Aston Martin this year celebrates the creation of one of its most famous model designations, as the Vantage family of sports cars marks its 70th anniversary.
The name Vantage sits on more than a third of all the sports cars ever made by the luxury British brand. Spanning seven decades and covering some of the company’s most revered sports cars, the Vantage family forms a crucial part of the Aston Martin story.
“From the earliest days of the DB2 Vantage, through the iconic 60s cars: DB4, DB5 and DB6, into the muscular models that made Aston Martin a world-beater in the succeeding decades, then on through the brand’s game-changing ‘VH’ architecture cars and into today’s state-of-the-art Vantage sports car, this name has become synonymous with pace, power and more than a dash of style,” a statement said.
Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO Dr. Andy Palmer said: “Today’s Vantage and Vantage AMR sports cars represent the latest interpretation of what this single, yet incredibly evocative, word means to drivers around the world.
“As we celebrate 70 years of Vantage in 2020, it allows us to delight in our superb sports car heritage. Vantage has always stood for engineering ambition, thrilling performance and exceptional beauty, and I’m pleased that today’s models more than live up to the standards set by their iconic forebears.”
Today’s Vantage two-seater sports car is based on the marque’s latest architecture. Styled for aerodynamic excellence as well as obvious kerb appeal, the car features a 4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a peak power output of 503 bhp and a torque peak of 505 lb-ft, mated to a rear-mounted 8-speed automatic gearbox manufactured by ZF.
This endows the current Vantage with a brisk 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, and supports a top speed of 195 mph.
This Vantage is also the first Aston Martin production car to include an electronically controlled differential with torque vectoring — E-Diff — and is built around the same bonded-aluminum platform as DB11.
At its launch at the end of 2017, Palmer said of the new model: “A true sports car with a sharper look and a keener dynamic edge, the new Vantage is the Aston Martin pure driving machine enthusiasts have been waiting for.”
Last year, the Vantage AMR was launched, equipped as standard with a motorsport-inspired 7-speed transmission developed by Graziano and featuring a “dog-leg” first gear. The car was created to deliver a truly exhilarating driving experience, with Palmer commenting: “In a world of autonomous robo-taxis, Aston Martin will continue to advance the art and science of performance driving.”
