"Are you boys lost?" asked a 40-something woman after pulling up
alongside us at a stoplight and rolling down the driver's window
of her silver Honda Sonata. It was a fair question, since my
23-year-old brother and I were driving a $302,000 Aston Martin
Vanquish (color: Volcano Red) through the rather neglected Frog
Hollow section of Hartford, Connecticut, on the eve of his
graduation from college.   We said that we were heading back to
the Trinity campus after dinner downtown. "Is that a Jag?" she
asked. My brother complimented her recognizing the car's style
nods to the U.K. and explained that it was actually produced by
a different British auto brand, Aston Martin. "Oh, Aston Martin!
Okay—be careful!"      In the weekend I spent with the Vanquish,
situations like the previous one presented themselves over and
over again.   Driving north on the West Side Highway in stop-
and-go traffic, the driver of an air conditioning service
company's blue van rolled down his window and popped his head
out to look down in