Wednesday 1st November 2017

Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate unveiled

Vanquish special celebrates Super GT's swansong. Splendid.

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The Aston Martin Vanquish has been around in current guise since 2012, but remains one of the best looking cars on the market even today, and its relatively recent S upgrade has added to its appeal by further amplifying its sporting attributes.

Its classic lines and performance prowess haven't been enough to save it from falling prey to Aston's special edition saboteurs though. There was the monochrome Carbon Edition, the over the top Red Arrows Edition and now, to bid adieu to it all, the Ultimate edition.

With the Vanquish entering the final phase of its production life, the Vanquish S Ultimate sends it off in (questionable) style. Up front you'll find the same naturally-aspirated 6.0-litre V12 as in the regular Vanquish S, putting out the same 603hp. Underneath it's much of a muchness too with the same 8-speed automatic transmission, same 3-stage adaptive damping and same carbon ceramic brakes.

So what's different then? Well, for starters there's a choice of three new exterior colour schemes "thoughtfully crafted by the Aston Martin design team." The trio is comprised of Ultimate Black with Copper Bronze graphics around the front air intake, along the side sills and on the rear diffuser; Xenon Grey with contrasting Cobalt Blue graphics; and White Gold paint with Bronze decals. Each package comes with an interior design to compliment it, from Obsidian Black with Chestnut Tan accents, to Chestnut Tan with Obsidian Black accents - seriously - via Phantom Grey with yellow accents and blue stitching. All the exterior colours and interior palettes can be mixed and matched to offer customers "maximum choice" - lucky them.

A suite of unique trim pieces is available too. These include must have items such as carbon fibre side strakes featuring rose gold 'Ultimate' decals, carbon fibre treadplates and an 'Ultimate' sill plaque. Inside there's a special stitched quilting design on the seats, plus 'Ultimate' headrest embroidery.

The car you see here features the Ultimate Black paint with bronze graphics and black interior with chestnut stitching. Appropriately for the time of year, it gives off something of a Halloween-y vibe, although the interior is certainly more trick than treat.

Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, said of the car, "With the Ultimate Edition we have accentuated the Vanquish S's unique blend of tradition, technology and craftsmanship with a selection of three bold exterior paint schemes and hugely appealing interior packages." Creative indeed.

Should you be interested, prices start from £211,995 - £12,000 more than a standard Vanquish S - for the Coupe and £223,995 for the Volante, with production limited to a total of just 175 cars worldwide. Orders are being taken now, with first deliveries expected at the start of next year.

Inspired? Buy a Vanquish here

[sidesauce]

Bad colour choices or not, that car is still very, very sexy...

[sidesauce]

daveco said:

will AM rue the day they turned their back on their USP.

If the sales figures for the new cars are more than the old ones then no, they will not. At all.

daveco said:

Nothing new looks as good as this car.

An entirely subjective opinion. Personally, while I like the exterior, I think the interior was never the Vanquish's best point and the new models only highlight the way it has dated.

I also think the new DB11 Volante looks better than the Vanquish Volante.


Weirdly, the Vanquish seems to be a lot 'busier' in the side profile than the DB11, and not in a good way, IMO.

Edited by sidesauce on Wednesday 1st November 12:05