The Aston Martin V12 Vantage is back

Of course, there was a reason they downplayed the possibility of a V12 Vantage all those years ago. It was always going to be a mammoth task, shoehorning that mill into Aston’s dainty little two-seater. And so it’s come to be, the new V12 Vantage has mutated beyond the base underpinning far more than past generations ever did, adding a massive 40mm to the track width.

The new aggressive front bumper is carbon-fibre, as is the clamshell bonnet, front wings, sills, rear bumper and boot lid. There’s a lightweight battery and a new lighter centre-exit stainless steel exhaust system, not unlike that seen in the V12 Speedster. The V12 Vantage is more of an air cleaver than the Speedster, mind.

There’s a (deletable) monster rear wing, aggressive diffuser, sculpted exit ventilation and sills behind the front wheels, an enormous ‘horseshoe’ slash in the bonnet and an aggressive splitter. The grille meanwhile is 25 per cent larger to feed that hungry V12 the added air and cooling it needs. All told at 200mph the V12 Vantage is pressed into the road with 204kg of downforce.

On the inside, there’s a new patented carbon fibre performance seat with six-way adjustment, that saves 7.3kg. Paddles are the only option, with a re-calibrated version of the eight-speed transmission carrying over learnings from the Vantage F1 Edition and V12 Speedster. The cabin layout is a Vantage carryover, albeit with a few more exotic materials and trimmings. Needless to say, inside and out, you could have a field day and empty your bank account with an afternoon speccing one of these with Q.

In keeping with the more hardcore theme, spring rates are up front and rear by 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. The body is stiffer too, as are the top mounts. The anti-roll bars have been adjusted accordingly – stiffened up front and softened out back, the latter to control the fury of that V12. Ride comfort is maintained by a secondary tender spring at the back, to soften tougher impacts from the road into the car.

Reigning in all that forward performance are monster carbon brakes, with 410mm discs up front and 360mm discs at the rear, with six- and four-piston callipers respectively. Those brakes represent an unsprung weight saving of 23kg. Those brakes are shrouded in 21-inch alloy wheels, with 315-section and 275-section Michelin PS4S tyres at the back and front respectively.

Want one? Well, unfortunately, if you’re not already on the list, you’re not getting one. Just 333 are due to be made – far more limited than any V12 Vantage gone by – and all are spoken for. As for price, that’s not been disclosed, but given the work that’s gone into it for such a limited number, we’re suspecting a touch more than you’d expect for ‘just another version in the line-up’.

Production is underway now with deliveries beginning in the second quarter of this year. Aston rather ominously describes this as a ‘final edition’ which CEO Tobias Moers says “brings this bloodline to a close”. Hello and indeed, farewell, V12 Vantage.