Aston Martin is on a roll. The company, which is in the midst of a renaissance with investor Lawrence Stroll at the helm, has brought to market out a series of new and refreshed vehicles over the last 18 months that show that the hard work the folks in Gaydon, England have been putting in over the last half-decade.
In that time, the passenger side of the company has brought to market the new DB12 and Vantage coupés in hard top and convertible forms, a refreshed DBX707 SUV and new Vanquish halo coupé.
Though they only announced the Vanquish's return in September, the company is already gearing up to deliver the first ones. And, in October, they invited Newsweek to travel to Sardinia to be among the first in the world to test drive the model.
I've driven Sardinian roads before, for the first time a few years ago in the Aston Martin DBX707. During that journey I narrowly escaped being pulled over by the Carabinieri for speeding and was part of a harrowing journey through a very narrow village street. Thankfully, this journey was a bit less eventful.
We took off from Hotel Cala di Volpe, a unique property that was recently home to Rebel Wilson's wedding. The wide Vanquish has sports car seating and an interior typical of the new Aston Martin. There's not much to write home about here because it all works as advertised.
Though the company's Q customization division, buyers can choose interior treatments and exterior colors that suit their desires. The interior of the tester was a blue on black combination, which was not nearly as bright as the Sunkist orange-like interior I had in the DBX707 tester I drove back in the spring, but Smurf-y nonetheless.
While the DB12 is a grand tourer for adults, the Vanquish is a grand tourer for adults who love to drive. Where the DB12 is easy to pilot and is a comfortable place to spend the day, Vanquish yearns for engagement and speed, pushing limits while eating up road, in comfort.
The twisty roads and low speed limits of Sardinia did not offer much in the way of opportunity to really get up on the accelerator, but they did allow plenty of time to discover what makes the Vanquish excellent.
In between kilometers stuck behind cursed numbers of the Fiat Puntos that are favored by locals, the Vanquish hugged to the road through the corners on the northern end of the island, with smooth braking and acceleration that was there when you needed it.
Aston has equipped the car with its new 5.2-liter V12 engine, which works with the physics of the car in every way rather than against it. Pushing into and through corners does not equal diving into them as the only option because of the engine's weight. It moves here better than the DB12 thanks to added steadying technology.
Getting on the throttle too heavily will cause the car to get properly squirrelly but it easily gets back in line. That throttle press also allows a roar from the exhaust that reminds the driver that that buying a Vanquish is not an eco-friendly choice.
Putting foot power into the accelerator engages the engine almost instantly. There's no lag, nor as much audible wind down as one might expect. The V12 is a new engine for a new Aston age.
Vanquish patiently plays in traffic with steady acceleration and braking at low speed through tight city streets with a suspension that is not nearly as hard has it could be for something described as "sport-tuned."
It's important for Vanquish drivers to understand their vehicles' dimensions as sight lines aren't spectacular in any direction. However, this is usually the case with sports cars.
That said, almost everything about the Vanquish is easy. Where it could be rowdy and boisterous, it delivers an eager-yet-balanced experience, letting its exterior lead the conversation and, the interesting rear, and the sound out of the exhaust, putting a cap on it.
I cannot think of too many things that I objected to with Vanquish, and that's without the excuse of it being an Aston so there's a few things you have to overlook. Vanquish is a complete specimen, and a fine-looking one at that.
It's at home in Costa Smeralda as much as the English countryside or a crowded street in Miami or Los Angeles. Vanquish's looks are stylishly different than the other Astons in the stable, with that back bit the topic of much consternation at a cocktail hour after our test drive.
That said, maybe Aston has been too stylistically safe for too long. Pushing the envelope here with Vanquish may be a nod to what is coming. No matter what, with the $429,000 Vanquish on the market, gasoline-filled future is looking a bit more exciting these days.
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