With the 2016 Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirement of 37.8 mpg looming over the horizon, automakers are (and will continue) rolling out more fuel-efficient models. Naturally, they're informing consumers about those fresh fuel-misers wherever eyes and ears turn. While watching TV, listening to the radio, reading the paper, or surfing the Web, it's hard to escape the onslaught of today's "40-mpg" small cars.

Aston Martin doesn’t have to do much to dress up a space aside from bringing a car or three. Starting this month, Aston is doing just that to supply some particularly sexy furnishings for a series of luxury events across the nation, hosted by audio partner Bang & Olufsen. Specifically, it has supplied two examples of its most dapper DBS flagship yet, the new DBS Carbon Black special edition, to be put on display and used for demonstration.

Reviewers have long cut Aston Martin too much slack. They'd concentrate on the cars' hand-built nature and thoroughly British pedigree as if that excused lousy quality, extreme weight, disappointing performance, inhumane ergonomics, trucklike chassis and hideous expense. Then, using the hoariest cliché, they'd apply the rhetorical coup de grace by reminding readers that James Bond drove one and that that pretty much sealed the greatness deal.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Porsche must be feeling rather chuffed right now. Aston Martin, that eccentrically English marque, has just unleashed the V8 Vantage, a car that pays homage to the seminal 911. The engine is in the front, not the rear, but conceptually, this small, everyday sport coupe is a match for the Porsche.

The 2011 Aston Martin DBS is a unique machine. It's not quite a pure exotic, and it's not quite a pure luxury car. It's a hybrid of the two -- a luxotic, if you will. And, aside from a few quibbles, the DBS pulls it off.

You'd have to be a real Aston Martin aficionado to spot the differences between the DB9 coupe and the new Virage. Even Aston design chief Marek Reichman concedes the differences between the two cars are quite subtle.
In case you're wondering, the Virage gets crisp new front fenders, more muscular fascias front and rear, new sill extensions, and even new rear fenders -- DB9 units that are re-stamped in a secondary process to pump them out over the wider rear tires. Changes inside include new stitching on the leather seats and upgraded switchgear.

If you have to ask whether the new Aston Martin Virage is really worth roughly 30 grand more than the near identical-looking DB9, here's a tip: Don't ask Ulrich Bez. The mercurial German, who's headed Aston since 2000, has little time for those who don't appreciate the subtle nuances that define the individual models in the company's 14-car lineup, all of which, apart from the stubby Toyota iQ-based Cygnet, look remarkably similar. "Our cars look like Aston Martins," he says defiantly. "If you don't like the look, buy another car."

Nimrod Racing Automobiles was formed in 1981, a partnership between Robin Hamilton, who had already had experience with RHAM/1, and Victor Gauntlet, the then new Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda and also Pace Petroleum.

During 1974, Staffordshire Aston Martin dealer, Robin Hamilton, began competing a 1970 DBS V8 (#10038/RC) in AMOC club events.

That Aston Martin was, in the mid 60's, developing a new V8 engine, was a poorly kept secret. And the best way to test any new development is on the race track.