Tom LaPointe's Exotic Car Lifestyle Notebook: Aston Martin announces SUV

About Me

Location: Dunedin, Florida, United States

I currently publish iParent Magazine in the Tampa Bay area and work as a freelance writer for Affluent Page Index, in NYC. I grew up in Michigan near the Motor City and finished high school in Fernley NV. After attending the University of Nevada as a music major, I joined the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent. As a writer and editor, I won many publishing awards for photography, writing and editing. What led me to the auto industry is simply this: I love cars. I have raced stock cars and sports cars and competed in Land Rover off-road competitions in Vermont and Colorado. I have been a pit official for the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, and a pit crewman for Indy and a Hooters Pro Cup races. I've served as a manager of both sales and service for one the largest luxury car groups in the world. I'm still active as an off-road instructor for Land Rover and HUMMER dealers and owners. I enjoy crawling an off-road vehicle through the most severe obstacles as much as heel-toeing sports cars into hairpin turns! I am also a freelance writer for several automotive publications.

March 10, 2009

Aston Martin announces SUV

Traditionally an ultra-luxury sedan nameplate, Aston Martin's new Lagonda will be released as an exclusive SUV. The initial photos indicate a distinctive design that doesn't necessarily tie it to Aston design lineage, but it does have a love-it-or-hate-it appearance. If it actually makes it into production in unusual economic times (Aston touts markets in Russia and the Middle East as big targets), it will join the Spyker SUV (if it makes into production) as THE premier SUV to park at the country club or steeplechase.

Details are sparce, but Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, promises the vehicle will have substantial amounts of new technology and materials.