CarBrandLogos archive · Aston Martin · 2005

Aston MartinVantage

The small, cheap Aston built to fight the 911, and it ran for thirteen years.

Photo: Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Aston Martin history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Aston Martin Vantage, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Gaydon's plan under Ford had three cars in it: a grand tourer, a flagship, and something smaller and more affordable to take on the Porsche 911. The third of those arrived in 2005, styled by Henrik Fisker as a compact, wide-hipped coupé with a hatchback tailgate, and it sold in greater numbers than anything Aston Martin had built before.

2011 AMV8 Vantage N420 · Mr.choppers · CC BY-SA 3.0

2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage - Flickr - The Car Spy

Design and engineering

The engineering was serious. It used the bonded aluminium VH architecture, with the engine set well back behind the front axle line and the gearbox in a transaxle at the rear for balance. The 4.3-litre V8 was based on Jaguar's AJ-V8 but substantially reworked and hand-assembled in Cologne; a 4.7 replaced it in 2008. Six-speed manuals were offered throughout, alongside a succession of automated single-clutch Sportshift boxes that were the car's weakest point.

2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage - Flickr - The Car Spy · The Car Spy · CC BY 2.0

In production

In 2009 the company did the obvious and slightly implausible thing and fitted the DB9's 5.9-litre V12 into the smallest bodyshell in the range. The V12 Vantage was cramped, heavy over the nose and much loved, and it stayed in production until 2018. Along the way came a stream of harder-edged specials, the N430, GT8 and GT12 among them, and a final V12 Vantage S with a dog-leg seven-speed manual for the people who had complained about the paddle boxes for a decade. A wholly new Vantage replaced it in 2018.

2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe · EurovisionNim · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2005–2017

Engine

4.3&nbsp

Designer

Henrik Fisker

Body

2-door coupé

Technical specification

The Vantage, in detail.

Production: 2005–2017 (V8 Vantage); 2009–2018 (V12 Vantage)
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door coupé; 2-door roadster
Layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: 4.3 L Jaguar AJ-V8 engine#Aston Martin 4.3/4.7; AM05 V8 engine; V8 ; 4.7 L Jaguar AJ-V8 engine#Aston Martin 4.3/4.7; AM14 V8 ; 5.9 L Aston Martin V12 engine; AM11 V12 engine; V12 (V12 Vantage) ; 5.9 L
Transmission: 6-speed Graziano manual; 6-speed Sportshift automated manual; 7-speed Sportshift II automated manual; 7-speed Sportshift III automated manual (V12 Vantage S); 7-speed dog-leg manual (2017 V12 Vantage S only)
Designer: Henrik Fisker
Assembly: United Kingdom: Gaydon, Warwickshire
Manufacturer: Aston Martin