Aston Martin unveils its new hero: The Vanquish

Aston Martin is today unveiling a stunning new luxury sports car – the Vanquish.

Sitting proudly at the pinnacle of the luxury British car maker’s sports car line-up, this breath-taking new super grand tourer represents the zenith of current Aston Martin design and engineering.  Vanquish points to an exciting and confident future for the historic brand.

Vanquish is a new Aston Martin featuring the next generation of the renowned VH architecture as well as a significantly upgraded 6.0-litre V12 engine that is considerably more potent than before.

The design represents the latest take on Aston Martin’s iconic visual language. Vanquish unquestionably sees the brand continue its enviable tradition of producing some of the most beautiful sports cars in the world. Styling cues such as the elegant new waist, elongated side strakes and LED rear light blades are derived from the One-77 supercar.

Unmistakably an Aston Martin, the design shows a clear and coherent lineage from its heritage while providing an equally clear pointer to the luxury car brand’s vibrant future. Closer inspection reveals details such as the stunning new Aero Duct on the rear boot lid. This elegantly devised passive engineering feature, which counteracts lift at the car’s rear when travelling at speed, is a triumph of both design and technical ability. 

Performance, presence, style and great British craftsmanship – the new Vanquish has all these traits in abundance.

Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez said: “Today’s Vanquish is the ultimate expression of Aston Martin design ethos, engineering innovation and technical ability. It offers luxurious, continent-crossing capability and pure driving excitement without compromise.

“Bearing the same name as the iconic original Vanquish that did so much to cement Aston Martin’s reputation as a maker of great GT cars in the modern era, I believe the car unveiled today once again puts this great British brand at the top of its class.

“The new Vanquish mixes beautiful design with impressive technology such as the superb new infotainment system. This is the latest incarnation of everything we know, informed and developed from One-77. It is the ultimate Super Grand Tourer – confident and assured – and is the newest representation of Power, Beauty and Soul.”

As happy on the streets of a bustling city as it is carving through the countryside or long distance motorway touring, the Vanquish offers a thoroughbred British luxury sports car that’s also suited to everyday use.

Powered by a significantly revised naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine mated to the proven Touchtronic 2 six-speed automatic gearbox, the new car offers suitably impressive performance figures. The V12’s power peak of 565 bhp (573 PS) makes it Aston Martin’s most potent production model yet, outmuscled only by the strictly limited edition £1.2m One-77 supercar.   

The raw statistics speak for themselves: 573 PS at 6,750 rpm, 620 Nm of torque at 5,500 rpm, 0-62 mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph place the Vanquish firmly into supercar territory. Yet the brand’s team of engineers have been working towards economy and emissions improvements, too.

The latest engineering methods, innovative technologies and typically understated classic British design come together to make the muscular new Vanquish a true super GT. For instance, each body panel on the car is constructed from carbon fibre because of its high strength-to-weight ratio and flexibility of form. Meanwhile torsional rigidity is improved by more than 25%.

Practical improvements such as a newly designed and significantly more spacious cabin and a boot that, at 368 litres, is more than 60% larger than that of the DBS, ensure the new Vanquish can carry sufficient luggage for even the most ambitious grand tourist.

Designed and hand-built at Aston Martin’s global headquarters at Gaydon in Warwickshire the new Vanquish, available as a 2+2 or 2+0, sits atop a broad line-up of world-class sports cars including the exquisite DB9, sporty V8 Vantage and luxurious four-door Rapide.  

Dr Bez said: “The Aston Martin range is stronger now than at any time in our 99-year history. The new Vanquish represents the perfect way to signal the beginning of our centenary celebrations next year.”

Priced from £189,995 RRP first deliveries of the new sports car are expected to begin in the UK and Continental Europe late in 2012.

Another masterpiece from Aston Martin: Project AM310 Concept

Project AM310 Concept

The Aston Martin DB9 starred in the two most recent Bond films is about to replace, the preview of the concept was unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, last week.

Though, more details of the model are not revealed, it looks like the car is finished on the similar lines inspired by the One-77 hypercar.  The powertrain is expected to have the same 6.0-liter V12 as the DB9, with more power.

Project AM310 is the third concept vehicle from Aston Martin, which is developed from the Gaydon-based manufacturer to be unveiled at Villa d’Este. Vehicles like One-77 in 2009 and the V12 Zagato in 2011 were also unveiled here.

Aston Martin will use Carbonfibre throughout the construction of the new model to increase the strength and firmness and to decrease the cars weight.

