V12-engined super-GT arrives with lofty ambitions. What’s the reality?
Aston Martin is seldom far from the headlines. In 2025, there is more talk of debt piles, the trimming down of the workforce and share price woes. It is enough to make you wonder if the company will ever make the leap from being “a high-potential business to a high-performing oneâ€, as new CEO Adrian Hallmark, formerly of Bentley, recently put it. It is, in short, easy to feel a little downbeat.But then something like the new Vanquish shows up for its full road test and you wonder, for a moment, how the company that makes such a machine isn’t also making money hand over fist in the process. We sometimes talk of cars needing to ‘succeed as an object’, and when it comes to this subjective trait, few if any do it as reliably well as whatever the latest V12-hearted super-GT out of Gaydon happens to be.Flagship Astons are never quite perfect, and in the coming pages we will explore what this 824bhp rival to Ferrari’s 12Cilindri (we can agree the Brit has the better name, surely?) does well and where it is lacking. But the ability of this new Vanquish to awaken the inner 10-year-old petrolhead in driver and onlooker alike is beyond doubt.This is a poignant car too. The third coming of the Vanquish – a lineage that stretches back to 2001 – will most likely be the last to feature 12 cylinders. If nothing changes in a regulatory sense, then 2028 will be the final year of production. Even today, Aston is capping the number of examples at 1000 annually in order for the company to meet its fleet emissions obligations. The knock-on effect is that the Vanquish will be a more uncommon sight on the road than either the Ferrari or Lamborghini’s 1001bhp Revuelto.So this Aston will have an alluring rarity. And we know that it will have an ungodly turn of pace (stay tuned to discover just how ungodly). But real success for the Vanquish means combining its speed with palatable long-distance manners, and dancing on the line between thrilling, expressive handling and trustworthy, A-to-B poise. Owners won’t thank their car for scaring them witless on what should have been an enjoyable road, no matter how effortless the preceding miles.Equally, an Aston like this needs a hint of fear factor. Also good practicality. And specialness. It’s a tall order for any car aiming to be the world’s finest super-GT. Is the Vanquish that car? Let’s find out.
