According to Autocar, the lucky few that have put a deposit down on the new Aston Martin DBS will have to wait an additional three-months to get behind the wheel of the body-kitted Bond car. The problem apparently stems from suppliers who aren't able to deliver Aston with the one-off parts necessary to complete the DBS.

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An engineer has crashed James Bond’s Aston Martin DBS into an Italian lake. Fraser Dunn, 29, was delivering the £134k Aston to the set of latest spy thriller Quantum of Solace when he lost control and plunged off a damp, twisty road into Lake Garda.

The DBS and its unconscious driver sank 150 feet to the bottom of the lake before Dunn stirred, kicked his way out and swam to the surface.

Speaking today from hospital Dunn said he felt “lucky to be alive”.

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Unconfirmed reports from well-placed sources in Germany suggest that Mercedes Benz is looking to buy a substantial stake in Aston Martin.

Rumours of a potential tie-up between the two premium marques originally emerged from Kuwait in February. Adham Charonoglu, of Aston’s Kuwaiti majority shareholder DAR, suggested that Aston and Mercedes could collaborate on a range of ventures, from engine supply to entirely new models.

It now seems that Mercedes-Benz is taking a much more serious interest. And there is a business link; the Kuwaiti Investment Authority hold a seven per cent stake in Daimler AG.

Such a move could also help to secure Aston’s long-term future. A small company like Aston needs to buy in major components from a major automotive brand like Mercedes to remain financially viable.

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We first saw the Aston Martin Vantage GT2 racing car in January when Aston Martin Racing released its first sketch. Today Aston Martin Racing released the first studio images of the Vantage GT2. The new car makes Aston Martin the only manufacturer to offer cars in every GT category including the GT1 – DBR9, GT3 – DBRS9, and the GT4 – Vantage N24.

Based on the V8 Vantage road car, the Vantage GT2 racing car runs on either standard race fuel or E85 bio-ethanol.

No other details have been released as of yet but more should come available when it debuts in the Le Mans Series at Barcelona on April 5th.

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The differences between a sports car and a GT car are subtle but undeniable. In the way it looks, the way it sounds, and the way it feels, a sports car telegraphs a message of outright performance. If you drive a car to its absolute limit down a challenging road and find yourself grinning from ear to ear, chances are you're in a sports car, something like a Lotus Elise or a Ferrari F430. A GT car's mission, on the other hand, is to provide effortless performance, driving pleasure, and comfort over long journeys driven at triple-digit speeds. During a drive from, say, London to the south of France, you should be able to remain relaxed yet inspired behind the wheel, while your passenger should feel pampered and at ease. Aston Martin does GT cars as well as any automaker. Its DB9 coupe features a powerful twelve-cylinder engine, a cosseting cabin, and gorgeous, understated styling. But now Aston has a new top-of-the-line model, the DBS. So, is it a GT, or is it a sports car?

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The Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS is the most 'extraordinary road car ever to display the Aston wings on its nose', according to 4Car's correspondent Andrew Frankel.

The monster six-litre V12 pumps out a mighty 600bhp and it's 130kg lighter than a V8 Vantage thanks to the inclusion of carbon fibre body panels and removal air-conditioning, airbags and sound deadening materials. In fact it weighs the same as a basic spec 1.8-litre diesel powered Ford Mondeo, but has the same power as the Aston Martin DBR9 racing car that won the GT category at the Le Mans 24-hours last year.

It is not only an ultra-high performance supercar, says Frankel, it's also a new breed of product for Aston Martin. It's a track- inspired, uncompromising driver's car that shares more conceptual ground with the most sporting Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis, he adds.

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Aston Martin teased us with a V12-powered concept version of its Vantage coupe late last year, which officials claimed was built only as a styling and engineering exercise to promote the opening of a new dedicated design center at the carmaker’s Gaydon headquarters. It appears Aston Martin had other motives for developing the Vantage RS, with latest reports claiming the car is headed for production.

Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show last week, Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez told reporters from AutoVision that a production version of the Vantage RS would arrive sometime next year. However, before that officials will launch the convertible version of the new 512hp (380kW) DBS.

