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Ringbrothers Just Redefined What a British Muscle Car Could Be

Ringbrothers has always operated in that sweet spot between genius and mild lunacy—the place where creativity flourishes because nobody stops to ask whether something is sensible. The Wisconsin-based brothers, Jim and Mike Ring, built their reputation turning American muscle cars into carbon-fiber fever dreams that somehow still drive like cars rather than science projects. They started with an autobody shop. They stayed with an autobody shop. And then, almost accidentally, they became the most interesting restomod builders on the planet.

So when one half of the duo showed up at The Quail during Monterey Car Week standing next to a radically reimagined Aston Martin DBS, it felt less like a left turn and more like destiny finally catching up.

Meet “Octavia.” No, not a Škoda—though apparently the name caused a mild tightening of legal neckties somewhere in Europe. This is Ringbrothers’ vision of what Aston Martin’s early-1970s DBS might have been if it were raised on cheeseburgers, superchargers, and a steady diet of American V-8 thunder.

“We’ve combined the ferocity of American muscle with the stiff upper lip of English sophistication,” Mike Ring says, deadpan but clearly delighted. “Octavia is beyond anything we’ve built before.”

That’s not marketing fluff. This thing is unhinged in the most deliberate way.

Googling Their Way to James Bond

The origin story is peak Ringbrothers. A local client—described as “super cool,” which in Ring-speak usually means extremely patient and financially brave—asked a simple question: What do you guys want to build?

The answer, apparently, came from a Google search.

“We literally Googled ‘European muscle car,’” Mike admits. “A DBS was at the top, and we’re like, yeah dude, we want to do James Bond.”

Within a week, the owner bought a non-running 1971 DBS off Bring a Trailer. Ringbrothers had never seen one in person. That didn’t slow them down. If anything, it emboldened them.

“They’re so flat-sided,” Mike says. “Straight away we knew we had to put some booty on the back.”

Carbon Fiber, Not Rivets

“Some booty” turned into ten inches of added width. The finished car measures a staggering 82 inches wide at the rear and 78 inches up front—roughly modern supercar territory and not far off a Lamborghini Revuelto for sheer presence.

The difference is execution. This isn’t a bolt-on widebody with exposed fasteners and wishful thinking. Every panel was designed in CAD and formed entirely in carbon fiber. The proportions stay intact, the surfacing flows, and the car somehow looks more Aston than the original while being dramatically more aggressive.

“It still looks balanced,” Mike says—and annoyingly, he’s right.

From CAD screen to finished car took roughly two and a half years, with about a year of actual assembly once parts began arriving. The original DBS shell didn’t survive in any recognizable sense. Ringbrothers stripped it down, bonded the body together, and turned what remained into—yes—a martini bar.

“It’s a James Bond thing,” Mike shrugs. “We got to serve martinis.”

Forget the Straight-Six

Purists, look away now.

Octavia does not run an Aston engine. Not even close. Early conversations with Aston Martin didn’t go anywhere—Ringbrothers is refreshingly candid about that—so they pivoted to what they know best.

Enter Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V-8, topped with a 2.65-liter supercharger and good for 805 horsepower. It’s bolted to a six-speed manual gearbox and sends power exclusively to the rear wheels, because of course it does.

“The last thing we want to do is build something we can’t make run,” Mike says. “We’re not engineers.”

That statement becomes increasingly hilarious the longer you look at the rest of the car.

The drivetrain lives in a bespoke chassis with the wheelbase stretched by 76 millimeters. A full structural roll cage is integrated into the body. There’s independent rear suspension, C7 Corvette sway bars, Fox Racing dampers, and Brembo brakes. This is not a hot rod pretending to be a grand tourer—it’s a genuinely serious piece of hardware wearing a Savile Row suit.

Coke-Bottle Bond Villain Energy

The design work was led by Gary Ragle, with what Ringbrothers describes as “echoes” of William Towns’ original DBS shape buried in the final form. The goal was “Coke-bottle curvature,” and they nailed it. The car looks taut, muscular, and vaguely menacing, like a Bond villain’s personal transport after an intense off-screen gym montage.

Inside, the madness continues—tastefully. Carbon fiber, stainless steel, and leather dominate, with subtle (and not-so-subtle) nods to 007 lore. The standout? A dipstick handle shaped like a martini glass. Shaken, presumably, not stirred.

