One of the first decisions that David Richards and his partners made after buying Aston Martin from Ford last year was to produce the four-door Rapide. The platform architecture of the DB9 was designed to be easily stretched in both length and width, making derivatives like the Rapide and the DBS a possibility without much fuss and expense. There was, however, one annoying little detail to address with the Rapide. Aston Martin’s UK manufacturing facilities are already running full-tilt building the DB9, DBS and V8 Vantage.. Aston had to find somewhere else to build the new car, and Magna Steyr stepped into the breach. Magna will set up a new manufacturing facility dedicated to Rapide production at its factory in Graz, Austria. The Aston Martin Rapide Plant will be patterned after the processes at the Gaydon plant in the UK where other Astons are built, and production of some 2,000 Rapides a year will begin late next year in Graz.

[Source: AutoBlog]

When we make the trek to Switzerland each year, there always seems to be one particular car that stands out. It’s generally something unexpected from an independent automaker far removed from the spotlight. This year, tucked away in a corner cubicle of the Geneva Motor Show’s basement, was the K.O. 7 Spider, a concept hailing from Japan that attempts to strike a balance between bespoke supercar and track-day terror.

There were actually two vehicles on display at the Ken Okuyama Design booth: the K.0. 8 coupe, an E.V. that’s decidedly less attractive and strictly a design exercise, and the K.O. 7, a production model that will be on sale sometime in 2008.

[Source: AutoBlog]

If you own a 2008 Ford F-Series truck, your Fun Friday is made less so by the news of a recall for your truck that involves its seats. Apparently, the front driver’s seat on these trucks fail to comply with federal rules for seat back strength, as a weld that connects a bracket and the seat back could crack. The report didn’t mention whether cracks have occurred during normal use of the seats or when they’re subjected to high loads such as in an accident, though it did say no accidents or injuries had been reported due to the weak welds.
Of the 100,000+ vehicles subject to recall, 87,000 of the trucks are in the United States, while the remaining 14,000 are in Canada, and all are either F-250 or F-550 Super Duty Models.

[Source: AutoBlog]

Gigantor. The 2008 Toyota Sequoia arrives humongously revised from the already beefy first-generation. The Timberland Mica (Metallic Green) example that Toyota lent us for a week definitely deserves whatever size-related superlatives you can dream up. It’s big, it’s powerful, it doesn’t sip fuel. There is a need and a market for this type of vehicle, however. If Sequoia buyers don’t actually utilize its considerable capabilities, that’s not Toyota’s fault. This year marks the migration of Toyota’s full size Sport Utility to the same mechanicals that underpin the new Tundra, ladling on capability to an already fairly competent and refined vehicle.

[Source: AutoBlog]

The Neiman Marcus catalog is always full of superfluous luxury goods like hover crafts or special edition Lexus models. The 2008 Spring Men’s catalog is no exception. Its special seasonal offering happens to be a half dozen and one venomous snakes. Even though they are endangered, they are not the kind featured on National Geographic. They are, in fact, seven special 2008 Hennessey Venom 700 NM Vipers. The tuned beasts boast 700 horsepower and 645 pound feet of torque, though despite the increased power output, their 0-60 times are even with the 678-hp 650R Hennessey Venom upgrade for the 2008 Dodge Viper. The discrepancy in performance most likely stems from a traction issue. The lack of grip shouldn’t be a problem for any buyer to handle, though, since a day of performance driving school at Lonestar Motorsports Park is included in the purchase price of $179,500. The shopping cart handle rear wing that’s tested to 200 mph should also provide rear traction aid via increased downforce. Of course, the price of carrying the initials NM in the title means that each car gets the full interior treatment, as well. Black and red leather trim adorns the inside, along with embroidered floormats for the footsies. There is even a matching set of luggage thrown in to sweeten the deal. Look for these beauties to be snatched up within minutes of their release at 9 AM EST on April 10th.

[Source: AutoBlog]