“Easy does it.” In a quiet room of Sardinia’s elegant Hotel Cala Di Volpe, we’re being cautioned by Aston Martin experts against overenthusiastic first contact between toe and throttle. Just a fraction too much pressure on the pedal of the poised panther that is the new Vanquish will apparently lurch you into next week. Sound advice, and utterly tantalizing.
To say that the new Aston Martin Vanquish has a lot to live up to would be a drastic understatement. The creation of the original V12 Vanquish — the production version of a 1998 super-GT concept car called, perhaps confusingly, Project Vantage — was a seminal moment for Aston Martin: a radical new platform composed of its first six-speed paddle shift, a body tub of extruded aluminum (now part of the brand’s signature), an orotund 460 bhp version of a brand new V12 shared only with DB7 Vantage, and all housed in a brawny, strikingly attractive Ian Callum design.
It captured hearts and minds instantly, and became something of an origin story for a bold new era of the marque.
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To successfully reimagine it for 2024 is not just to create a showstopper worthy of the brand’s historic nameplate, but to present a crowning glory for Aston Martin’s ultra-luxury, ultra-performance, next-era repositioning. Plus, it needs to be a decent challenger for Ferrari’s 12Cilindri and justify its punt on the market still having demand for these kinds of high-displacement, multi-cylinder combustion engines.
It’s a noble renaissance. In the spirit of Vanquish Mk1, everything is new, including chassis, wheelbase, powertrain and external architecture. From the heads to the block to the camshaft, each element of the 5.2-liter Twin Turbo V12 has been optimized for increased power and responsiveness.
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The result is remarkable — the most powerful series production car Aston Martin has ever built, with a top speed of 214 mph, 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, 835 hp (160 hp per liter, excelling even Valkyrie) and torque of 1,000 Nm. Opening up the throttle in Sport mode on Costa Smeralda’s generous, empty straights feels like riding a bazooka rocket, part of your flesh forming an atomic relationship with the leather of the seat behind you.
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Among Vanquish’s inventions is something Aston has coined the ‘Boost Reserve’ system. Essentially, it’s an overly keen turbocharger that inhales and compresses extra air and stores it in something of an antechamber, building up pressure in the background for when the throttle is released and re-depressed. It’s not something you feel when the turbos are spinning at maximum velocity, but more in transient driving.
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Feathering the pedal through Sardinia’s serpentine hill climbs is a smoother experience, with no lag in power delivery. There’s also an economy of space over compound or sequential turbos, which is crucial when Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s chief creative officer, is trying to craft a body of precise proportions.
“It’s the embodiment of a feeling,” Reichman tells me of the design. “The first Vanquish was a very powerful car. It dominated. It was muscular. And that’s what I want to portray.” And he does. The wheelbase is long at 2,885 millimeters, with an especially protracted A-pillar to front axle, giving it a mighty, planted stance.
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It’s got those same brawny haunches as the Vanquish predecessors, only bigger, with the rear track width up 25 millimeters on the outgoing DBS. For added fury, Vanquish has an even more enormous front grille; Formula 1-inspired, arrow-shaped vents in the sculpted bonnet; and an acute flick on the spoiler, emphasizing the hard stop of the Kamm tail.
It looks vicious, in the best way. And if Reichman wants any further proof of concept, he can collect all the jaws dropping on the pavements of Olbia as our cavalcade rolls past. For all that it’s a machine built for power and dominion, Aston’s new place in the market relies on something more.
As well as frightening Fiat Pandas on the overtake, Vanquish’s status as a super-GT hinges on its ability to cosset you through the long haul, too. It’s a car that’s got to feel as tender as it does terrifying. Gilt-edge luxury in the interior now comes as standard in next-gen models, with superior leathers, a signature balance of hard keys and tactile buttons on the center console — this has been lowered in Vanquish to push out the diaphragm of the cabin — state-of-the-art (and sizeable) infotainment systems, and the Bowers & Wilkins stereo.
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The drive comfort has been keyed up as well, with increased underbody bracing and Bilstein DTX Dampers affording both stability and suppleness, plus an all-new corner braking provision in the ABS, allowing a fluid economy of brake pedaling in hours of gentle twists.
As was the intention, Aston Martin’s 2024 Vanquish isn’t the revival of a legend; it’s the reincarnation. It presents another turning point for the brand, into an era where supercars have to demonstrate so much more than speed. Vanquish isn’t just a beast, but a world to inhabit and an expression of power, luxury and identity.
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This article appears in the 27 Nov 2024 issue of the New Statesman, Winter 2024/25
