By Karl Peskett.
Since the demise of the original Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the company has been without a manual gearbox in its vehicles. Having undergone a bit of a renaissance period, the real news was the agreement with Mercedes-AMG, which allowed the British sports car manufacturer to use the German company’s powertrains.
The DB11 and Vantage received new V12 and V8 engines, which were both more powerful, more torquey and more fuel efficient than ever. And yes, they’re also faster. The only problem was there was only once choice of gearbox – an eight-speed automatic. But in just days from now, the company will be resurrecting the third pedal in its Vantage coupe, and that could just make it one of the best drivers cars around.
It’s being labelled an AMR (the R stands for “Racing”) vehicle, which probably means it will be a limited run version, and will thus attract a hefty premium. But for the lucky few who have the means to park one in their garage, those few extra dollars will likely be worth it.
Movie magic in the museum
Blade Runner, Black Panther, Batman, Transformers, Mad Max, Back to the Future – these aren’t just spectacular films that have dominated the sci-fi world, they also happen to contain some of the most memorable vehicles to hit the silver screen.
Along with Star Wars, Death Race 2000, Speed Racer and other movies, there are plenty of cars that have shaped not only what we have watched but popular culture as well.
If you happen to be travelling to the good ol’ US of A in the next few months, you’ll catch a glimpse of plenty of rolling props that are soon to be parked at the Peterson Museum. Normally this sort of stuff would be handled by the Comic-Con Museum, but the two have collaborated to create the “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy”, which opens on May 4th. As in Star Wars day – “May the fourth be with you”.
According to the Petersen Museum, this will be the largest showing of sci-fi and fantasy vehicles anywhere in the world, and with over 40 vehicles from more than 20 different films, it’s something movie buffs will want to see.
Old is new again in Land Rover land
There’s something about the Land Rover Defender. Whether it’s the rivetted body, the short overhangs, or the no-nonsense suspension, its old-school charm is undeniable. Of course, there’s a new one on the way and it’s set to look nothing like Defenders of the past. Which is why there are companies scrambling to create their own version of a short-wheelbase tough truck with retro looks.
Witness the new Suzuki Jimny, or the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. There’s also a company called Ineos which is creating a new machine called the Grenadier, which is set to take over where the Defender left off.
But a Polish company is going one step further. It won’t just build you a competitor to the Defender, it will build you a real, proper Defender.
The company is called Land Serwis and it has one distinct advantage over its rivals – it built the actual Defender chassis for Land Rover. Because it has the bones, and the supply chain for all of the panels and other parts, it can create a Defender from scratch.
It can also add better suspension, a more powerful engine, winches and other options that you couldn’t order from Land Rover. In addition, the company says its chassis is now even stronger than the original and being hot-dip galvanised it should last longer, too.
The only drawback? The price. At around $110,000 plus options, it’s a fair bit more than any Defender ever was, and it certainly more expensive than the new Defender we should see later this year.
You’ll have to really love heritage stuff to fork out for this one.
