The gasoline-powered world is dying, and the electrified world struggles to be born: Now is the time of monsters. Specifically, the time of monster engines in any chassis they can be wedged into. Swan songs for internal combustion are all the rage right now: The Corvette Z06, the Dodge Demon, even Lamborghini and Lotus are getting in on the fun.
Now it’s Aston Martin’s turn, and the company seems to have traded in the quiet confidence of Bond’s v12 Vanquish for something a bit more raucous — a wailing, crackling last gasp of Aston’s famous twelve-cylinder.
Aston hasn’t said much about the car, only that it’s “the final descendant of its lineage” and “marks the end of an era.” The company doesn’t specify if that means the last V12, the last Vantage, or just the last V12 Vantage, but any (or all) of the three is possible. Aston has promised the continuation of the V8, but hasn’t said the same for the V12.
The V12 Vantage is “not just a Limited Edition, it’s a Final Edition” according to Aston Martin’s press materials. It seems this version of the twelve-cylinder Vantage won’t be a standard production model like in previous eras, but a limited-production release to send off Aston’s most memorable engine.
Personally, I’m hoping Aston goes all-out with the final V12 Vantage. Make twelve of them, paint them all that classic Aston gray-silver, and mount real guns on the front. Rotating license plates, oil slick, the whole deal. If you’re going to send off Aston’s V12 engine, and possibly the Vantage with it, you really need to do it right.