ASTON MARTIN

 

Aston Martin Vanquish (2013 onwards)

Aston Martin perfects its brand formula for 2013 with the achingly beautiful new Vanquish sports car.   

 

First Impressions

Aston Martin wanted to do something special with the new Vanquish. It established the modern Aston look back in 2001 with the original Vanquish supercar. This 'new era' Vanquish sports car thus has to carry on the evolution, rather than freeze it in time.
It has. How? Well, instead of being made from aluminium, the body of this new Vanquish is actually made entirely of carbon fibre. This has enabled the firm to create a subtle new look for its range-topper, one not immediately apparent in the images but which is clear in the flesh.

It's beautiful. Truly beautiful.

Basically, the car has much crisper lines, tighter curves and far more form in its body lines. Designer Marek Reichman says it's the difference between the effect of sunlight on rolling hills and shear mountain ranges. It's what makes the Vanquish look almost surreal in the metal, an amazing showcase of curves, lines and angles that shimmer, bend and exhaust the light that falls on them.

It's beautiful. Truly beautiful. And only seeing it in real life fully reveals this, to Reichman's frustration. Yes, it looks like an Aston Martin, but why wouldn't it? It also looks like a modern Aston Martin, one immediately distinguishable from its DBS predecessor, and that's not something you can say about a Porsche 911...

The rest of it? Things are more familiar - two-seat cabin, front-mounted V12 engine, rear-mounted paddleshift automatic gearbox (there's no manual this time). Aston Martin has worked hard on perfecting it though, even lowering the engine to improve safety and handling. It's not a technical revolution, then, but it is still a new car. A better one, though?  

 

Price - £191,080
Available - Now
 

 

Interior

The interior at first fools you. Stepping in, you notice the familiar doorhandles, the archaic fly-off floor-mounted handbrake and the unchanged dials, and sense it's simply a facelifted version of the old one. There's more to it than that, though - there are fundamental improvements here.
There's much more legroom for one, as Aston has redesigned the chassis to make the footwells bigger. The view forwards is better too, thanks to a seemingly wider windscreen opening and the relocation of the door mirrors away from the A-pillar base.
It's the fit and finish that's really been richened though, particularly the new centre console. This has touchscreen controls, like a smartphone, and the flowing one-piece structure is much classier than before. The controls are still not quite there - why is the climate control temperature readout so tiny? - but the experience is way beyond anything the DBS could offer.

one of the most alluring Astons ever, period.

It's well equipped, with everything included for the list price, from pumping Bang & Olufsen stereo to Aston's latest sat nav system. You can even buy a 3G dongle and set it up as a mobile wi-fi hub. The choice comes in the much greater variety of materials on offer - Aston's upgraded its production systems to allow far more choice to create a bespoke model here, and has priced it to ensure people indulge.
It hasn't forgotten the usability, though. Not only is there more space, Aston has improved practicality too, with more cubbies to store stuff and greater overall ease of use. Even the boot's bigger: the carbon fibre structure has been shaped to make it 60% roomer than the old one, with a massive 368 litres on offer.