Overview

The Aston martin Vanquish is a grand tourer manufactured by Aston Martin. The Aston Martin Vanquish was introduced in 2001 an it was Aston Matin’s flgship vehicle. In the United states the Vanquish was introduced in 2002. The car was produced at the Newport Pagnell assembly plant and production ended on July 19, 2007. The Newport Pagnell plant was also closed at the end of production for the Aston Martin Vanquish.

Variants

The Aston Martin Vanquish was powered by a 5.9-Liter V12 engine that produced 454 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. The engine was mated to a six speed semi-manual transmission only. The Vanquish accelerated from 0-60 mph in just 4.6 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 13.3 seconds. The maximum speed reached was 190 mph and fuel consumption was 11 mpg.

The 5.9-Liter V12 engine was developed at Ford Research in the United states. Cosworth was originally contracted to build this engine but the contract was soon broken. The engine shares components and design elements with the 3.0-Liter Duratec V6 engine and for this reason many people incorrectly claimed that the V12 is nothing but two Duratec engines linked togheter but this is not true.

In 2004 Aston Martin unveiled the Aston Martin Vanquish S at the Paris Auto Show. The Vanquish S was powered by a 6.0-Liter V12 engine that produced 520 horsepower and 426 lb-ft of torque. The engine was mated only to a six speed automatic transmission. In performance test the Vanquish S accelerated from 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and ran the quarter mile in 12.5 seconds. The maximum speed reached was 200 mph and fuel consumption was 9.8 mpg.

Visual changes to the Vanquish S were a raised bootlid with a larger integrated spoiler incorporating the third high level brake light, a different nose shape, new wheel designs, a Vanquish S badge on the bootlid and the addition of a small front splitter to improve aerodynamics.

A Sport Dynamics Pack was introduced by the end of 2004 for the Vanquish S. The Sport Dynamic Pack incorporated a sportier suspension, improved steering and improved brakes.

Additional Information

By the end of production Aston martin announced that the last 40 cars built will be part of a special edition called Aston martin Vanquish S Ultimate Edition. All cars were painted in Ultimate Black exterior color, had an upgraded interior and personalized sill plaques. The Vanquish S Ultimate Edition was the Vanquish model available with a conventional six speed manual transmission. Many buyers criticized the semi-manual six speed manual transmission offered on the Vanqusih model, the most notable critic being Jeremy Clarkson from the BBC program Top Gear.

There were rumors throughout the years of production that Aston Martin would build a roaster version of the Vanquish but such a version was never built.

In 2002 the Aston Martin Vanquish was featured in the James Bond movie, Die Another Day. The car was driven by Bond who was being played for the final time by Pierce Brosnan. In 2008 the Vanquish earned the number three spot on the list of Best Film Cars Ever.

The Vanquish was also the basis of two concept cars, both presented at the 2004 International Geneva Motor Show. This cars were the Zagato Roadster and the Bertone Jet-2.