Preston Hollow’s $ 15.9 million real estate feels like a resort. Seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, tennis courts, swimming pools. The front entrance of the glass is very tall, the giraffe can fit perfectly, so you will not be surprised to see it around here.
On a cloudy Saturday in late January, Aston Martin chose this luxurious place as part of the new DBX 707 promotional tour. : James Bond drove one. Bent sports cars like DB5 Sean Connery were used to be used by Gold Finger villains, but DBX 707 is SUV. The model parked in a circular drive is a sparkling chocolate with a glossy 6 bar grill.
I’m here to test DBX 707, but this event is also a chance to test my lifestyle. Inside, the server is floating in the size of a silver dollar in a steak crostini and a small shrimp tostada tray. In the bar near the entrance, champagne bollinger is foaming (only after the test drive), and in the back room, Jimy Chu displays the heel and clutch of another color of sparkle and crocodile. In the kitchen, espresso machine women create perfect latte, and RJ YOAKUM (recently nominated for the Jamesbiard Awards) has thrown away the representative French onion consomme of the restaurant in a small bowl. Forget the car, I am on sale.
Memorial wealth meets asphalt
Dallas visits the only tour of Texas City Stonmartin on this tour. Previous stops were rug navigation and California’s Malibu (before the wildfire), followed by Fort Lord Dale. You do not need data analysts to estimate what these places are common. Many asphalt to show off noticeable wealth and their money. In New York City, social classes are telegraph in details such as shoes and coats. With a car conscious Dallas, you can develop evidence of a million dollar salary just above the staff you can see.
Such test -driven events are sometimes held in Dallas. Last May, I participated in one of Rolls -Royce in Dealers’ Swank Lemon Avenue. Invitors tend to be selected from client lists of sponsors of people who have purchased expensive vehicles in the past and lists of dealers. I met a couple in the Grapebine Collyville area where test drive invitations began to appear after purchasing Porsche 911.
Related: Take it, Highland Park: Honda girls cruise on the old steps of Rolls -Royce
More than 250 people test draws for three days at the Aston Martin event, but it is difficult to generalize them in 2 hours, but let’s try it anyway. Male: Most of the old, swelling black vests, smooth brown jackets, short groups and lightly gel. Women: All ages, Gucci and wealth with wealth with handbags in Versace.
I wanted to know how they could afford such luxury. I was worried that one of the reasons for “what would you do to make a living?” In the video series, it is a genius stroke to ask a flashy car about this simple question. I talked to a man who dealt with the finances of a car company and another man who worked in pharmaceuticals.
The man from South Lake was interested in the house. “Can you take a tour?” He asked Charles Gregory, a listed agent sitting on his armrests near the entrance.
“The house reminds the Palm Springs of the 60’s,” Gregory said, swimming the windows from the floor to the ceiling and molting toward the pool. He and his future buyer then disappeared in a 11,445 -square -footed maze.
Test drive
But about the car. Aston Martin is known as a “gentleman’s car.” It is a British person and sophisticated. Chef Gordon Ramsey drove one, like him, Aston Martin is known for its high performance, but is probably not the best performance. (It’s not Ferrari.) The SUV I slipped had a tanned leather interior. The DBX 707 boasts 697 horsepower and 663 pound -foot torque. I was more interested in Bauers and Wilkins aluminum speakers on the door of the passenger seat. They looked like chic cheese grated money.
The professional driver named Mark was my friend on the test drive. He slipped into the passenger seat and tried to drive a car while he was still in the park, so he had a poker face. The Aston Martin Console and the gear shift were confused, and it was found that gadgets were overloaded.
“I know this is 707,” he said. “But did Aston Martin think of it as 007?”
This was a joke and stupid, but Mark might have thought I was serious. “They have Q,” he said. There was a troublesome silence, and both agreed that Bond’s franchise was in the true pickles without Daniel Craig.
I was nervous that a professional driver was with me. I am an agile and confident driver, shooting a few months of road trips, but did it in a reliable Honda cord with all the gear head panaches of vanilla ice cream.
Aston Martin was a smooth ride, but when I merged with the toll, the engine stretched my throat. I knew that the car costs more than $ 250,000 to change the lane to change the lane.
“Would you like to drive in the paddle right now?” Mark asked.
“No,” I said.
The paddle shifter is a lever on both sides of the handle, enabling more controls that drivers is close to manual transmission. Many high -performance cars have them, but I have never seen them. After leaving the payway, I told the mark I wanted to try it. He seemed to be excited to show me.
The tricky part of the paddle shift is to pull the gas when pulling the lever and upshifting the gear. Note that you will propose braking when you shift. I needed several trials to make this correct. We were doing something straight, but when Mark tried to demo, the last speed limit that I remembered was 45. He took over the paddle when the car barrels and pressed the gas. “To the floor all the time,” he said. I was watching the digital display flipped from 40 to 45 to 50.
I don’t like fast speed. In other words, Aston Martin, a maximum speed of 193 mph, has been almost lost for me. I wanted to keep it on myself, but the Mark experiment revealed me. When the car reached 53, I actually shouted. “I can’t!” I told him.
He left his hand from the paddle as the car decelerated to 45. “It’s okay,” he said gently.
It was not speed that scared me. It was a sound. That engine! When I pushed my legs down, the RO sound was so fierce that we thought we might run into the clouds. But the powerful REV is a sales point for many people.
“When I’m cruising, I love listening to engine notes, do you know?” The mark says when we get in a street that returns to a temporary mansion. Ta. “But the good thing about this car is double.” He placed it in the ground touring mode, so the engine was whispering. After all, gentleman’s car may be aggressive and aggressive as long as it is polite and calm.
Returning to a $ 15.9 million mansion, a stunt driver named Jessica Hawkins was giving Q & A in Q & A. The tray carried the butter nut squash soup and smelled truffle oil. It was difficult to leave this place. However, the actual life has been invited. Outside, on the curb, my Ford Bronco was waiting for me.
