First Drive: 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S

RONDA, SPAIN—If you pick up on the clues, it’s obvious the CEO running the very British Aston Martin brand, Ulrich Bez, used to work at the very German brands BMW and Porsche, applying a very Teutonic (i.e. methodical) approach to the perennially money-losing British brand. First, upon the German-born Bez’s arrival at Aston Martin in […]

Top 10s: Most Anticipated Test Drives for 2011

By John LeBlanc Two-thousand-and-ten was a very good year for yours truly. Of my Most Anticipated Drives from last year, I got the chance to test-drive the first ever four-door Aston Martin (Rapide) and Mini (Countryman), evaluate new sports sedans from former staid makers Buick (Regal) and Volvo (S60), and really see if Honda could […]

First Drive: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage

[svgallery name=”2011_Aston_V12_Vantage”] More is more Adding four more cylinders only betters Vantage’s already capable road manners By John LeBlanc CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. – One look at the latest Aston Martin Vantage’s spec sheet, and one would have thought that that ‘ol Texan chicken farmer, Carroll Shelby, had a hand in its creation. By taking the […]

Top 10s: Worst Show Cars of 2010

By John LeBlanc This month’s North American International Auto Show — better known as the “Detroit auto show” — is the official kickoff of the 2011 car show season. Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, and get caught up in the latest and greatest concept and show cars that will debut not only in […]

Feature: Aston Martin Performance Driving Academy

Story by John LeBlanc/Photos by Aaron Kiley. ROMEO, Michigan – Exclusivity is part and parcel when you enter the realm of Aston Martin. Even in its best sales year ever, 2007, the British automaker only rolled out about 7,000 hand-made sports and grand touring coupés. To put that in perspective, Porsche sells about 1.2 million […]

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