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Aston Martin’s ambitious plan revealed

3 March, 2016

At the 2016 Geneva International Motor Show, being held over March 3–13, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer announced plans to refresh Aston Martin’s entire line-up, as well as sharing plans to add three new models to the range by 2020.

Aston Martin is looking to not just retain the heritage of ‘beautiful, powerful, handcrafted cars’, but also future-proof the brand in a changing motoring landscape. The new plan for Aston Martin is built on four product pillars: sports cars, a new crossover, saloons, and a growing range of specialist-series limited-volume vehicles.

The first of these changes is the DB11, which was released in early March in Geneva, with a barnstorming 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 putting out 539hp/620Nm. 

The next release will be Aston’s ‘sports crossover’, the DBX, which is to be built at a brand-new production facility in Wales.

We’re looking forward to the arrival of the DB11 in New Zealand, which will apparently be towards the end of 2016.

Motorman – The saga of the Temple Buell Maseratis

30 January, 2026

Swiss-born Hans Tanner and American Temple Buell were apparently among the many overseas visitors who arrived in New Zealand for the Ardmore Grand Prix and Lady Wigram trophy in January 1959. Unlike Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Ron Flockhart, Harry Schell and Carroll Shelby who lined up for the sixth New Zealand Grand Prix that year, Tanner and Buell were not racing drivers but they were key players in international motor sport.
Neither the rotund and cheery Buell nor the multi-faceted Tanner were keen on being photographed and the word ‘apparently’ is used in the absence of hard evidence that Buell actually arrived in this country 64 years ago.

Luxury by design

15 January, 2026

How do you define luxury? To some it is being blinded with all manner of technological wizardry, from massaging heated seats to being able to activate everything with your voice, be it the driver’s side window or the next track on Spotify. To others, the most exorbitant price tag will dictate how luxurious a car is.
For me, true automotive luxury comes from being transported in unparalleled comfort, refinement, and smoothness of power under complete control. Forget millions of technological toys; if one can be transported here and there without the sensation of moving at all, that is luxury — something that is perfectly encapsulated by the original Lexus LS400. It was the first truly global luxury car from Toyota, and one that made the big luxury brands take notice.