While Aston Martin bolsters its racing efforts by preparing a pair of V-12 LMP1 prototypes for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the U.K. automaker also is upping its road-car game with the unveiling of the similarly-powered V-12 Vantage coupe at the Geneva auto show in March. Stemming from the V-12-powered Vantage RS concept introduced in late 2007 at Aston’s dedicated design studio, the production version was completed in little more than a year and will be limited to no more than 500 examples annually when deliveries commence in the third quarter of this year, the automaker says.
Although not as over-the-top as the limited-edition One-77, the V-12 Vantage represents the grin-inducing marriage of Aston’s smallest, most-agile model with its 6.0-liter V-12 engine. Rather than using the 600-hp racing V-12 from the DBR9 race car, as did the RS concept, Aston chose to use the DBS's existing V-12, which produces 510 hp at 6500 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque at 5750 rpm. With the Vantage’s lighter weight compared with the DBS serving as the equalizer, the company says the V-12 should propel the 3700-pound Vantage to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 190 mph, besting the last DBS we tested by a small margin.
