06 Audi A4 Center Cap on 2040-parts.com

Official: Aston Martin gets its hands on Mercedes AMG engines & Electronic Architecture

Aston Martin & AMG confirm they’re getting in bed together Back in December we reported that Aston Martin had new investment from Investindustrial and wondered if that would mean – thanks to an existing relationship between Investindustrial and AMG – if we’d see Aston Martin finally getting access to AMG’s engines and platforms. By May, things had moved on and it was clear that Aston Martin and AMG were in talks for Aston Martin to get access to their engines for the next generation of AML’s cars. Now those talks have borne fruit and AMG and AML have signed a letter of intent for Aston Martin to “access significant Mercedes-AMG GmbH and Mercedes-Benz Cars’ resources, allowing the development of bespoke V8 powertrains and the use of certain components of electric/electronic (e/e) architecture.” Interestingly, there’s no talk of V12 engines – which could mean Aston Martin are going to move from the current Ford V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish to a powerful V8 from AMG – and nor is there talk of sharing platforms.

VW Polo facelift (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 28 January 2014 10:00 Subtle facelift hides bigger changes underneath This is the new VW Polo to face-off the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa. The irony in this car arriving stems from the trouble that the German maker has faced in the US – where VW board members have blamed long model cycles with minor facelifts such as this – as the reason why sales fell and its North America boss stepped down late last year. At least the new Polo brings some welcome changes under that barely-changed sheetmetal.

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Special Edition hits Monterey

The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Special Edition is just another ‘Special Edition’ Veyron, this time for Pebble Beach. However special the Bugatti Veyron is, it’s hard to get excited when the press release drops in the inbox with the heading ‘Special Edition Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse debuts at The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering’. Because you just know it won’t be special.