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"Architect John Parkinson may take complete credit, or full blame for it all. For he was the Brit who built Los Angeles, an inspired Lancastrian launching L.A. into the 20th century by designing buildings that became monuments.   In 1928 Parkinson completed Los Angeles City Hall, the bas-relief centerpiece of every LAPD badge since 1940, including the one of fictional Sgt. Joe Friday. Union Station, a curious yet delightful m\u00E9lange of Mission Revival and something called Streamline Moderne, is another standout among Parkinson&amp;#039;s 70 career landmarks.   And the British kept coming. The Comics: Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope and Stan Laurel. The Actors: Cary Grant, David Niven, and career Cockney, Michael Caine.   William Mulholland, born in Belfast, brought water to a thirsting L.A. as head of the Los Angeles Department of Water &amp;amp;amp; Power. Hence Mulholland Drive. Griffith Griffith, a Welshman, donated 3000 acres of downtown-adjacent land to Los Angeles. A park and an observatory are his eponymous legacies.        2012 Aston Martin Virage    There are an estimated 450,000 Brits in Southern California, more than the population of Liverpool. And when it comes to peddling Bentleys and Jaguars, Land Rovers and Rolls-Royces, Aston Martins and Minis, there is no bigger U.S. market for British autos than Southern California.   Ergo, what could be more appropriate than a sentimental journey to British destinations in Southern California aboard a 2012 Aston Martin Virage, a beautifully balanced, and deucedly (as we Brits aver) gorgeous 2+2 bundle from Britain?   Introduced at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the front mid-mounted V-12 Virage brings all the Aston Martin DNA that has been a century in the making. One characteristic has been mildly raucous behavior developed to keep drivers ever-poised in their Pikolinos. Then theres the nasty sound of an Aston, a rude rasp that could only have been squeezed from a Vincent Bach trombone.   We (to borrow the Victorian prerogative) are constantly amused by Astons dedication to genuine oversights. Such as a sharp-edged cupholder that will nibble at a drivers right elbow. Aston plugs it with a removable leather cushion the size of a Hacky Sack and claims that this was a deliberate design feature. Right.        2012 Aston Martin Virage    Yet the riddle inside an enigma (Winston Churchill, 1939) of the Virage (from the French, meaning a curve) is its position in Astons three-car inventory of luxury coupes, all available as Volante (from the Italian, meaning flying, a large sheet of paper, or patrol car) convertibles. Aston says the Virage is something &amp;quot;luxurious and understated&amp;quot; positioned between the &amp;quot;enduringly elegant&amp;quot; DB9 and the &amp;quot;overtly sporting&amp;quot; DBS.   Thats overtly poetic, and elegantly put. In reality, all differences among the three motor cars are minuscule and beg the erudite question. Huh?   With the same 6.0-liter engine, identical torque, same ZF 6-speed box with auto/paddle shifting, VH bonded aluminium construction and carbon-fiber driveshaft, the cars are close enough to be triplets. Horsepower is 470 for the DB9, 490 for the Virage and 510 for the DBS and that 40-bhp differential wont get anyone to their first martini any sooner. Acceleration and top speed numbers for the trio (the Virage hits 186 mph) are only cats whiskers apart.        2012 Aston Martin Virage    Consider the triad of price points\u2014which for the bookend DBS and DB9 coupes round out to $275,000 and $191,000, respectively. The Virage in the middle costs $210,000. That&amp;#039;s a spread of more than $80,000 for essentially the same car with cosmetic differences that might only be noticed by Martha Stewart.   It has been suggested that Aston Martin developed the Virage to buy time while beavering away at its next generation. The company denies it. So does Stuart McIntosh, affable sales manager for Galpin Aston Martin in Van Nuys, California.   He knows that two years is the average purchase cycle for the typical Aston Martin buyer. It has been exactly two years between Geneva introductions of the DBS Volante and the Virage. &amp;quot;Now our customers have a new Aston Martin to buy,&amp;quot; he says.   Aston Martins may be considered things of enduring British beauty to be admired alongside Austin roses and Catherine Zeta Jones. The Virage extends that happy habit.        2012 Aston Martin Virage    So look for no startling changes, internally or externally, with this latest GT. Stage a lineup with the DB9, DBS and Virage shoulder to shoulder and you&amp;#039;ll win money from anyone who thinks they can pick one from t&amp;#039;other.   They all sit low and wide with fabulous haunches, a hallmark for GTs of this century. The Virage&amp;#039;s front end has undergone mild surgery with an aluminium grille pirated from Aston&amp;#039;s thoroughly limited-edition One-77 custom supercar. It also has LED strips for headlight surrounds and fender vents.   Inside, the Virage shows the same old magnificence. Everything is logical and to hand, the navigator is abacus simple, and the console and seating compartments flow as any comfy but supportive, six-figure interior should. Brushed aluminium accents and a crystal smart key convert the cabin into a twinkle.   And if you think that Nappa and Connolly leathers are the apogee of luxury linings, know that Aston Martin is now using Bridge of Weir hides for its Virage.        2012 Aston Martin Virage    Bridge of Weir is a commuter haven in the Scottish lowlands, known for trout fishing and a century-old company that exports ultra-exclusive upholstery leathers to 30 countries. Using its stuff just might represent a snootier piece of one-upmanship than owning an Aston Martin One-77.   We obviously did not resist doing some canyon cavorting in the Virage. Nothing tire-scorching, with our ultimate deterrent being a procession of 12 California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers on a training run. We focused on canyons less traveled, Malibu and Topanga.   Again, there is nothing revolutionary in what Aston Martin has done to keep the Virage low, level and secure at speeds from meander to mayhem. Steering is rack and pinion and speed sensitive. Suspension is independent double wishbones, front and rear, with adaptive dampers that now juggle 10 stiffness settings, five apiece for Sport and Normal modes.   Bottom line: The Virage rides softer than the DBS, and isn&amp;#039;t quite so prone to misbehaving. It accelerates forcefully, but being long removed from our last ride in a DB9 we cannot report any difference in muscle and punch.        2012 Aston Martin Virage Interior    As for oversteer, and with all those monitors ready to grab our right foot, the best we could do was to get the tail to flick out. Just a twitch. The correction was pretty much instantaneous.   Aston says the Virage will compete with Bentleys Continental GT, Ferrari&amp;#039;s 599 GTB Fiorano, Mercedes-Benz&amp;#039; SLS AMG and Maserati&amp;#039;s GranTurismo. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a17782/hail-britannia-2012-aston-martin-virage/>