Vantage Points
if you’ve always loved Aston Martins but have been perpetually frustrated that these most entrancing motor cars are routinely trounced at the edge of the performance envelope by machinery infinitely less comely, the recently launched V12 S variant of the venerable Vantage could not only rekindle your romance with the marque, but even leave you hopelessly besotted. For though its essentials may appear all too familiar, this latest incarnation of Aston’s “entry-level” offering finally reveals the snarling hooligan that we’d long suspected lurked beneath its lovely lines, yet had
Aston Martin’s “entry-level” coupe may be pushing 10 years old, but it’s still one of the most beautiful sports cars around. And, reckons jon wall,
the arrival of the V12 S makes it more covetable than ever almost given up hope of ever encountering.
Unveiled as a concept more than 10 years ago, then launched into full production in 2005 with a 4.3-litre V8 under its bonnet, the Ian Callum and Henrik Fisker-designed Vantage was always envisaged as a hardcore alternative to the British manufacturer’s more urbane DB9, DBS, Vanquish and Virage models. Its gorgeous coupe body, which remains virtually unchanged today, is compact and yet sleekly curvaceous, a ravishing beauty when compared with the ruthlessly utilitarian beast that sat in the crosshairs of Aston’s gun sights – the Porsche