The production version of the project AM310 Concept will debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August, bringing together the 100th anniversary of the marquee Aston Martin.

Project AM310 Concept

Project AM310 Concept

Aston Martin Rapide roaring and zooming

Aston Martin is all set to produce and sell their last One-77

Aston Martin One-77, world’s one of the finest cars built for extreme lifestyle, power and usability beyond imagination is set to sell their last supercar.

Aston Martin first displayed the super car almost covered by a "Savile Row tailored skirt" at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, following which it was fully revealed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The One-77 is a limited supercar with a production of just 77 cars post which the mega factory would be shutdown.

Reports say the last One-77 is located in Florida, US. The One-77 is the rarest of car forms and is priced at $2 million.

The One-77 features a full carbon fibre monocoque chassis, a handcrafted aluminium body, and a naturally aspirated 7.3 litre V12 engine with 750 hp (560 kW).

Aston Martin claims that One-77 has the most powerful naturally aspirated production engine in the world.

Aston Martin Targets Growth in China

18 July, 2011, Gaydon – Aston Martin is pressing ahead with ambitious growth plans for the brand in China after debuting the new Virage and Vantage S in the region and announcing plans for up to four new dealer sites over the next 12 months.

After first joining the market in 2008, Aston Martin has appointed dealers in Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Shanghai with more to come. The market will spearhead the company’s future growth in Asia having already taken the position as the British marque’s fastest growing Asia market with sales in 2010 up 25% on the previous year.

Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez said: “Now is the right time for us to accelerate our growth in China. We have taken our time to gradually establish the building blocks to ensure long-term stability for the Aston Martin brand in the region and – encouraged by reaction from customers – it is right for us to grow our presence.

“Clearly, China offers the largest emerging luxury market in the world and offers substantial growth potential for us while allowing us to remain exclusive and fulfilling our strategy of becoming less dependent on classic established (western) markets.

“In conjunction with the investment in our dealership network we will develop a new dedicated organisation for China and establish a regional office in Shanghai.”

After taking a steady and progressive approach since first introducing the Aston Martin brand to the Chinese market in 2008, strong interest and enthusiasm from a rapidly emerging luxury sports car market will see the company embark on the next stage of its growth plans for the region in 2011. The company is now actively pursuing plans to open up to four more dedicated dealership sites across China to meet growing demand in the region.

Aston Martin’s Regional Director for Asia Pacific, Dr Matthew Bennett added: “In April we enjoyed a very successful Shanghai Auto Show where the new Virage, Vantage S and four-door Rapide made their Chinese debuts – as well as the flagship One-77 making its first appearance in the region. During the show we saw considerable interest in our cars and a great enthusiasm for the Aston Martin brand from the Chinese public which gives us great encouragement.

“In the strong and growing Chinese luxury market we look forward to providing an expanded, dedicated Aston Martin dealership network throughout the country to allow customers to enjoy the Aston Martin experience.”

Further new products are being brought to the Chinese market over the coming weeks with the introduction of the new Virage, Vantage S and the recently launched Rapide four-door sports car making their Chinese debuts.

Beautiful, dynamic and prestigious, the new Virage combines outright sports car performance with luxury, comfort and refinement. The front mid-mounted V12 engine’s torque delivery provides outstanding performance, coupled with the car’s inherent agility and perfect weight distribution delivering the ideal balance between outright sports car performance and trademark sporting luxury exemplified by modern Aston Martins.

The V8 Vantage S epitomises every attribute of the V8 Vantage and pushes the driver experience beyond what Aston Martin has offered before, characterised by a host of new driver-focussed features all designed to push the honed dynamics of the standard Vantage to a new benchmark level. Aston Martin’s own 4.7 litre V8 engine has been engineered to deliver peak power of 430 bhp (436 PS / 321 kW) at 7300 rpm and torque of 490 Nm (361 lb.ft) at 5000 rpm and is coupled with a new ground-up developed Sportshift™ II transmission specifically designed for the Vantage S with seven short ratio gears to deliver the most engaging and intense driver involvement.

Both the new Virage and the Vantage S are on sale in China now with first deliveries starting this summer.

Aston Martin now operates a global dealership network of 135 dealers in 42 countries. As part of the company’s ongoing expansion plans Aston Martin has recently entered into South America, India, Taiwan and Turkey whilst seeking continued growth in new markets as well as emerging markets including China and the Middle East.