The Cost of Doing It Because You Want To

As for the price, Mike won’t give a number. Not because he’s being coy—but because he genuinely doesn’t seem to know.

“We’re trying to sell another one so we can spread the cost a bit,” he says. “It was quite expensive.”

That might be the understatement of the week. The raw stainless steel for the exhaust tips alone cost $1,000. A first quote for four pieces of glass came in at $92,000. That’s not a typo.

Still, Ringbrothers isn’t interested in efficiency, scalability, or anything else you’d find in a business-school case study.

“If I had to build the same car over and over, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Mike says. “I’d lose interest. If it was all about money, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”

Why Ringbrothers Matters

That’s the secret sauce. Ringbrothers doesn’t chase trends or algorithms or easy wins. They chase curiosity. Every project is an extension of their taste, their humor, and their willingness to learn by doing—sometimes publicly, sometimes expensively.

Mike doesn’t see himself as an artist. He sees himself as lucky. Lucky to work with his wife. Lucky that his son is now involved in the machining side. Lucky to keep building cars simply because he wants to.

“I don’t want to retire,” he says. “This is what I’d do if I was retired.”

Octavia isn’t just a spectacular Aston Martin restomod. It’s a manifesto—proof that the best automotive creations still come from people who care more about having fun than getting rich.

They’re not curing cancer, as Mike puts it. They’re just building ridiculously cool cars.

And honestly? The world needs more of that.

Source: TopGear

NEW CARS

Renault Filante: A Shooting Star Aimed Beyond Europe

Renault is dusting off one of its most evocative names—and aiming it well beyond its usual orbit. The French brand will soon reveal a new flagship crossover called Filante, a high-end, range-topping model designed not for Europe, but for the global markets where Renault believes the real money will be made over the next decade.

The name Filante, French for “shooting star,” is more than just poetic flair. It signals Renault’s intent to go big, bold, and premium as it retools its international lineup. When the covers come off next Tuesday, January 13, Filante will stand as the most exclusive vehicle in Renault’s global portfolio—and a clear statement that the brand wants a larger slice of the high-margin SUV pie outside its home turf.

A Global Flagship, Not a European One

If you’re reading this from London or Paris, don’t get your hopes up. Filante isn’t coming to the UK, and it’s not aimed at Europe at all. Instead, it’s a cornerstone of Renault’s “international game plan,” a strategy unveiled in 2023 by CEO Fabrice Cambolive that commits roughly £2.6 billion to launching eight new models outside Europe by 2027. The goal, as Renault bluntly put it, is to “position the brand in the segments creating most value.”

Translation: bigger cars, higher prices, and customers who still want roomy crossovers with a premium sheen.

Filante will be the fifth of those eight models—and the halo car of the bunch. Renault describes it as an E-segment vehicle, meaning it will sit above anything currently sold by the brand in Europe. Expect a footprint of roughly five meters in length, placing it firmly in the full-size crossover category, where presence matters almost as much as spec sheets.

Built in Busan, with Help from Geely

Production will take place at Renault’s plant in Busan, South Korea, initially for the local market before exports begin to other regions. Filante will share the production line—and much of its DNA—with the third-generation Renault Koleos, but don’t mistake this for a simple badge-and-trim exercise.

Under the skin, Filante is expected to ride on a Geely-developed platform and use a shared hybrid powertrain, reflecting Renault’s expanding strategic partnership with the Chinese automotive giant. It’s a pragmatic move: Geely’s architectures are modern, flexible, and already engineered for the kind of electrified drivetrains global regulations increasingly demand.

For Renault, it’s also a way to scale up quickly without reinventing the wheel—or the battery pack.

A Name with History (and Ambition)

The Filante name isn’t new, and Renault knows exactly what it’s doing by reviving it. Most recently, it was attached to a radical, aerodynamic concept car that reportedly covered 626 miles on a single charge at motorway speeds, using an 87-kWh battery borrowed from the Scenic E-Tech. That concept, in turn, drew inspiration from the original Renault Filante of 1956, a single-seat, record-chasing machine built with one purpose: efficiency through extreme design.

No one expects the production Filante crossover to look like a jet-powered teardrop, but the name carries connotations Renault is keen to exploit—speed, distance, and a sense of effortless motion.

