Aston Martin GT3
The littlest AM celebrates an important birthday with some horsepower and orange highlights
Is the GT3 harder than the GT4? Gaydon goes all reverse Spinal Tap
Nudging its 10th birthday it may be, but add the sufx ‘GT3’ to the Vantage, and it’s like it’s day one again. To be fair, this is one highly evolved Vantage. Since 2005, Aston Martin has transformed itself into a seriously successful customer racing outft, and the GT3 positively dribbles with competition-spec knowhow. Peel away the lairy graphics, and what you’re left with is lower and wider than any previous iteration.
Everything bar the doors is made of carbon fibre, so it tips the scales 100kg less than the standard car. The 6.0-litre V12 has been uprated from 565bhp to a few horses short of 600. Aston has some ex-F1 guys on the payroll now, so there’s a lot of trick aero on the GT3: the intakes on the bonnet are angled to send air along the side of the car, and there are artful slats and cuts behind the front and rear wheel arches. There’s a magnesium torque tube and inlet manifold, while the exhaust system is titanium and exits above the rear difuser in an unapologetic manner. “Yep, we decided to let some of the guts hang out,” an Aston spokesman said.
Inside, the door mouldings are singlepiece carbon items, the seats are manually operated, and even the satnav screen is fxed. The centre console is nicked from the Vanquish, and there’s Alcantara all over the top of the dash. You will want this car – make no mistake – which is problematic for three reasons. It costs £250,000. Only 100 are being made. And they’ve all been sold.