British specialist marque Aston Martin are set to convert their beloved Vanquish nameplate from a front-engined layout into a mid-engined one, which will then actively take on stalwarts in the class like the Ferrari F8 Tributo, Lamborghini Huracan, and McLaren 570S. And in typical Aston Martin fashion, this mid-engined Vanquish would then later evolve into a Volante drop-top and also an AMR Pro performance model.
This was confirmed by boss Andy Palmer during an interview, where he most certainly did not mince words.
“We’ll get sales from the Ferrari, McLaren, and Lamborghini Huracan Evo.” – Andy Palmer, Chief Executive Officer, Aston Martin
Palmer also confirmed to TopGear that the new Vanquish will make use of an also-new V6 powerplant, which he says will be one hell of a thing, good enough to overshadow the AMG V8s that a number of their cars presently make use of for motivation. This was revealed when asked directly about why they’d pass up a chance to use the AMG motor, which would undoubtedly cost less than developing a whole new mill.
“Well, we have engineers. They did our turbo V12, and I didn’t want to send them home. We are able to attract engineers to this brand. They have an appetite to do something special. And a V6 is basically half a V12.” – Andy Palmer, Chief Executive Officer, Aston Martin
This is all, ultimately, a part of Andy Palmer’s plan to bring automotive manufacturing back to the United Kingdom. He’s keenly aware that it’s been very nearly two decades since an Aston Martin rolled off the line with a British-built engine, but as “the UK doesn’t know its arse from its elbow at the moment” (his words, not ours), that dream could remain off the cards for a little while longer.
