Aston Martin Vanquish

Overview

Aston Martin has a rich history of building high-end, high-performance sports cars with engines in the front, and it had teased a mid-engined future with this ravishing Vanquish concept that sadly never made it to the production line. If it had, the revived Vanquish would have represented a drastic change in philosophy for the British brand's sports cars. Sadly, the project has been canceled leaving the Aston Martin brand with the Vantage and DB12 sports cars, which are still certainly worthy of admiration. The Vanquish would have shared its basic layout with the Valhalla and Valkyrie hypercars, but unlike those limited-production machines, it would have been relatively more affordable and built in greater numbers. At the time, Aston also claimed it would be powered by a new hybrid V-8 powertrain that the company is sourcing from Mercedes-AMG, giving the Vanquish the power to compete with rivals such as the Ferrari F8 and McLaren 750S.

What's New?

Had the Vanquish concept made it to production, it would have revived a sports car nameplate dormant since 2019. But unlike its predecessor, the new version would be powered by a hybrid powertrain mounted behind the passenger compartment.

Pricing and Which One to Buy

We'd guessed that the Vanquish would have started at around $300,000 when it went on sale. That's a far cry from the seven-figure price tags that will be attached to Aston's mid-engine hypercars but would have still been out of reach for the vast majority of enthusiasts.

Engine, Transmission, and Performance

Aston Martin would have bolted an AMG-sourced twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 into the Vanquish, and it would have paired with two electric motors to form a plug-in-hybrid powertrain. That would have been a big change from the hybrid 3.0-liter V-6 that the company had originally planned to be built in-house. While the Vanquish would have had a version of the same powertrain found on the Valhalla, we think it would have been unlikely to have made the same 937 horsepower. We expected it to feature a bonded aluminum spaceframe instead of the carbon-fiber tub used on the company's hypercars. The lack of aggressive aerodynamic technology that adorned the concept suggested this Aston would have been more of a grand tourer than its much more expensive track-focused siblings.

Interior, Comfort, and Cargo

The Vanquish nameplate would have entered new territory with the switch to a mid-engine layout. That would have meant everything we've previously known about the sports car's interior would have gone out the window, and our expectations for its new digs were based solely based on speculation. We had heard that its cabin would be roomier than Aston's other mid-engine hypercars. Apart from the additional passenger space, it's hard to predict how the company would have chosen to outfit the Vanquish's cabin. There would no doubt have been a vast amount of customization options, upscale materials, and racy elements throughout.

Infotainment and Connectivity

We can only speculate about what infotainment system might have used inside the Vanquish. While it could have been similar to the setup found on the Vantage sports car, which boasts an 8.0-touchscreen that's primarily controlled with a rotary knob on the center console, we think the interface might have been a more advanced one. If the Valhalla's infotainment system—or lack thereof—is any indication, Aston might have chosen to focus more on the driving experience in the Vanquish and less on built-in touchscreens and mainstream connectivity features.

Safety and Driver-Assistance Features

Aston currently offers a handful of driver-assistance technologies on some of its models, such as the Vantage sports car. That suggests the Vanquish could have been available with safety features such as a 360-degree camera system and blind-spot monitoring.