Aston Martin Vanquish

Aston Martin Vanquish, too good even for James Bond

If you have been floored by the car which James Bond drove in 'Die Another Day' then you have seen the Aston Martin Vanquish. It was a grand tourer (GT) designed by British car designer Ian Callum and manufactured by Aston Martin. Although some of those Hi-Tech features shown in the movie are fictional the car was a statement in itself.

It was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2001. New cars rolled out from September 2004 to July 2007. But it was its stint in the Bond movie that pushed it to stardom in the eyes of the world. The DBS later succeeded the Vanquish.

Design

The design of the Aston Martin Vanquish was influenced by the Project Vantage prototype concept car which was showcased in 1998. The car had a strong aluminum / carbon composite chassis with a 6.0 L V12 450 bhp engine. Aston Martin later made improvements to the suspension and aerodynamics of the car and upgraded the engine to 514 bhp. The improved model was the Vanquish - S. It was discontinued in July 2007 when the company's Newport Pagnell factory was shut down.

Engine

The original Vanquish was powered by a 450 bhp engine, the Vanquish – S was powered by a 514 bhp engine. The Vanquish could accelerate from 0 to 100 kmph in 4.3 seconds while the S variant could achieve the same in 4 seconds. The original had a top speed of 189.5 mph, while the S variant had a top speed of 204 mph.

The car was equipped with a drive by wire throttle and a six speed Electro Hydraulic manual transmission.

Brakes

The Aston Martin Vanquish had 355 mm ventilated disc brakes with ABS and electronic brake distribution. The S variant had larger 378 mm front discs and 330 mm rear discs.

Aerodynamics

The original Vanquish had a drag of 0.33. With improvements in the design of the splitter and the boot lid the drag was improved to 0.32 in the S variant. It had front and rear tracks of 60 inches.

Other than the design improvements, the S variant had an option package called the Sports Dynamic Pack. This pack included sportier suspension, steering and brake features.

Aston Martin celebrated the last 40 cars that came out of the production line with Vanquish S Ultimate Edition. It had a black exterior color, upgraded interiors and personalized sill plaques. But the more important difference was that it was factory fitted with a conventional manual gear box.

There was a rumor that Aston Martin will come out with a convertible version of the Vanquish, but no such model was ever released. Two concept cars, the Zagato Roadster and Bertone Jet 2 were based on the Vanquish.

The Aston Martin Vanquish really shot into fame with its appearance in 'Die Another Day' the last James Bond movie played by Pierce Brosnan. That earned it the number three spot in the 'Best film cars ever' after the Minnis and the KITT. It was sad to see it being wrecked in that film and even sadder when its production was stopped.