The Vantage RS concept features the same 6.0L V12 engine as the DBS but is packed with a number of features from the DBR9 race car. This means that output is closer to 600hp (448kW), which is enough to see the car reach 100km/h from rest in just four seconds and reach a top speed beyond 300km/h.

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Austrian-based Magna Steyr just made waves at Geneva with its Mila Alpin Concept. It’s notorious for creating four-wheel-drive cars for BMW, Chrysler, Saab, and Mercedes-Benz.

Now, Magna Steyr uncovered its lucrative contract to build the Aston Martin Rapide. The company will dedicate a facility in Graz, Austria to assemble the four-door coupe. Production will begin in the last quarter of 2009, producing 2,000 units annually, according to Edmund’s Inside Line.

AM executives said they have decided to contract out the production of the Rapide because the automaker is near reaching capacity (8,000 units) at its Gaydon, England plant. They accredit that to the success of the DB9, Vantage, and the all-new DBS.

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Just a few weeks ago we learned of the brand tie-up between Aston Martin and Mercedes, expected to cover everything from engine sourcing to handbags. Now we have word that Aston Martin is prepping an updated V8 Vantage that hopes to be more well suited to take on the Porsche 911.

Performance is being boosted by increasing the V8 Vantage’s displacement from the standard 4.3L engine to a beefier 4.7L. The accompanying torque and power boost (as yet undisclosed) should give the Aston that little bit of oomph it was missing. The already well-sorted chassis should remain untouched.

The cabin will get some revision as well, including replacing the rather pathetic key-fob with something more substantial, reports Car. Ford’s rather tight-fisted influence has been released since the company gained its independence and the British marque is looking to finish out some of the details that were left rather rough under previous ownership. Other such details include improved switchgear.

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The guys over at CAR have learned that Aston Martin is working on a revised and more powerful V8 Vantage for release this summer. CAR says their spy, who is hanging out in Sweden, has seen new V8 Vantages going under winter testing, and says that they are registered with a bigger 4733cc V8.

Aston Martin is hoping to workout glitches that prevent the Vantage from taking on the sportier Porsche 911s and other cars in its class. Sources are saying that the interior will be improved with a series of detail changes including an upgrade to the Volvo swtichgear and the 90’s Ford flat-barrelled key that doesn’t mix well with the class cabin.

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Faulty economy or not, top-end luxury purchases are on the rise, and the new owners of Aston Martin are looking to capitalize on the trend. Plans are in place to increase Aston production from 7,000 units in 2007 up to 8,000 in 2008, but the top-luxury automaker's new owners want more. DAR (owns 50% of Aston) business development manager Adham Charanoglu has met recently with Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Daimler with regards to leveraging the Aston Martin brand with high end luxury products. While increasing merchandising revenue from $100m to up to $300m by whoring out the Aston name is nothing to sneeze at, we're mostly interested in the British automaker's conversations with Mercedes.

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Alright, so what's up at Aston Martin? After previous owners Ford unveiled the Rapide Concept two years ago in Detroit, the project was shelved. Now that the new owners have moved in to the Gaydon headquarters, the Rapide was gassed up, then taken out for a winter cruise not even a week later. We at WCF feel blessed to know that Aston Martin is serious about re-acquainting the public with the Rapide.

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Still finding it hard getting over the fact you’ve missed out on your chance to own the stunning DBS coupe? One of our favourite tuners, Mansory, may have the next best thing. The German outfit’s latest package for the DB9 coupe and droptop Volante looks every bit as gorgeous as the DBS but it won’t burn as big a hole in your pocket as the aforementioned super-coupe...

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Aston Martin, which already races its DBR9 in GT1 and GT2 categories in the Le Mans Series, and is to enter the V8 Vantage in GT2 and GT4 classes, is to power a Le Mans Prototype as well...

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Aston Martin’s CEO, Ulrich Bez, has said that the company’s current number one priority is developing the Rapide. In a recent interview with AutoCar, Bez said that Aston Martin is considering building the Rapide in Italy with a third-party manufacturer and that sports car specialist Pininfarina is one of the potential third party production experts on the table...

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