Aston Martin Will Use Vanquish Name For New Mid-Engined Supercar

With the introduction of the new DBS Superleggera, Aston Martin has put the Vanquish nameplate worn by its predecessor to pasture.

However, according to the latest reports, it won’t be out there for long. Speaking with Australian media at the launch of the new DBS in Germany, the company’s chief designer hinted strongly that the Vanquish name will be applied to its upcoming mid-engined supercar.

“Obviously, Vanquish is an incredible name for us. Ever since the first Vanquish, it has stood as the most powerful brute in the family but we felt, more importantly, this was a true DBS more than a Vanquish because of the base product and how we’ve derived it to get to DBS,” said Marek Reichmann, according to Motoring. “It’s a more appropriate name for this car. Vanquish is a very special name and we’ve got some pretty special cars coming.”

“Without saying yes, that sounds like a plausible solution for a beautiful name like Vanquish,” said the Aston’s chief creative officer.

The new model is being developed as a rival to the likes of the McLaren 720S, Ferrari 488 GTB and Lamborghini Huracan. It’s set to draw heavily on the Valkyrie hypercar project that Aston Martin is undertaking with Red Bull Racing. “It will be the most beautiful mid-engined car on the road,” Reichmann promised, “with all the learnings from Valkyrie.”

Following nameplates like Vulcan, Vantage, Virage, and Volante, the Vanquish name was first applied in 2001 as a big brother to the DB7, and again to the more recent model based on the DB9. Both have featured V12 engines up front, but the new Vanquish is expected to carry Mercedes-AMG’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in the middle of its carbon-fiber chassis.

It would be the first mid-mounted application of the engine that Aston uses in the new Vantage and DB11, and which Mercedes uses in the most potent versions of the C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, G-Class, GLC, and AMG GT – all mounted up front. AMG also furnishes its 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 for mounting in the middle of the Pagani Huayra, and that engine served as the basis for the version Aston manufactures for the DB11 and DBS Superleggera.