Courtesy of Aston Martin

This month James Bond's carmaker of choice rolls out its first project since splitting from its parent company, Ford: an update of the hand-built V8 Vantage. While the exterior is unchanged (and for good reason), the inner workings of the car have been reimagined. A new center console is carved from die-cast zinc alloy, and a bigger, 420-hp engine takes it to 60 in just 4.7 seconds—and it does so with 13 percent more fuel efficiency. The Vantage's sticker price of $113,400 (a fraction of the cost of other Astons) places it squarely in Mercedes S-Class territory. Think of it as an extremely sophisticated gateway drug. Ian Daly

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage in action