Save the Date: The New Aston Martin Vantage Arrives February 12
Aston Martin fans will be able to declare their love for an all-new Vantage just ahead of Valentine’s Day and it will be “the fastest and most exhilarating” in its history.
The Vantage name first appeared on the DB2 in 1950, providing a healthy 20-hp upgrade to its 2.6-liter Lagonda-designed straight-six engine. Now with 125 horses the DB2 Vantage could top 120 mph. “Whether one would go shopping, to the theatre, on a long-distance tour, or even race at Le Mans, one could have no more perfect companion than the Aston Martin,” wrote John Bolster in Autosport.
Some 74 years after the DB2 Vantage made its debut Aston Martin will reveal its new two-seater sports car, alongside its 2024 Formula 1 challenger, and a GT3 racer. It is “a sports car engineered for real drivers; for those that crave driving purity and revel at the limit. Class leading—but this isn’t just a numbers game. This is an authentic, unadulterated celebration of pure performance,” says Aston Martin.
The Vantage will need to raise its game to outgun the new DB12—a car Aston Martin describes as a Super Tourer, thanks, in no small part to its 671-hp twin-turbo V-8 from AMG. The Vantage will, no doubt, share this motor, but in a more compact, lighter package it should outperform and outhandle its sibling.
The teaser image above doesn’t give much away, but those rear haunches certainly look pretty wide and aggressive. That’s in keeping with the way the car will drive. It is a “complete hooligan”, chief creative officer Marek Reichman told Autocar. This will differentiate it from the DB12 and even the DBX 707 which offers the straight-line speed that, just a few years ago, would have been unimaginable for an SUV.
2024 is set to be a busy year for the British brand. In addition to launching the Vantage and its Volante roadster variant, the DB12 Volante, a replacement for the V-12 DBS, the Valhalla supercar, and an updated DBX will all appear.
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I assume it will continue to be a Mercedes powered car but I do wonder how the weight of the V12 might overcome any power advantage it might have. Should be a good looking car, the DB12 looks great.
Gary, the engine is a V8 from AMG, not a V12. The DB12 uses the same engine, though it may be in a different state of tune from the version that goes into the new Vantage. Aston’s V12 is NOT a Mercedes engine — it’s Aston Martin’s own engine (as was the previous V8 used in the 2006-2017 V8 Vantage). Sadly, it apparently won’t be available. The AMG V8 is a great engine but, for me, it doesn’t belong in an Aston Martin — an Aston Martin must have an Aston Martin engine.