Four things you probably didn't know about the Aston Martin Vanquish

The Aston Martin Vanquish is what we call a luxury grand tourer or Super GT: a spacious two-seater coupé (or 2+2, if you're a family man) with a decently sized boot that allows you and your spoiled loved ones to have luxurious road-trips to ski or beach resorts, or wherever your money can take you. Here are a few things you probably didn't know about this "classic" from British luxury Marque, Aston Martin.

1. The Vanquish appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared again...

The current Vanquish isn't all that new; the V12 Vanquish, designed by Ian Callum, served the purpose of replacing the Virage range which was getting a little long in the tooth by the end of the millennium. The first V12 Vanquish, with 343 kW, was unveiled at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show in 2001, and was produced until 2005 before being replaced by the Aston Martin DBS in 2007. However, the DBS soon had to make way for the Vanquish once again in 2012 (the V12 part of the name was then dropped), as it would be the successor to the DBS. 

An enhanced and slightly more powerful V12 Vanquish S (388 kW) made its first appearance at the 2004 Paris Motor Show. It boasted a top speed of 322 km and was the fastest production Aston Martin ever, until 2008.

Related: Top 3 things you need to know about the Aston Martin DB11

 

 

2. James Bond made the Vanquish famous

The 2002 Bond film 'Die Another Day' shot the Vanquish to fame, earning the car a no.3 spot on the list of Best Film Cars Ever. In the movie, the Vanquish featured adaptive camouflage which, much like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, renders the Vanquish invisible (or almost, at least). It has appeared in various video games such as Need for Speed and the Bond-inspired games that subsequently appeared.

 

3. The Vantage likes an air trip almost as much as a road trip...

Once the DBS reached the end of its life span, Aston Martin brought back the Vanquish in 2012. It was built on the VH Generation Platform 2 which underpinned the DBS, and came fitted with a 421kW V12 engine. Soon afterwards came the Vanquish Volante (2013), the convertible, with its full carbon fibre body. 

For Aston Martin's spectacular centenary celebration, a Vanquish was airlifted onto the helipad of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, UAE, on 17 January 2013! This was a world first and can be viewed here.

The Vanquish S, with 444kW, arrived in 2016, featuring the same unadulterated V12 engine, but with more power and a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 3.5 seconds.

 

4. There's a new and properly modified limited edition Vanquish available...

The Vanquish was never officially for sale in South Africa, and was discontinued globally in 2018, but Aston Martin Lagonda, in collaboration with R-Reforged (one of the four arms of Swiss company AF Racing AG), is bringing out a special edition 'Aston Martin Vanquish 25 by Callum', and as the name suggests, only 25 will be produced.  (Read more about the Vanquish 25 by Callum here.) 

Fancy an Aston Martin Vantage instead?  The starting price for the locally available Vantage V8 Coupé is R2.8 million. (Search for a Vantage on AutoTrader here.)