nabbed by Ateco Automotive Ltd, which distributes Ferrari in Australia and has since been onsold to an enthuasist.Ateco spokesman, Edward Rowe, says the GTB was now back in the Ferrari fold.“Ferrari guards its residual values jealously,” Rowe says.Although Rowe would not comment on the price paid, Carsguide believes it was well over $500,000 and just shy of its new car price of about $600,000.The Ferrari was one of several high-end cars that went through Pickles quarterly luxury and exotic auction.More than $4.5 million worth of vehicles went under the hammer.Other rich pickings included a 2006 Aston Martin Vantage sold for $162,000 and a 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo all-wheel-drive fetched $280,000. Even with the LCT component added into the price the cars were bargains.Some home-grown performance cars also sold.A 2007 Ford Performance Vehicles F6 Typhoon fetched $38,500, not bad when new it cost $63,310.Apart from Pickles, GraysOnline and ManheimFowles auction houses are reporting a lift in distressed prestige sales by finance companies and cash-strapped owners and the economic crisis bites.For the managing director of GraysOnline, Cameron Poolman, the downturn is proving a boon.He says the traffic on Grays’ site has increased more than 25 per cent since the economy took a dive.“We expect that it will continue to rise,” he says.“People are still looking to buy but they’ll try to get it at a reduced price.”Poolman says GraysOnline has helped take out the middle-man and dealers.The upside of increased interest in cars going through auction houses is that it is helping push used values up.Private owners and fleets are holding on to their cars for longer, leading to a shortage of used stock coming into the market.This is lifting used prices of some popular late model cars by up to $1500.

The GT4 was launched in Dubai this week by company head David Richards. The car replaces the Vantage N24 and though Aston isn't yet talking performance, its 4.7-litre V8 is claimed to be tuned for torque. Aston Martin Lagonda sales manager for Australia, Marcel Fabris, said though there were no firm orders at this stage for the GT4, he said there was interest on the back of the upcoming GT4 Australian championships. "The vehicle will only be built in left-hand drive guise so will not be road registrable in Australia," he said. "Pricing will start at GBP96,645.00 (about $215,000) plus local duties, taxes and freight. "The good news is that the vehicle won't be subject to the luxury car tax as it is purely a race car." The Vantage GT4 has been under development for six months and has been tested extensively at the Dubai Autodrome. The car is an evolution of the N24 with the larger-capacity engine — up to 4.7 from 4.3 litres — with the accent on it being more responsive and with increased torque over a wider rev range. It gets a free-flow exhaust system and air filters. The standard V8 dry-sump lubrication system is retained but the suspension has been retuned and included modified front uprights to give increase negative camber. It also has bigger front brake discs with revised cooling. The Vantage GT4 is available either with a manual or sportshift transmission. It is built to FIA GT4 regulations and is eligible to compete in events including the Australian Endurance Championship, FIA GT4 European Cup, British GT4 Championship and the American SCCA Championship. If you're keen, order now for a delivery in January.  

There was also the traditional cast of LA stars, including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tiger Woods and Molly Sims smiling in front of their sponsor's cars.Some of the car stars included the Giugiaro Mustang, Volkswagen Tiguan and Aston Martin V8 Vantage convertible that we featured last week.More show specials have since been unveiled, ranging from wild to wilder.One of the most eye-catching cars is the Hyundai Hellion, which could point to some of the company's future design themes.It is an aggressive three-door crossover hatch aimed at young American drivers. Its exterior skin is wrapped around a rib-cage system that forms the car's safety structure, and the wheel arches have been flared.The slit headlights flow back into the front wheel arches, and the flat tail-lights protrude from the rear windows.Hyundai designers have also made a feature of a turbo air scoop on the bonnet to emphasise the car's performance.A 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel sits under the bonnet, connected to a six-speed automatic transmission that feeds drive to all four wheels.The Hellion sits on 20-inch alloy wheels that are Teflon coated to repel mud, road grime and brake dust.Honda was not about to be upstaged and rolled out two very different concepts.The Remix is a sleek coupe that Honda says is just a design concept.If it was to eventually make it into production, the Remix could become a new-age CRX.Finished with polished aluminium, the low-slung two-door explores the possibility of a lightweight sportscar.Honda says the two-seater four-cylinder Remix has a wrap-around canopy that gives the interior a jet-like feel, but the rear hatch section provides a practical load space.The other Honda concept rolled out at Los Angeles indicates the Japanese carmaker is considering following the lead of Toyota and introducing a box-style small car aimed at young people.The Step Bus concept, which follows the cubic shape of Toyota's Scion XB, is described by Honda as the ultimate urban utility vehicle."The Step Bus seeks to create the largest possible interior with the smallest possible exterior," Honda US vice-president John Mendel says.Fitted with a small, mid-mounted engine, the Step Box is rear-drive and has seating for five people.

Aston Martin will launch the Vantage V8 Roadster at this week's Los Angeles Motor Show, but the chance of becoming an Aston owner has now peaked, according to the brand's sales manager for Melbourne and Sydney, Rod Cullen.Cullen says dealers were told at a worldwide conference that peak production of 7000 Aston Martin cars would be reached this year, and there were no plans to increase annual production beyond that.The Roadster is mechanically identical to the Coupe, with a 4.3-litre V8 producing 283kW and 410Nm. Its roof is canvas ratherthan folding steel and retracts in 18 seconds.Pricing has not been announced but should be about $260,000, a 10 per cent premium on the Coupe.Cullen says the cap on Aston Martin production should not affect Melbourne. The new showroom due to open next month at Eureka Tower at Southbank will be allocated 35-40 cars from Britain to cover the change in dealer.Though the vehicle will debut at the Melbourne Motor Show, Victoria's first Vantage Roadsters won't go on sale until July."Each year we're given a production schedule and that's finite. You can't order another if you want it. And our order bank is regularly out six to 12 months," Cullen says."The only variance from a Melbourne perspective is that we are being allocated sufficient stock next year to justify our investment in the new showroom. We'll be happy if five to 10 of those cars are Roadsters."The Vantage Coupe and Roadster will be available with a six-speed semi-automatic manual with an automated clutch, virtually identical to the Lamborghini Gallardo's E-Gear, from next year.