The Vanquish name is to return to the Aston Martin stable with deliveries of the 183 mph, £190,000 (US$299,000) sports car expected in late 2012. There's a lot of the limited edition £1.2m One-77 supercar in the recipe, with a 565 bhp 6.0-liter V12 driving through a Touchtronic six-speed automatic gearbox, and 0-100 km/h acceleration in 4.1 seconds.
The Vanquish is the latest evolution of Aston Martin’s visual language, with styling cues such as the new waist, elongated side strakes and LED rear light blades all derived from the One-77. It's not entirely unexpected, with a teaser video earlier this year indicating pretty closely what was in store. Project AM310 was shown in Italy at the Villa d'Este and has now emerged as the Vanquish.
The original Vanquish was unveiled at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show and was produced until 2004 replaced by the Vanquish S until production ceased in 2007. Its rise to household recognition came partially from being James Bond's car in the film "Die Another Day" with the DBS which replaced it following up as the 007 car in the remake of "Casino Royale."
The original James Bond car from Ian Fleming's books, and in the movie Goldfinger with Sean Connery, was of course, one of the most famous automobiles of all-time - the Aston Martin DB5 with the full complement of Q's gadgets, including machine guns, bullet-proof shield, revolving number plates, tracking device, removable roof panel, oil slick sprayer, nail spreader and smoke screen, all controlled from factory installed toggles and switches hidden in the center arm-rest.
The machines guns, revolving number plates and ejector-seat were the first of an array of spectacular gizmos Bond would use, but the car which achieved global prominence in the film in1964, was the Aston Martin DB5.
After remaining true to the books and using Aston Martin's in the initial films, Eon Productions, (Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli) decided to cash in on the iconic status of the 007-car and shopped the role of 007 car more as "product placement."
Hence 007 went on to drive everything from a series of vintage Bentleys culminating in a Mark II Continental in "Never Say Never Again" and a Mulsanne Turbo in "Role of Honour", an Audi A6 and 200 Quattro, Alfa Romeo 156, 159 and GTV6, BMW Z8, Range Rover Sport and Classic, Jeep Cherokee and Wagoneer, and AMC Matador coupe, Concord and Hornet.
The recent return to the role of Aston Martin has seemingly turned the clock back. Ask anyone in the world what car James Bond drives, and they'll say an Aston Martin.
The New Vanquish
The new Vanquish is very well detailed. One of the design highlights of the is the new Aero Duct on the rear boot lid - it counteracts lift at the car’s rear when traveling at speed, but the end-result is so gorgeous that it'll win a lot of hearts in the automotive enthusiast community for its aesthetics.
If you're thinking that a big V8 signifies old school, the Vanquish has carbon fiber body panels on the car is constructed from carbon fiber with its torsional rigidity up 25 percent.
Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez said of the new car: “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.
“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.”
Of course when you're shopping in this price range, you'll be considering the Ferrari F12Berlinetta, the McLaren MP4-12C , Bentley Mulsanne, Rolls-Royce Ghost, and you'll save if you settle for an AMG Mercedes-Benz SLS Coupe or CL65 Coupe.