Aston Martin Vanquish II

Start with what the Aston Martin Vanquish II is: a 2-door coupé / 2-door convertible with 5.9&nbsp, built from 2012 to 2018, as electrification stopped being an experiment and the crossover took every market. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Marek Reichman.

The story

British carmaker Aston Martin manufactured and marketed the second generation of its Vanquish between 2012 and 2018. A grand touring car, it succeeded the DBS, resurrected the name of the 2001–2007 model, and was available as both a coupe and a convertible, the latter known as the Volante. It would later itself be succeeded by the DBS Superleggera. Designed by Marek Reichman, the Vanquish was preceded by a concept car called the Project AM310 that Aston Martin presented at the 2012 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in Lombardy, Italy. The production version was presented at a sneak preview at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July; a presentation to a group of guests at the London Film Museum also in July; and an appearance at the Monterey Car Week in August. The Vanquish is based on the DB9's architecture, namely the vertical/horizontal platform.

Extensively incorporating aluminium in its construction, the Vanquish was assembled in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England. Aston Martin presented the Vanquish Volante at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, with deliveries starting in late 2013. In 2014, the company made minor modifications to the Vanquish's engine performance. A more significantly modified version, called the Vanquish S, was launched in 2016; its Volante version was released the following year. The Vanquish S introduced such updates as increased horsepower and torque, and a new body kit. Aston Martin produced the Vanquish Zagato—a special edition—in various body styles, including a coupe, convertible, shooting brake, and a roadster, the latter dubbed the Speedste

What is underneath

The engine is 5.9&nbsp. On the scales it comes to 3850 lb. Drive goes through a 6-speed ZF 6HP 26 (Touchtronic II) automatic (2012–2014) / 8-speed ZF 8HP70 (Touchtronic III) automatic (2014–2018). The wheelbase is 2740 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Its place in the line

In the Aston Martin line-up the Aston Martin Vanquish II has a clear place: it replaced the Aston Martin DBS; it handed the line to the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera; the factory was Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Mazda CX-5, the Peugeot 208, the Tesla Model X. Nearby in the Aston Martin catalogue sit the Aston Martin Mark II and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.