Billed by Aston Martin as the “ultimate GT car,” this bespoke version of the luxury coupe will be available worldwide, though only 100 vehicles will be built. The company has also announced that similar centenary editions of the V8 Vantage, DB9 and Rapide are in the offing. The main appeal of the Centenary Edition Vanquish is aesthetic. The interior is dominated by black leather with silver stitching previously only available in the One-77 hypercar, and there’s special silver embroidery of the Aston Martin wings in the head restraints. Going further with the motif, there’s also solid sterling silver sill plaques individually numbered with an Aston Martin hallmark. According to Aston Martin, the purchaser also gets a presentation box containing two glass keys with leather key pouches that match the interior leather, solid silver cuff links featuring the Aston Martin script, a solid silver Rollerball pen, a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones and a silver polishing cloth to buff up the badges and plaques. The company notes that some specification details will vary from market by market, but they’ll all enjoy a special Centenary Edition paint finish, which adds an average of 18 hours to the painting process that already takes more than 50 hours to complete. This bespoke process involves building up a graduated finish by adding special “tinters” to create the darker inner color and is applied by hand with a “special mini-jet spray gun.” Aston Martin Design Director Marek Reichman said that the paint job was almost like a makeup chart. “The team has looked closely at the individual contour lines of each of the cars to determine not only the right colors and shades, but also to create a template by which the paint changes from dark to light and where the graduated effect sits.” Even without the special paint job and the silver cuff links the Vanquish isn't anything to sneeze at. The body is of bonded aluminum, magnesium alloy and carbon fiber composites and the engine is a 48-valve 5.9 liter V12 with independent quad variable camshaft timing punching 565 bhp (421 kW) and 457 ft lb (620 Nm) of torque. It does 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.1 seconds, on the way to a maximum speed of 183 mph (295 km/h). There’s also a six-speed touchtronic 2 automatic gearbox, limited-slip differential, and electronically controlled rack and pinion power-assisted steering. The suspension is a lightweight aluminum front subframe with hollow castings and front independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers. In the rear, there are independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry. These are backed up by a three-stage adjustable adaptive damping system with normal, sport and track modes and ventilated carbon ceramic disc brakes front and rear with an anti-lock braking system. The Centenary Edition Vanquish is now available for orders. The price has not been mentioned, but when the company is handing out goodie bags with sterling silver accessories in them, it is definitely not going to be cheap. The video below is Aston Martin's introduction to the Centenary Edition Vanquish. var infolink_pid = 275031; var infolink_wsid = 0;

American tuning house Hennessey Performance Engineering is crowing after its own production car, the Hennessey Venom GT, set a new Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest accelerating production car. To claim the record, the vehicle completed two runs in opposite directions within one hour of each other that averaged out to a time of 13.63 seconds to go from 0-300 km/h (186.4 mph). The acceleration runs were piloted by John Kiewicz and conducted southeast of Houston, Texas, on an 8,000 foot-long runway at Ellington Airport on January 10, 2013. The first run, with the assistance of a 6 km/h (4 mph) tailwind, saw the supercar accelerate from 0-300 km/h in 13.18 seconds, while on the second run into a 10 km/h (6 mph) headwind the car took 14.08 seconds to reach the same speed. This averages out to 13.63 seconds, which was more than enough to claim the world record from the Koenigsegg Agera, which held the previous record of 14.53 seconds. Powered by a 7.0-liter (427 cubic inch) V8 producing 1,244 hp and 1,155 lb-ft of torque, the record-breaking two-seater, real-wheel-drive vehicle is street-legal and tips the scales at just 1,244 kg (2,743 lb) – or to put it another way, the vehicle boasts a power-to-weight ratio of one horsepower per kilogram of curb weight. The Venom GT also set a new unofficial acceleration record of 0-200 mph (322 km/h) in 14.51 seconds that bested the Koenigsegg Agera R’s record of 17.68 seconds by 3.17 seconds and shamed the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which takes 22.2 seconds to hit the 200 mph mark. However, this record remains unofficial because Guinness only recognizes runs made in km/h. With Hennessey only planning to build 29 Venom GTs, and one third of these having already been sold, such stomach churning acceleration will only be experienced by a select few who can also spare the car’s US$1.2 million asking price. Video of the Guinness World Record-setting runs can be seen below. var infolink_pid = 275031; var infolink_wsid = 0;

The most exciting exhibit at either Intermot or EICMA was the first showing of the KTM 1290 Superduke R prototype – a super-lightweight, trellis-framed naked bike powered by a 1290cc version of the proven RC8R V-twin, complete with drive-by-wire, lots of (disengageable) electronic rider assistance, lashings of carbon fiber, new prototype WP suspension at both ends and the promise of a production version within 12 months. The excitement is based not so much on what is known about the new prototype, but what the bike is based on. The RC8 R engine upon which the bike is developed, produces 129 kW (173 hp) of power and torque of 120 Nm (88.5 lb.ft) in its 1190cc form, with rumors suggesting the new bike will have somewhere between 180 and 200 horsepower by the time it hits showrooms. Whatsmore, thanks to the removal of everything that's not entirely necessary, the chrome molybdenum trellis frame and the carbon fiber everything else, this bike can be expected to be much lighter than the RC8 R which already tips the scales at 200 kg with a full tank and all lubricants. Hence the new 1290 Superduke R built with "ready to race" KTM ethos is undoubtedly going to be in the same category of power and weight as the best-of-breed Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, BMW S1000RR and Ducati Panigale 1199. Indeed, it just might be lighter than the Panigale with a better power to weight ratio than anything else, and it will come complete WITHOUT a praying-mantis-doing-yoga riding position. The last few weeks have seen a number of teaser images emanate from KTM, with even a recording of the bike's snarling engine having been released before we saw it in the flesh. KTM must feel that it is on a roll at present, having just won the inaugural Moto3 title and with its smaller sporty Duke's gaining traction around the developing world thanks to the relationship with India's Bajaj Auto, the third largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. var infolink_pid = 275031; var infolink_wsid = 0;