Twenty-five years ago this month, Aston Martin pulled the covers off a car at the Geneva Motor Show that would become one of its most enduring nameplates. The V12 Vanquish, built at the company’s Newport Pagnell factory before operations moved to Gaydon, introduced a 6.0-litre V12 with 460bhp and a body structure that leaned heavily on carbon fiber and bonded aluminum, with manufacturing processes developed alongside the University of Nottingham and a facility in California’s Silicon Valley.
Two more generations have followed since. The second, arriving in 2012, wore bodywork made entirely from aerospace-grade carbon fiber and pushed output to 565 bhp. The third and current model, launched in 2024, goes considerably further: a 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 rated at 835PS and 1,000Nm of torque, 0-60mph in 3.3 seconds, and a 214 mph top speed. Aston Martin limits production to under 1,000 cars a year.
CEO Adrian Hallmark said the nameplate had grown into “a true Aston Martin icon” and called it “a symbol of what this exceptional British marque is capable of creating.”
Company historian Steve Waddingham traced the car’s identity back to its name. “Look up the word ‘vanquish,'” he said, “and you will find it has one of the best dictionary definitions in the English language,” pointing to synonyms like “conquer” and “overwhelm” as the standard the original car was built to.
Read the full press release on the Aston Martin media site.
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