Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate unveiled
Vanquish special celebrates Super GT's swansong. Splendid.
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.
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
 |
 |
Aston would be better stripping things out and releasing a back to basics run out edition and ditch the chintz. As with Porsche, they would find they could charge even more for it....
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.
Aston would be better stripping things out and releasing a back to basics run out edition and ditch the chintz. As with Porsche, they would find they could charge even more for it....
Strip out the interior, out in carbon fibre non-adjustable seats (with no electric adjustment), lose the climate control, etc etc and that would be a better 'send off' to this magnificent beast.
Instead it looks like it's driven into a (very) upmarket Halfords or Ripspeed....
Note to self; keep these comments to me, I've just precluded myself from getting on the 'favoured customers' list at AM.........
Strip out the interior, out in carbon fibre non-adjustable seats (with no electric adjustment), lose the climate control, etc etc and that would be a better 'send off' to this magnificent beast.
Going through all of the above may save, what, 100Kg? So you go from having a 1850Kg luxury super-GT to a 1750Kg, hot (or cold), noisy and uncomfortable not-very-super-GT. It's not going to handle any better or be discernably faster, and would be the antithesis of what Aston's flagship model stands for.
The colour schemes are not particularly imaginative. Consensus on the Aston forum is that a 'standard' Vanq S spec'd to your desire would be a better (and potentially rarer) bet...
A stripe down the middle of the bonnet, a bit of lettering and new embroidery and the poor journo needs to make it seem like a big deal to stay in the brand's good graces. How about car manufacturers stop being lazy and make a special edition...well, special?
As this is expected to be the last of its kind from a British manufacturer (and Ferrari can't be far behind?), I would say this car is a worthy 'jumping off point' for an article on the great V12s of our age?
Or even just about this particular engine, which has been in everything from the DB7 Vantage in the hand-built Newport Pagnell era, to the original Vanquish to the bonkers (at the time) V12 Vantage to the latest Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake?
And the first person who says 'it's just two Mondeo V6s welded together' gets a virtual slap
As this is expected to be the last of its kind from a British manufacturer (and Ferrari can't be far behind?), I would say this car is a worthy 'jumping off point' for an article on the great V12s of our age?
Or even just about this particular engine, which has been in everything from the DB7 Vantage in the hand-built Newport Pagnell era, to the original Vanquish to the bonkers (at the time) V12 Vantage to the latest Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake?
And the first person who says 'it's just two Mondeo V6s welded together' gets a virtual slap
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff