It’s been two years since Aston Martin launched the latest Vantage yet its styling remains as divisive as ever. The brand has responded to mixed reviews for the car's enormous front grille with a slightly more discreet version, but it’s taken a UK aftermarket firm to go the whole hog and transform the nose entirely. Revenant Automotive’s newly designed front-end replaces the car's single piece opening with two smaller grilles.
While it’s unquestionably taken some aggression away from Aston’s AMG V8-powered two-door, no doubt many will appreciate the more traditional look that's resulted. So much so that we reckon anyone lucky enough to have been living under a rock for the past two years would probably assume the Revenant design to be OEM, and Aston’s in-house one to be the aftermarket option.
Each nosecone is hand made in the UK using a variety of available lightweight composites, including optional autoclave-cured carbon fibre. Buyers can also request other materials (as such, pricing is on application only), but no matter what, Revenant claims that its new front bumper has no impact on the car’s cooling capabilities. Its lower grille design sits above the car’s factory-fit front splitter, so it ought to have negligible effects on aero, too.
This being the work of an Aston Martin customisation firm, the look can be altered with further details. Revenant’s online configurator provides, for example, buyers with the option to add ‘lipstick’ around the upper grille, mimicking the motorsport-inspired look of the previous Vantage AMR. Again, it’s arguably more traditional Aston than AM’s latest AMR model, which ought to satisfy longstanding brand fans left a little cold by the new image.
Aston didn’t sell as many Vantages as initially expected last year, and while the introduction of a manual gearbox and Roadster version will inevitably provide a boost to sales, perhaps Revenant’s aftermarket bumper will encourage a few more to buy one. Looks are, of course, at least as important as performance in this segment, and thankfully the Aston offers plenty of the latter as standard.
Revenant’s designed a new rear bumper for the Vantage as well, said to be similarly traditional in its look, but we’re yet to be shown it. From what we can see, though, we’re fans of the company's work. Are you? Let us know in the comments below.
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