By oto4car on Jun 05, 2010 with Comments 0
The Aston Martin Vanquish is a grand tourer, designed by Ian Callum and manufactured by Aston Martin. From its 2001 introduction to its cancellation, it was Aston Martin’s flagship vehicle. Its rise to recognition by the wider public came after being featured as the official James Bond car in the film Die Another Day. It was discontinued in 2007. The Aston Martin DBS V12 will temporarily replace it atop Aston’s lineup pending the 2010 introduction of a replacement.
The Vanquish was developed in the wake of a GT concept car, the Project Vantage concept car, which debuted with a V-12 engine at the North American International Auto Show in January 1998. The production model was unveiled in 2000, and series production began in 2001 (the car arrived in the United States as a 2002 model).
The car was largely unchanged until 2005, when the Vanquish S model debuted at the 2004 Paris Auto Show , with more power, slight styling revisions, and new wheels. It also incorporated the features of a 2004 option package, the Sports Dynamic Pack, which incorporated sportier suspension, steering, and brake features. This model was sold for the 2005 (alongside the base Vanquish) and 2006 (as a stand-alone) model years in the United States with only minor running changes; it was not sold in the States for 2007.
The end of the Vanquish’s production run was celebrated with the Vanquish S Ultimate Edition. Aston Martin announced that the last 40 cars built would have a new ‘Ultimate Black’ exterior colour, upgraded interior, and personalized sill plaques. More significantly, the Ultimate Edition was the first Vanquish to be offered with a conventional manual gearbox manual transmission. The semi automatic gearbox in the original Vanquish has been widely criticized (perhaps most infamously by Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC’s Top Gear program), so this change was greeted with approval by the automotive press. Aston Martin offered to retrofit the new gearbox to any Vanquish, for a cost of £13,250.
Aston Martin was frequently rumoured to be considering a roadster version of the Vanquish, especially in response to the Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina, but no such version ever emerged. The Vanquish was the basis of two concept cars, both shown at the International Geneva Motor Show in 2004, the Zagato Roadster (a 2-seat roadster) and the Bertone Jet 2 (a 2-door shooting brake).
Vanquish production ended on 19 July 2007, coinciding with the shutting of the company’s Newport Pagnell factory after forty nine years of operation. The last car was a Vanquish S Ultimate Edition in black.
The Vanquish is powered by a 5.9 L (5935 cc) 48-valve 60° V12 engine, which produces 460 PS (338 kW; 454 bhp) and 540 N·m (400 ft·lbf) of torque. It is controlled by a drive-by-wire throttle and a 6 speed clutchless sequential manual transmission. The Vanquish S upped the power to 521 PS (383 kW; 514 bhp) and 576 N·m (425 ft·lbf). The V12 engine in the Vanquish was designed at Ford Research in the United States. Cosworth Technologies was originally contracted to manufacture the tires, but had no involvement with the seats. Previous articles which correctly recount this engine’s development have appeared in Automotive Industries magazine. This car also features a 6 litre engine.
The Vanquish’s V12 engine shares some components and design elements with the 3.0 L Duratec 30 V6. It even shares the same bore and stroke dimensions. For this reason, many people incorrectly dismiss the Aston Martin V12 as merely “two Duratecs linked together.” It is correct that the AM V12 shares components with the ‘Duratec’ engine design.
The standard Vanquish model had 355 mm (14 in) drilled and ventilated disc brakes with ABS, with electronic brake distribution, while the Vanquish S featured larger 378 mm (15 in) front and 330 mm (13 in) rear rotors. It featured 19-inch wheels.
As part of its improvements, the Vanquish S featured a slightly improved coefficient of drag of 0.32. Its front and rear track were 1524 mm (60 in) and 1529 mm (60 in), respectively.
The Aston Martin Vanquish is a grand tourer, designed by Ian Callum and manufactured by Aston Martin. From its 2001 introduction to its cancellation, it was Aston Martin’s flagship vehicle. Its rise to recognition by the wider public came after being featured as the official James Bond car in the film Die Another Day. It was discontinued in 2007. The Aston Martin DBS V12 will temporarily replace it atop Aston’s lineup pending the 2010 introduction of a replacement.The Vanquish was developed in the wake of a GT concept car, the Project Vantage concept car, which debuted with a V-12 engine at the North American International Auto Show in January 1998. The production model was unveiled in 2000, and series production began in 2001 (the car arrived in the United States as a 2002 model).
The car was largely unchanged until 2005, when the Vanquish S model debuted at the 2004 Paris Auto Show , with more power, slight styling revisions, and new wheels. It also incorporated the features of a 2004 option package, the Sports Dynamic Pack, which incorporated sportier suspension, steering, and brake features. This model was sold for the 2005 (alongside the base Vanquish) and 2006 (as a stand-alone) model years in the United States with only minor running changes; it was not sold in the States for 2007.
The end of the Vanquish’s production run was celebrated with the Vanquish S Ultimate Edition. Aston Martin announced that the last 40 cars built would have a new ‘Ultimate Black’ exterior colour, upgraded interior, and personalized sill plaques. More significantly, the Ultimate Edition was the first Vanquish to be offered with a conventional manual gearbox manual transmission. The semi automatic gearbox in the original Vanquish has been widely criticized (perhaps most infamously by Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC’s Top Gear program), so this change was greeted with approval by the automotive press. Aston Martin offered to retrofit the new gearbox to any Vanquish, for a cost of £13,250.
Aston Martin was frequently rumoured to be considering a roadster version of the Vanquish, especially in response to the Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina, but no such version ever emerged. The Vanquish was the basis of two concept cars, both shown at the International Geneva Motor Show in 2004, the Zagato Roadster (a 2-seat roadster) and the Bertone Jet 2 (a 2-door shooting brake).
Vanquish production ended on 19 July 2007, coinciding with the shutting of the company’s Newport Pagnell factory after forty nine years of operation. The last car was a Vanquish S Ultimate Edition in black.
The Vanquish is powered by a 5.9 L (5935 cc) 48-valve 60° V12 engine, which produces 460 PS (338 kW; 454 bhp) and 540 N·m (400 ft·lbf) of torque. It is controlled by a drive-by-wire throttle and a 6 speed clutchless sequential manual transmission. The Vanquish S upped the power to 521 PS (383 kW; 514 bhp) and 576 N·m (425 ft·lbf). The V12 engine in the Vanquish was designed at Ford Research in the United States. Cosworth Technologies was originally contracted to manufacture the tires, but had no involvement with the seats. Previous articles which correctly recount this engine’s development have appeared in Automotive Industries magazine. This car also features a 6 litre engine.
The Vanquish’s V12 engine shares some components and design elements with the 3.0 L Duratec 30 V6. It even shares the same bore and stroke dimensions. For this reason, many people incorrectly dismiss the Aston Martin V12 as merely “two Duratecs linked together.” It is correct that the AM V12 shares components with the ‘Duratec’ engine design.
The standard Vanquish model had 355 mm (14 in) drilled and ventilated disc brakes with ABS, with electronic brake distribution, while the Vanquish S featured larger 378 mm (15 in) front and 330 mm (13 in) rear rotors. It featured 19-inch wheels.
As part of its improvements, the Vanquish S featured a slightly improved coefficient of drag of 0.32. Its front and rear track were 1524 mm (60 in) and 1529 mm (60 in), respectively.
