Kings and princes aren’t generally in the business of driving themselves… well, anywhere. More often than not, such dignitaries can be found ensconced in the lap of luxury known to us mere mortals (or at least non Royals) as The Back Seat. Then again, it’s not every day that a prince finds himself a brand new princess to call his very own, as is the case with the newly crowned Duchess of Cambridge.

And so it’s refreshing to see Prince William drive himself and his bride around London following the Royal Wedding in front of a massive swarm of onlookers. The best part, though, is that the Royal Couple chose to drive away in a perfectly appropriate Aston Martin. Not just any Aston Martin – this Seychelles Blue DB6 MKII Volante actually belongs to William’s dad, Prince Charles, and was gifted to him by his mother (that’d be The Queen, naturally) in 1969 on Charles’ 21st birthday.

A few details worthy of note: This droptop DB6 has been converted to run on Royal Grapes. Well, sort of. Aston Martin retrofitted this car’s engine with a kit that allows it to run on alcohol fuel, which is created using grapes grown on a vineyard owned by the Royal Family. So it’s green… -ish: it can only manage about eight miles per gallon. Also, take a gander at the big L on the front of the car. That stands for Learner; apparently even for Royal Learners. Also, the rear plate is a special one: JU5T WED. Clever.

And finally, are you wondering what William and Kate actually choose to drive when nobody else is looking? William reportedly owns an Audi S4, and Kate drives an Audi A3 hatchback.

Check out our high-res image gallery of the Royal Lovebirds in the Aston Martin DB6 Volante below, and feel free to check out video of the event after the break.

[Images: Getty]

Continue reading Prince William borrows father’s vintage Aston Martin for Royal Wedding cruise [w/video]

Prince William borrows father’s vintage Aston Martin for Royal Wedding cruise [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With examples from the 250 series fetching earth-shattering prices, the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” is quickly becoming a classic favorite. The wedge-shaped GT from the late 60s and early 70s was a clear separation from the bulbous models that proceeded it, and is today regarded as one of the definitive classic Ferraris of all time. But even among the 1,400+ built, some are more special than others.

For starters, this particular example – which is going up for auction in May under the auspices of Historics at Brooklands – is one of only 158 right-hand-drive models. But chassis #16531 is set apart from the other 157 by its fate once arriving in the UK.

Its first owner was HRH Charles, Prince of Wales, who only drove it for about a week before selling it. A few owners of varied stature owned the car since, until it appeared on the BBC’s ever-popular car show Top Gear. You may recall the episode (twelfth in the fifth season) when James May set sail for Saint-Tropez from Portofino in a speedboat, while Richard Hammond took the coastal road in a Daytona? Well this is that very same car.

Resplendent in metallic blue, tan leather interior and Borrani wire wheels, this 365 GTB/4 has only 26,281 miles on the odometer, and was verified on the dyno shortly before the Top Gear filming to have lost none of the 352 horsepower with which it left the factory. It’s a beauty. Details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Historics at Brooklands]

Continue reading Ferrari Daytona of royal, Top Gear provenance up for auction at Brooklands

Ferrari Daytona of royal, Top Gear provenance up for auction at Brooklands originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Royal Enfield camp is abuzz with interesting news. The British Indian motorcycle manufacturer has just whipped the sheets off of two new models that are destined for U.S. shores starting this April.

The Classic Chrome is appropriately draped with enough shiny stuff to signal the space station on a clear day, and while we typically don’t go all gooey-kneed at the sight of copious brightwork, this bike is officially on our do-want list. The Classic Chrome looks to share more than a few bloodlines with the popular C5, though the eagle-eyed among you will likely note a kick start lever. The U.S. C5 is currently only available with an electric starter, though we’d expect that omission to soon be rectified.

Royal Enfield also showed off its new Bullet 500 – a bike that heralds to the Bullet 350 that’s been a staple of the Indian moto scene for half a century. Company CEO Venki Padmanabhan said that the future’s looking bright for larger displacement version of this bike soon. Royal Enfield just showed off a 600cc café racer concept at the India Auto Show, and there have been whispers that the manufacturer is also hard at work on a new parallel-twin engine displacing between 750 and 1000cc.

That’s right, parallel, not V-twin. Meteor, anyone?

Of course, for us, we’re equally as interested in the rumors surrounding a new adventure bike from the company powered by a multi-fuel adventure touring bike. Such an engine could swill down diesel, kerosene or gasoline as needed to get you where you’re going. Sounds like a perfect vehicle for the impending Zombie apocalypse, no? Thanks for the pics, Wes!

[Sources: Indian Cars Bikes, Royal Enfields, Visor Down]

Royal Enfield shows off two new Classic Chrome and Bullet for U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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