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What goes around comes around, or so the saying goes. This is certainly true for Prodrive's front-man David Richards, who never seems to be lacking for opportunities. Having run racing programs for Subaru, Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche, MG, Alfa Romeo, Ford and Ferrari - to name just a few - Richard's Prodrive outfit was contracted by Honda to run its Formula One program, then running under the BAR banner. Honda then decided to operate the team in-house, and Richards moved towards fielding his own entry. As it turns out, neither plan panned out, and Richards is now considering leading a consortium of investors to acquire the Honda team anew.

Similar to the deal that saw Richards take the reins at Aston Martin, the veteran racing guru is talking with Investment Dar about financing the operation. Of course, Richards would assume his old role as team principal, especially given his newfound free time since Subaru canceled its partnership with Prodrive in the World Rally Championship.

[Source: Autosport.com | Image: Andreas Rentz/Getty]

It's been nearly three years since we first caught a glimpse of the Aston Martin Rapide at the Detroit Auto Show. During that time, Aston has expanded its lineup to include the DBS, a refreshed DB9 and a new V8 Vantage, each of which was strictly an evolution of an existing model. However, the Rapide will be the first all-new Aston in years, and judging by these recent spy shots, a production version is right around the bend.

Unlike earlier prototypes that lacked door handles and production-ready side glass, this newest mule actually allows occupants to get in all four doors and nixes the vented plexiglass panels. The character line that stretches from the fender vent into the rear doors is a new development that wasn't included in the concept, and we finally get a clear view of the upkick in the rear window, along with the bumper-integrated dual exhausts. Expect the Rapide to make its production debut sometime next year and hitting dealers in late 2009 or early 2010.

It's been a busy few years for Aston Martin. Back in May of 2007, the British sportscar company was sold by Ford to a consortium of investors, including Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar and its partner Adeem Investment Company. Ever since, the grapevine has swirled regarding the future of Mr. Bond's favorite automaker, with the rumormill hitting a fever-pitch as of late with whispers that up to 20% of Dar's stake is available for bidding.

Aston Martin's future product chips all seem to be on the table already, with thr new four-door Panamera-fighting Rapide, Lagonda uber-luxury sedan and One-77 supercar all waiting in the wings. Of course, all of that development work is expensive, and times are already tough. If an agreement is struck, Dar would be looking to either profit from selling a portion of Aston or for an instant infusion to its current stable of technology. We wonder if Mercedes-Benz, which has both cash and engineering expertise, may be involved in any potential deal.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

If you're a 2005-2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage owner, you may have wished you'd held out for the 2009 model which benefits from an extra 0.4-liters of displacement (up from 4.3- to 4.7-liters) and gains an extra 40 hp and 45 lb-ft of torque, along with some revised suspension tuning. The crew at Gaydon feels your pain and has begun offering a new performance package for the 4.3-liter model.

The kit includes a new induction system originally developed for the DBS that features a pair of toggling airbox valves that open at 5,500 rpm to bring more air into the engine. With the help of a revised ECU that optimizes ignition timing and recognizes higher octane fuels, output increases to 400 hp (20 extra ponies) and torque grows to 307 lb-ft.

The sports package developed for the 2009 model can also be retrofitted to the last generation Vantage and includes forged aluminum five-spoke wheels, upgraded springs and Bilstein dampers. Aston hasn't released pricing for the new performance pack, but we're sure it's less than trading in your old Vantage for the updated model.

Click above for gallery of shots from the book Driven Together

Driving an Aston Martin V8 Vantage over the Asian Highway to promote highway safety strikes us as, if not the least safe thing we can think of, certainly dubious. Yet the Project 30,000 car piloted by Britons Richard Meredith and Phil Colley made the trek safely, albeit with quite a few adventures along the way: a cattle stampede, border hassles in Turkmenistan, and a sandstorm in China. And that road you see in the picture above is apparently what they call a "detour" in certain parts of the world. Yeah. The book of the journey, Driven Together, will come out late next month. To whet your appetite, check out the gallery of photos below, or if you can't wait, head over to Mercury Books now and pre-order a copy at a discount.

It looks like Ford got rid of Aston Martin just in time. With sales falling just about everywhere, Aston was hardly immune, so the automaker has announced plans to cut up to 600 jobs in the near future. The company is currently working with its union to cut 300 jobs from both the permanent and temporary worker ranks. Aston Martin joins Bentley which is also making cuts in response to the now official recession that the economy has descended into. Prior to Ford selling off the brand, Aston was believed to have been the only profitable member of the former Premier Automotive Group. With German brands like BMW, Mercedes and Porsche all suffering as well, the big question now is how long will it until we hear about layoffs at Ferrari? Press release below the fold.

Our friends at CAR Magazine have obtained the first official image of the Aston Martin Rapide four-door-sedan; conveniently just days after the launch of the 2010 Porsche Panamera. Although the image is a photo-rendering by Aston Martin, it shows what the final production of the new Rapide will look like.

Couple of cosmetic changes have been made to put the Rapide into production, but nothing major. Power for the Aston Martin Rapide is expected to come from a 6.0L V12 engine that will make close to 500-hp with a maximum torque of 420 lb-ft. It will be mated to Aston's 6-speed ZF automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

We'll see the production Aston Martin Rapide early next year with production to begin in late 2009. Pricing is expected to be between £130,000-£150,000.

Source: CAR