The Story of the Aston Martin Vanquish

In 2001 the Aston Martin Vanquish was the anchor of the fleet. These beautifully hand constructed automobiles were considered the premiere touring car. This car was the last one produced at Newport Pagnell after forty nine years of manufacturing. The Aston Martins will no longer be built by hand. The Vanquishs luxurious interior and aluminium body was assembled in approximately forty eight days.

A 5.9 litre V12 engine makes up the mechanics. The engine provides 460 horse power; however, some feel the engine is nothing more than two Ford engines combined. Aston Martin was quick to discount these thoughts by revealing the actual design of the engine for the public. The engine was taken from Ford, but the company made significant changes to ensure it had the necessary power and stamina.

Problems did plague the first versions of the Vanquish. The primary concerns were of the paddle shift manual gearbox and the handling of the vehicle. There was a comparison to the gearbox on the Ferrari which was extremely flawless when shifting. The performance of the Vanquish under original conditions was fine, but when the car was pushed hard the gearbox failed.

Sadly the gearbox issues were not addressed until the last of the line Vanquish Ultimate Edition models were released in 2007. These final 40 cars came with a conventional manual stick shift gearbox, which proved so successful that Aston offered it as a retro fit option to any previous Vanquish.

Despite its problems there was no mistaking the Vanquish’s huge road presence. At the front there was the trademark Aston Martin front grill, projector style xenon lights and a long and flowing bonnet. Whilst at the sides there were the traditional side strakes and bulging wheel arches which seemed to give the car a more aggressive and forceful stance.

More power was given to the 2005 version, the Vanquish S model. With a 520 bhp engine this vehicle could achieve 204 mph and it could go from 0 to 60 in a mere 4.7 seconds. By changing the power of the engine Aston hoped that the handling problems that faced the first Vanquish would be alleviated.

There were other changes in the Vanquish S model. What had once been a rather expensive option now came as a standard package. The Sports Dynamic Pack gave the automobile better stability in three areas; that of handling, steering and braking.

The latest model from Aston Martin is the DBS. The DBS is based on the DB9, which differs from the Vanquish series. In 2010 a new DBS model will be released. The factory production will occur in Gayden located near Warwickshire. These new releases are not going to be designed by hand. Instead the vehicles will be factory created to ensure no flaws exist.

Whilst we all can’t all own an Aston Martin you can update your car lights to give your vehicle a stylish look. Phoenix Autobulbs are retailers of upgrade vehicle lighting products including the latest Car Bulbs and if you want your car to look unique you should install Xenon Bulbs for safer driving.