Aston Vantage V600 | Showpiece of the Week
Just one of seven twelve-cylinder V600 coupes is up for sale in a daring specification...
Remember when Aston Martin used to mate V12s to manual gearboxes? We had it so good. Think back to the twelve-cylinder DB7, a car that superseded the supercharged straight-six 7 in 1999 and provided 420hp and a 5.0 second 0-60mph time to a graceful GT car. It was a quintessentially British recipe that helped save Aston Martin, both financially and in terms of its reputation. Then the muscular Vanquish followed in 2000 using the same 5.9-litre engine - although that car’s ingredients didn’t so easily win our affection.
There was one major problem: the Vanquish was sold exclusively with a six-speed robotised manual. Like the E60 BMW M5 that came later, some argued that the new transmission changed quicker than a human. But even if that were true, the fact of the matter is that a manual gearbox upshift only feels sluggish if you’re not the one pressing the clutch and sliding through the gate. Aston Martin conceded that the robotised hardware wasn’t for everyone so offered a six-speed manual conversion – which cost, gulp, £23,000. Few Vanquish S owners opted for the change (oddly, more regular Vanquish owners did), meaning there are not many in this ultimate 527hp manual V12 spec. Shame.
Realising that some people in the 21st century still liked to operate their Aston V12s with a gear lever, Aston gave us the DB9 manual in 2004. This time many argued that a GT of this breed should be effortless to drive and as such, 95 per cent of DB9s came with the auto. But a small number of heroes opted for the three pedal car and they received a gorgeous 456hp two-door that provided them with maximum control over a creamy V12. When the more sporting DBS arrived in 2007 with 517hp and a six-speed manual, Aston held a significant USP in the market.
It was, however, the birth of the VH-architecture V12 Vantage in 2009 that really set Aston Martin apart from the crowd. Here we had a sports car of seemingly perfect proportions that held that 5.9-litre tightly within its engine bay and coupled it to a six-speed manual. The recipe was tantalising enough to more than overcome the outright performance deficit to faster rivals; the balance and poise of this Gaydon-made coupe and, most importantly, the vocals it combined them with made it feel wonderfully old school. Is there a greater automotive soundtrack than a naturally-aspirated V12 as butch and burley as this singing towards 7,000rpm? Not when you combine it with a proper blip of heel and toe.
Every iteration of this V12 Vantage came with increased loin-stirring abilities; the 573hp V12 Vantage S and its seven-speed manual gearbox was automotive pornography in these parts. The dogleg ‘box made it feel like a vintage racing car and the sound heightened the drama a billion times more. We knew it was a car from a dying era of analogue atmospheric sports cars because Aston was left alone in flying the flag for this setup. Sure, Stuttgart was evidently aware of an undying desire for manuals, but Aston Martin was unique in its decision to stick these ‘boxes in series production cars. We were grateful then and we’re grateful now – even if today’s Vantage is a V8-only model, so even Gaydon has closed the manual V12 chapter for good.
At least it did so with the launch of 14 special edition versions of the final car, called the V12 Vantage V600 – in a nod to Aston’s V600 Le Mans special edition from 1999. Seven of the 2018 V600s were launched in coupe form and seven were convertibles, all powered by that unboosted twelve producing 600hp and wearing carbon fibre bodywork with wide arches, a bulging bonnet and one-piece front grille. Most importantly, that seven-speed manual gearbox lived beneath the transmission tunnel, creating what can easily be labelled as the ultimate Vantage. And while it was a shame that so few were made, perhaps we should just be happy Aston’s Q department made them in the first place – the initial plan was to produce only one for a single buyer.
This week’s Showpiece is a Vantage V600 that actually comes from the dealership to work with that original customer. It’s finished in Royal Indigo Blue, which looks purple in some lights, and has leather of the same shade in the cabin. There are centre-locking wheels, those big-bore quad-exit tailpipes and carbon fibre details to confirm this is no regular V12 Vantage. Prices for the original 14 cars were never announced but a very, very big increase on the discontinued V12 Vantage’s £138,000 was inevitable. Whatever the actual price, for someone with the budget, this would undoubtably be a hero buy you’re unlikely to lose money on. For the rest of us, perhaps one from the selection of regular V12 Vantages represents a more realistic route into this dream world of yesteryear.
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t. And here was me assuming it was Pistonheads usual compression of its photos making it look square! 
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