Aston Martin has launched a stunning new 320km/h-plus 'British Ferrari-beater’ as part of a hat-trick of new cars it hopes will help to help drive the UK car firm back to profitability after Brexit.
The new Vanquish Vision is the standout concept of the trio and will accelerate from rest to 100km/h in under 3.5 seconds when it hits the road in three years’ time. Shown as a prototype at the Geneva Motor Show it is designed to be pretty but with extreme performance that will rattle the cage of Italy's iconic car maker.
To be built at Aston Martin’s boutique headquarters factory at Gaydon in Warwickshire, it would be the UK firm’s first mid-engined series production supercar designed to sell in larger numbers rather than as limited edition runs. Naturally, no pricing has been confirmed.
The Vanquish is one of a three new cars previewed by the firm on the opening day of the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday in what it called an 'unprecedented show of force’.
It has been unveiled alongside the forthcoming all-electric luxury Lagonda all-terrain SUV - which will be built at its new factory at St Athan, in Wales, from 2022, along with a zero-emissions luxury saloon model and the Aston DBX crossover - and the extreme £1million AM-RB 003 hypercar, touted as a baby Valkyrie (you can read more about each below).
The Vanquish will be powered by a new hybrid V6 engine - most likely 3.0-litres in capacity – that will also see service in the AM-RB 003.
Aston Martin bosses have dubbed the new Vanquish their ‘British Ferrari beater’.
But it will have to get its skates on if it wants to keep pace with Ferrari’s latest F8 Tributo which, powered by a 529kW 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 engine - will sprint from rest to 100km/h in 2.9 seconds and up to a top speed of 340km/h.
Bosses at the UK car brand think they have the right recipe the take the rampaging Italian stallion down, though.
The Vanquish is designed to be ‘pretty’ while still delivering extreme performance. It features a bespoke lightweight bonded aluminium chassis which helps reduce cost, speed production and combines low weight with strength.
The Vanquish will be the fourth model in Aston Martin’s mid-engined series following Aston Martin Valkyrie, Valkyrie AMR Pro and the just-revealed AM-RB 003.
The firm said by applying the Vanquish moniker it was reviving an iconic name traditionally reserved for Aston Martin’s flagship production model.
The first generation Vanquish was built as a grand tourer from 2001 and featured the following year in the James Bond movie ‘Die Another Day.’ The second generation Vanquish ran from 2012 to 2018 when it was replaced by the current DBS Superleggera.
Aston Martin Lagonda president and group CEO Dr Andy Palmer said: ‘The Vanquish Vision marks another pivotal moment in Aston Martin’s history.
‘Our first series production rear mid-engined supercar will be a transformational moment for the brand, for it is the car that will propel Aston Martin into a sector of the market traditionally seen as the heartland of luxury sports cars.’
Aston Martin design director Miles Nurnberger added: ‘The Vanquish Vision has a more seductive and less technical appearance than Aston Martin Valkyrie and AM-RB 003, but it’s still extreme.
‘It’s a prettier car, and purposely so, as it’s been designed to thrive in a less extreme performance envelope. But, while being very much at home on the road, it will still be equally capable when chasing lap times on a race track. ‘
Aston Martin chief technical officer Max Szwaj said the Vanquish Vision will help the brand takes its next step 'into new territory'.
It means Aston Martin bosses have now laid out all the cars planned for their Second Century turnaround plan, with the DB11, Vantage and DBS Superleggera already completed and DBX crossover arriving next year.
Last month Aston Martin saw its shares fall 20 per cent after announcing a $131 million loss in 2018 - its first full year of results after a stock market flotation that it spent $263 million to secure.
Analysts urged shareholders to ‘sell’.
Dr Palmer says his firm has contingency plans in place to deal with Brexit and has set aside $58 million to deal with any disruption if the UK leaves the EU in an "unstructured manner" noting any delay would cause only "further annoyance."
- Daily Mail
