Aston Martin has revived the hallowed V12 Vantage name for a commemorative and highly exclusive range-topping edition of its two-seat sports coupé, promising substantially enhanced performance over the standard V8 car.
The British firm will build just 333 examples of the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage, all of which were sold prior to its unveiling for a starting price of £265,000 - £123,000 more than the previous range-topping Vantage F1 Edition.
It's the third and final V12-engined Vantage that Aston Martin will ever build.
It uses the same 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder engine as the Aston Martin DB11 and Aston Martin DBS but in a bespoke state of tune that endows it with 690bhp and 555lb ft – enough to send it from 0-60mph in just 3.4sec and on to a 200mph top speed.
"The engine is the heart of every Aston Martin, but never more so than in this," the company said.
The eight-speed automatic gearbox is carried over from the standard Vantage but recalibrated to give faster shift times and "driver interaction".
Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers said the V12 Vantage has been the firm's "hero car" in recent years and that this latest iteration is a fitting final outing for the name.
"Right from the moment the first V12 Vantage RS Concept was shown back in 2007, our customers and fans around the world fell in love with the idea of fitting our biggest engine into our smallest and most sporting model. The recipe has been refined over the years with great success, but the essence has remained the same", he said.
"Now it's time to bring this bloodline to a close, fittingly with the most spectacular example yet: the fastest, most powerful and most dynamically capable V12 Vantage ever."
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Goddam that looks AWESOME! 333 very lucky people. Martin 'The Maestro' Reichmann does it yet again!
Fantastic trolling of Marek Reichman. I wonder how much that riles him up getting his name wrong on purpose?
Nicely done.
I thought as an exercise I'd do a comparision with the best Aston Martin that Aston Martin doesn't make - the Ferrrari Roma.
0-60,
Aston V12 Vantage, 3.4s. Ferrari Roma 3.2.
Power,
Vantage 690bhp, Roma 612hp.
Torque,
Vantage 555lb ft, Roma 561lb ft.
Top Speed,
Vantage 200mph, Roma 199mph.
Kerb weight,
Vantage 1795kg, Roma 1472kg.
Price,
Vantage £265,000, Roma £170,984.
It would seem that for nearly £100k less you can get a lighter car, better looking car, and one which is quicker to 60mph (the only performance benchmark given). Which would you choose?
I care for Ferrari's new design language even less than I care for Aston's but yes the Roma is clearly the better car. It consistently wins group tests in its segment and most if not all reviews heap praise on it.
That said, with current crazy market, I don't know if any Roma is going to cost as "little" as £171K new.
The buyers must be kicking themselves they didn't see your handy little spreadsheet before they shelled out.
Overall, quite like the design: the aggressive bonnet and grille are a nice touch. That vulgar rear wing and awkward-looking minivan steering wheel that they continue to insist on using, not so much.