Aston Martin has teased its upcoming V12 Vantage once again – this time revealing the reveal date and a brief clip of its engine note.
In the official video we also see the phrase ‘Never go quietly’, referring to the Gaydon brand’s focus on making more electric cars in future.
The new V12 Vantage front end has already been unveiled to a certain extent, showing off a wider grille to meet the cooling demands of the new V12 engine. There’s also some new cooling vents in the bonnet to expel excess heat from the engine bay and an aggressive lower splitter.
Our spy photographers have previously spotted the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage undergoing its development programme, revealing twin exhausts mounted centrally – rather than the V8’s wider set up. The prototype car also features a small downforce-generating gurney flap on its ducktail spoiler, presumably to simulate the revised aero package of the final car during testing. We also expect there will be a redesigned diffuser.
While we’ve not had confirmation which engine will power the next V12 Vantage, we expect it’ll be the brand’s familiar twin-turbocharged 5.2-litre V12 engine, found in the DB11 and the DBS Superleggera. Aston Martin’s limited-run, Vantage-derived V12 Speedster also uses the same engine, albeit tuned to 690bhp.
The new V12 Vantage probably won’t have as much power as the V12 Speedster. An output closer to the 600bhp offered in the DB11 is more likely – and that should provide plenty of performance given the smaller dimensions and lighter weight of the Vantage’s body.
In order to produce the roofless Speedster from the current Vantage platform, Aston borrowed the chassis structure ahead of the A-pillar from the flagship DBS Superleggera in order to package the larger engine. We may see a similar solution for the V12 Vantage, which will also use a more aggressive chassis set-up to make it more suitable for track use.
In a previous teaser for the new V12 Vantage, the British brand also released an extremely short statement which read: “You’ve heard about it. You will certainly hear it coming. V12 Vantage. It’s not just a Limited Edition, it’s a Final Edition. Returning in 2022.”
This suggests that Aston Martin will make the next V12 Vantage the last of the breed, with tightening emissions regulations forcing the company towards electrification and downsized petrol engines.
The arrival of this hardcore Vantage could follow a comprehensive facelift of the standard model. Both will form part of a brand offensive, dubbed “Project Horizon,” which will include a coupe-SUV variant of the DBX, the recently unveiled Valhalla supercar and the potential for hybridisation of the entire Aston Martin range.
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