According to Renault naming manager Sylvia dos Santos, Filante “instantly alludes to shooting stars, outer space and journeys,” adding that these themes “beautifully reflect our vehicle’s stately design.” That choice of words—stately—is telling. This won’t be a sporty hot rod; it’s a long-distance cruiser meant to project calm authority and premium confidence.

Renault, Aiming Higher

Filante represents a quiet but significant shift for Renault. In Europe, the brand has leaned into compact EVs, value-focused hybrids, and retro-inspired charm. Outside Europe, the gloves come off. Here, Renault wants size, luxury, and the kind of perceived prestige that allows for healthier margins.

Whether Filante can deliver on that ambition remains to be seen, but on paper, the ingredients are there: a large footprint, shared high-tech underpinnings, electrified power, and a name that carries both heritage and aspiration.

Renault isn’t just chasing shooting stars—it’s betting that, in the right markets, this one will land squarely on target.

Source: Renault

News

Red Bull’s RB17 Hypercar Locks In Its Final Form—and It Looks Like a Weapon

Red Bull has never been subtle. This is the company that turned energy drinks into a Formula One dynasty and then decided that wasn’t ambitious enough. Now it’s building a hypercar. Not a “road car with track capability” hypercar, mind you, but a full-blown, track-only projectile designed with one overriding objective: go very, very fast.

We first saw the RB17 back in July 2024, a tantalizing preview of Red Bull Advanced Technologies’ first crack at a customer car. Today, the covers come off the finalized design ahead of its on-sale debut later this year—and the production-spec RB17 looks even more focused, more aggressive, and somehow more unhinged than the prototype that preceded it.

If the original RB17 hinted at Formula One DNA, the finished version shouts it through a carbon-fiber megaphone.

The front end is cleaner than before, but don’t mistake restraint for friendliness. Slim LED headlights are neatly integrated into sharply sculpted bodywork, and every surface appears to exist solely to manage airflow. There’s no decorative fluff here, no “design for design’s sake.” The RB17’s nose looks like it was shaped in a wind tunnel because, well, it probably was.

Move along the side profile and things get even more serious. Deep channels slice through the carbon bodywork, guiding air rearward toward massive cooling zones. The roof-mounted intake feeds the mid-mounted engine directly, while a towering central fin—clearly inspired by endurance racing prototypes—anchors the whole thing visually and aerodynamically. It’s the kind of fin that suggests the RB17 would feel right at home blasting down the Mulsanne Straight at 3 a.m.

Despite being strictly a track car, the RB17 does check a few boxes typically reserved for road-going hypercars. It has mirrors. It has a windshield wiper. Those details may sound mundane, but they signal something important: this isn’t a rolling concept or a design exercise. What you’re looking at is very close to what customers will actually receive.

Open the cockpit, and any lingering doubt disappears.

Red Bull has gone all-in on race-car minimalism. There are no touchscreens, no glossy infotainment panels, and no distractions masquerading as luxury. Instead, the cockpit is dominated by physical controls—real buttons, real switches, the good stuff. The seating position, steering wheel, and sightlines were all designed with lap times as the primary metric, not comfort on a cross-country drive that will never happen.

And then there’s the engine. Oh yes, the engine.

At the heart of the RB17 sits a naturally aspirated 4.5-liter V-10 developed by Cosworth, an engine builder with a résumé that reads like a greatest-hits album of motorsport. This one revs to a spine-tingling 15,000 rpm and produces roughly 1,000 horsepower on its own. An electric motor adds another 200 hp, bringing total output to a deeply unnecessary—and deeply wonderful—1,200 horsepower.

Power is sent exclusively to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox, backed up by a hydraulically locking active limited-slip differential. Reverse gear? That’s handled by the hybrid system, because of course it is. Everything about this drivetrain screams purpose, efficiency, and total disregard for moderation.

Red Bull plans to build just 50 examples of the RB17, ensuring exclusivity is baked in from the start. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but let’s not kid ourselves—this is a well-over-seven-figure proposition aimed at collectors who already have garages full of rare machinery and still want something that feels truly special.

The RB17 is currently undergoing final testing, which suggests production is imminent. When it does arrive, it won’t be street legal, it won’t be practical, and it definitely won’t be subtle. But it will be fast in a way that feels almost rebellious in today’s era of downsized engines and digital everything.

Red Bull didn’t just build a hypercar. It built a statement—one that revs to 15,000 rpm and dares the rest of the automotive world to keep up.

Source: Red Bull Advanced Technologies via Top Gear

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