ASTONISHING

First of the new-era Astons is a 447 kw GT with a new chassis, fresh V12 and clever aero. Most important Aston yet? You bet. The best? Read on

ASTON Martin’s Second Century Plan begins like this, then. A DB car, the natural successor to all the DBS before it, a grand tourer in the most conventional, but, most important, Aston Martin tradition. “The DB11 is the most important car,” says Aston CEO, Andy Palmer, “in Aston Martin’s history.”

In its history? Big claim. But then Andy Palmer has been given a big job: to make Aston Martin make money. Not a lot of Aston bosses have managed that before, but this time it’s crucial.

It’s crucial because of the plans Palmer has put forward. They’re of the scale that would have seen Dany Bahar, former Lotus CEO, throwing them on a motor show stand accompanied by a bemusedlooking Brian May, Naomi Campbell and a random Baldwin.

Aston intends this: seven new models, one a year, between now and 2022, until the range revision starts over again. They’re ambitious plans, but they have apparently been put forward with enough sense that Aston has secured £700 million (about R12,2 billion) to make the first four – DB11, Vantage, Vanquish and DBX SUV – come to life. Beyond that, incoming revenue funds the rest.

So to the DB11. It’s new. Really new. Recently, Astons have been revised with the glacial pace of someone looking after a stately home: new boiler here; replacement glazing in the orangery next year. But the DB11 is something else.

The architecture is different. It’s still aluminium, but where there were loads of extrusions before, there are more pressings now, so if you see a chassis in the bare metal, there are more curved surfaces, which allows for greater interior room within a body that’s only marginally larger than the DB9’S.