Aston Martin is bringing back the Vanquish, but it’s not as a mid-engined supercar promised by 2019’s Vanquish Vision concept. It’s a traditional grand tourer in the mould of the original 1999 coupe and these images show Aston’s R&D team racking up the miles on a development car garaged at its Nurburgring test base ahead of this summer’s launch. We snapped the DBS successor in Germany still dressed in its full disguise and doing its best not to give too much away about what’s hiding under the camouflage. But the swoopy GT lines, huge open grille, gigantic brakes and rear diffuser are there for all to see. And panels added to the hood cover what must be cooling vents for the monster engine hiding below.
The basic platform and body of the
Vanquish is shared with the new DB12, but contrary to what its name suggests,
the DB12 comes only with a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter Mercedes V8 that makes
671 hp and 800 Nm of torque. The Vanquish swaps
that for an Aston-designed V12 that we last saw in the now-departed DBS 770
Ultimate where it generated 760 hp and 900 Nm.
But the big motor has been comprehensively
overhauled for the Vanquish, Aston claiming it has “refined every stage of the
internal combustion process” and added a strengthened block and conrods,
redesigned cylinder heads, re-profiled camshafts, high-flow injectors and new
turbochargers. The upshot is a peak output of 824 hp and a
beefy 1,000 Nm of torque. You can see and hear the engine for
yourself in the brief teaser video Aston released earlier this month.
Although Aston is using the new V12 to
distinguish the Vanquish from the DB12, the Vanquish won’t get to keep it all
to itself. Aston says the motor will also power some of the brand’s “most
exclusive and limited availability models” suggesting the marque has more plans
for high-ticket cars like the Valour and DBR22.
