Up close with Aston Martin's Vulcan supercar and electric DBX concept

Only 24 Vulcans will ever be produced, underlining the vehicle's exclusivity and Aston Martin's ambition to set "a whole new standard in the ultra-high luxury supercar class." At the other end of the (narrow) luxury spectrum, Aston Martin is introducing the more understated DBX concept, an electric all-wheel drive GT model that's packed full of electronic gizmos. The wing mirrors aren't mirrors, but cameras, channeling video to small displays on the inside of each door. At the center of the steering wheel resides a touchscreen. There are two arrays of solar panels at the rear. And the leather seats look like works of minimalist art.

The DBX is Aston Martin's effort to appeal to a wider demographic. Women, younger people, and anyone else who might not have previously considered by an Aston Martin — the grand old marque wants to renew and expand its customer base, and it's doing it with a futuristic approach. The exterior of the car features milled aluminum elements and a special "micro-fine layer of chrome to deliver a level of reflectivity that cannot be obtained through normal paint finishes." Seeing it in person, all I could notice was the abundance of dust that gathered quickly and obviously atop the DBX's hood. Still, it has a luxuriously spacious interior, and it shows a 102-year-old institution of the car industry on a quest to embrace future technology.

Just to avoid any confusion with the pictures below: the Vulcan is the crazy seafoam-green beast with an airplane-sized wing on its back, and the DBX is the excessively shiny silvery number that follows.