First Examples Of The New Aston Martin Vantage Are Rolling Off The Line

Aston Martin is in the midst of a complete product-line overhaul. Following the introduction of the DB11 less than two years ago, it revealed the new Vantage this past November. And now that model has officially entered serial production.

Replacing a model that had first entered production way back in 2005, the new Vantage adopts a new platform, a new engine, and a new design language to mark a complete break from its predecessor.

Looking much like the DB10 that James Bond drove in Spectre, the new Vantage is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 furnished by Mercedes-AMG, mated to an eight-speed automatic and producing 503 hp (375 kW) and 505 lb-ft (685 Nm) of torque. That’s said to be enough to propel the two-door sports car to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.6 seconds before maxing out at 195 mph (314 km/h).

The automaker didn’t reveal where the first example of its new sports car is headed. But as you can see from the photos, the customer didn’t opt for either the bright yellow or dark grey launch colors. Instead this one was done up in a rather elegant shade of dark red. And there are more rolling down the production line in Gaydon behind it, all set to reach their eagerly awaiting customers later this month. UKSecretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark was on hand to mark the occasion.

“Today marks an exciting moment for the entire company and an important day in the history of Aston Martin,” noted CEO Andy Palmer on the occasion. “The outgoing Vantage was the single most successful model in Aston Martin’s history and we believe its successor will surpass that. We will do this by retention of our important existing owners and through repositioning of the car, create new customers in new countries.”

More versions are expected to follow, including one with a seven-speed manual transmission. Based on the example of the previous model, we might expect convertible and twelve-cylinder versions to trickle out over the coming years as well, along with more hardcore, track-focused iterations.

“The new Vantage ticks all the boxes for a luxury sports car and unashamedly aspires to be the best in its segment,” continued Palmer. “With the imminent launch of the DBS Superleggera, we are on track to replace each of our existing two-door sports car models by the end of this year.”