Sunday 6th August 2017

New Aston Martin Vantage pics

Not long to wait now...

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If the DB11 had a difficult task replacing the DB9, then Aston's job will be even tougher when replacing the Vantage with - you would guess - another Vantage. Back in 2005 it was the new sports car, a punchy little V8 to take on the Germans and really establish Aston in the 21st century. Through Roadster, V12, faster V8 and Zagato specials, the Vantage has been a hugely important car for Aston. It remains a lovely car in 2017 in fact though, as you can see, the replacement is imminent.

Probably going to sound alright, isn't it?

Despite the livery - rumours are it may use Pirelli tyres - this is our best look yet at the next car, which we'd guess will debut at the Frankfurt show. And even with the camo, a few themes are clear. There's a definite DB10 look to the front end, the slender headlights and new grille perhaps the biggest giveaways. The slats behind the wheelarches are a cue borrowed from the DB11, though it would appear that the Vantage carries its own set of styling characteristics. No doubt there will be some Vulcan cues somewhere too, though we'll be damned if we can see them yet.

Logic would dictate that the replacement for the V8 Vantage would use a V8 again - they don't call us investigative journalists for nothing - and, well, there's already a V8 in the DB11... Yes, if we were betting people, we'd put a tenner on the next V8 Vantage using the AMG 'hot-V' V8 in some form or another. Remember it's 476hp in the standard AMG GT and 510hp in the GT S, so that's where we'd expect the Aston to rank. What an engine to have access to as well! As for the gearbox, who knows? Aston Martin uses the eight-speed ZF auto with the DB11, and then Mercedes uses a wet-clutch auto, a dual-clutch and a conventional nine-speed auto in its installations of the engine.

While we can't see inside the car yet, some new interior architecture will be on the way too. Again, some Mercedes influence there wouldn't be a bad thing at all... To be honest, an Aston take on the AMG GT sounds exceptional, but surely Aston won't be allowed access to the whole toy box?

That and many other questions are still to be answered, but there shouldn't be long to wait now. What would you like to see in this very significant new model? The floor is yours!

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Very much looking forward to seeing this in the metal.

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Speedraser said:

Ford recognized that Aston Martins should have bespoke Aston platforms and bespoke Aston engines. They were right.

That was then, this is now and whilst you and a few other people might not want to buy this car because of 'AMG power', there will still be many (myself included) who as buyers simply don't care - this car will be a sales hit no matter your oft-stated opinion regarding the engine choice.

Aston obviously no longer have the backing of the deep pockets of Ford and therefore probably don't have the resources to make their own bespoke V8 engine in addition to their bespoke V12. You give the impression you'd prefer them to not make and sell the Vantage at all so what would you have them do instead given we know what limited options they have?

If you really must have an bespoke-engined Aston, there's always a DB11.