
BEN NEVIS, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon represent the three highest mountain peaks in Scotland, England and Wales, respectively.
To do all three in succession—and many hard-charging hikers attempt that challenge in 24 hours—requires lots of driving through the UK’s most glorious landscapes, meaning a fast, comfortable grand tourer is of the essence. What car might be best suited to this mission to the great outdoors? Step forward the Aston Martin DBX707.
Aston Martin is an ancient (in automotive terms) English brand; this car—its super SUV —is built in St Athan, Wales. The acres of sumptuous interior leather are furnished by Bridge of Weir, Scotland. What emerges, therefore, is a holy trinity of British craftsmanship.
Outwardly, the 2024 facelift of the DBX you see here looks little different to when the model first roared onto the scene in 2020. The main changes are on the inside. The previous interior simply wasn’t special enough, nor was it ergonomically brilliant. Now, the car has one that befits a £208,500 high-sided GT, complete with a much-improved infotainment system and a touchscreen. The other notable thing about the DBX is that it is now only available in DBX707 form. The customers have spoken: 542bhp wasn’t enough, so the 697bhp (or 707ps in new money, for Pferdestarke, German for ‘horse strength’) upgrade comes as standard. The 707 uses different turbos, with additional cooling to create that power. Only the less practical and even more expensive Ferrari Purosangue boasts more horses (18 more, to be precise) among petrol SUVs and the DBX’s chassis is so good that I think it could take plenty more.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 03, 2024 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 03, 2024 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول

A trip down memory lane
IN contemplating the imminent approach of a rather large and unwanted birthday, I keep reminding myself of the time when birthdays were exciting: those landmark moments of becoming a teenager or an adult, of being allowed to drive, to vote or to buy a drink in a pub.

The lord of masterly rock
Charles Dance, fresh from donning Michelangelo’s smock for the BBC, discusses the role, the value of mentoring and why the Sistine chapel is like playing King Lear

The good, the bad and the ugly
With a passion for arguing and a sharp tongue to match his extraordinary genius, Michelangelo was both the enfant prodige and the enfant 'terribile’ of the Renaissance, as Michael Hall reveals

Ha-ha, tricked you!
Giving the impression of an endless vista, with 18th-century-style grandeur and the ability to keep pesky livestock off the roses, a ha-ha is a hugely desirable feature in any landscape. Just don't fall off

Seafood, spinach and asparagus puff-pastry cloud
Cut one sheet of pastry into a 25cm–30cm (10in–12in) circle. Place it on a parchment- lined baking tray and prick all over with a fork. Cut the remaining sheets of pastry to the same size, then cut inner circles so you are left with rings of about 5cm (2½in) width and three circles.

Small, but mighty
To avoid the mass-market cruise-ship circuit means downsizing and going remote—which is exactly what these new small ships and off-the-beaten track itineraries have in common.

Sharp practice
Pruning roses in winter has become the norm, but why do we do it–and should we? Charles Quest-Ritson explains the reasoning underpinning this horticultural habit

Flour power
LONDON LIFE contributors and friends of the magazine reveal where to find the capital's best baked goods

Still rollin' along
John Niven cruises in the wake of Mark Twain up the great Mississippi river of the American South

The legacy Charles Cruft and Crufts
ACKNOWLEDGED as the ‘prince of showmen’ by the late-19th-century world of dog fanciers and, later, as ‘the Napoleon of dog shows’, Charles Cruft (1852–1938) had a phenomenal capacity for hard graft and, importantly, a mind for marketing—he understood consumer behaviour and he knew how to weaponise ‘the hype’.