There has been a lot of good news from Aston Martin in recent weeks; we had confirmation of a new pared back, track-focused
V8 Vantage GT8
buying guide
for the DB9 live today and - of course - the recent confirmation of a new manual version of the
V12 Vantage S
This is a proper hairy-chested Aston Martin of the old school and it's heartening to see boss Andy Palmer deliver on the promise to offer a stickshift in as many of the firm's cars as possible. Indeed, he sees it as something of a point of pride that where others are deserting manual transmissions Aston Martin will be keeping it real. And it seems the market could well be behind him - from Porsche doing an about face and making its latest GT products manual only to the premiums commanded by rare manual versions of recent sports and supercars it seems the pendulum is swinging back. Yes, the car is fitted with a
rev matching system
- known as AMSHIFT - but the video at least demonstrates how you turn it on or off as required.
To keep our excitement brimming ahead of getting in the car here's a little promo vid Aston Martin has shot, demonstrating why a V12 Vantage S would be a very good thing indeed. Word on the inside has it the unnamed driver is in fact Matt Becker, poached not so long ago from Lotus and bringing his insight (and considerable driving skills) to the fore in his new role at Gaydon. We were fans of his work at Lotus; we're looking forward to seeing what he can do at Aston.