Vanquish & Vanquish S - Aston Martin

True Power

The V12 Vanquish, the most recent addition to the ranks of Aston Martin heritage vehicles is a car beloved by modern day enthusiasts and also heritage collectors alike. The cars appearance in 'Die Another Day' ensured its place in James Bond history and has helped to make this an instantly recognisable model. Importantly, the Vanquish saw huge developments in engineering and design, many of which formed the basis for the development of the current Aston Marti model line-up.

Vanquish
Vanquish S

Vanquish

Developed from the 1998 Project Vantage concept car, the V12 Vanquish entered production in 2001. The Vanquish marked a large step in the company’s engineering featuring a bonded aluminium chassis combined with many pieces of traditional craftsmanship ushering in a new era for Aston Martin.

V12 Vanquish featured a body tub made from extruded aluminium and Carbon Fibre with extensive use of more Carbon Fibre and composite materials throughout the crash structure of the car. This extremely rigid and safe body-shell was then clothed in hand-finished, Superformed aluminium panels. Underneath the handmade bonnet sat a 460bhp version of the Aston Martin V12 engine, delivering its power via a 6-speed manual gearbox controlled by an electro-hydraulic paddle shift gear change.

In Detail

In 2002 the V12 Vanquish became the latest Aston Martin to be driven by James Bond. This special car was painted in Tungsten Silver and was fitted with a number of non-standard options including rockets, guns, ejector seat, and an invisible ‘cloaking device’ – all provided courtesy of ‘Q-branch’ of course.

Hand-built at the famous Newport Pagnell factory, just 1489 examples of the 460bhp Vanquish were constructed before being replaced by the more powerful V12 Vanquish S in 2005.

Specifications

Engine:: V12, 5935 cc, 460 bhp @ 6500 rpm
400 lbs-ft @ 5000 rpm
Transmission:: 6-speed manual gearbox with Auto Shift Manual/Select Shift Manual (ASM/SSM) electro-hydraulic control system.
Brakes:: Front and rear ventilated discs
Dimensions (LxWxH):: 4665 x 1923 x 1318 mm
Weight:: 1835 kg
Top Speed:: 190 mph
0 – 60 mph:: 5 sec

Vanquish S

Building on the sales success of the original Vanquish the Vanquish S featured an increase in engine power (up from 460bhp to 520bhp) and revised gear and back axle ratios. Top speed was quoted as being in excess of 200mph, making it one of the fastest Aston Martin road cars built at Newport Pagnell.

The exterior panels were still lovingly hand finished in the factory panel shop from ‘Superformed’ aluminium. Discreet changes to the ‘S’ included a bigger, revised grille, front splitter and a raised rear ‘spoiler’ built into the boot lid to keep the car stable at high speed.

Vanquish S in Detail

Inside the Vanquish S showed what could be achieved with beautiful hand stitched leather. The dashboard and many of the smaller interior pieces were now trimmed in hide adding to the bespoke feel of the already impressive 2+0 or 2+2 cabin. Very late cars adopted updated switchgear, an Aston Martin audio system and standard fit Satellite Navigation screen.

As the production life of the Vanquish drew close to the end a very special limited edition of 50 cars were built. The Vanquish Ultimate featured a unique metallic black paint finish and special trim and fittings.

Completion of the last ‘Ultimate’ in July 2007 not only marked the end of a successful career for the Vanquish but also over 50 years of Aston Martin car production at Newport Pagnell.

Specifications

Engine:: V12, 5935 cc, 520 bhp @ 7000 rpm
425 lbs-ft @ 5800 rpm
Transmission:: 6-speed manual gearbox with Auto Shift Manual/Select Shift Manual (ASM/SSM) electro-hydraulic control system.
Brakes:: Front and rear ventilated discs
Dimensions (LxWxH):: 4665 x 1923 x 1318 mm
Weight:: 1875 kg
Top Speed:: 200+ mph
0 – 60 mph:: 4.8 sec