We had a sneaky suspicion this was on the cards when we spied a tasty-looking prototype at the 'ring back in the summer. Well, today it's official. On the one hand that means PH can celebrate the efficacy of its sources but, more importantly, we can all revel in the return of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. The press release sets the right tone: 'You've heard about it. You will certainly hear it coming. V12 Vantage. It's not just a Limited Edition, it's the Final Edition. Returning in 2022.'
Yep, that must be the briefest press release in a while. We've got the confirmation that the V12's happening, but that was the bit we pretty much knew already. What we still don't know is the finer detail, which means we're back to the speculation.
The front end of the prototype was very heavily disguised, although there was no concealing the large area of gauze on the upper surface of its bonnet, which would appear to be extra cooling vents as per the previous V12 Vantage. There are also further openings at the front, next to each headlight, and farther up, just below the A-pillars. At the rear, the diffuser looks to ape that seen on the Vantage F1, albeit with two centre-exiting exhausts rather than the F1's side exiting pipes, but there's no large, track-day tea-tray spoiler.
Instead, the V12 makes do with a more elegant solution befitting its grand tourer status: a Gurney flap running across the upper edge of the boot lid. The spy shots also show wheel arch extensions that point to a wider track. It's hard to gauge the extent of this, though, because looking at the rear, especially, the arches are over extended - to the point they stretch well beyond the edge of the tyres.
And what about power? Well, we know that the twin-turbocharged 5.2-litre V12 is currently running at anything between 640hp and 725hp in production spec. If we look back to the previous V12 Vantage as a reference point, which had 510hp, that had the same power as the DBS Coupé of the time. Now, if Aston are calling this the Final Edition that points to it being the balls-out version from the off so, potentially, it could run the full 725hp that the current DBS has, or at least the 700hp that the V12 Speedster outputs.
The only issue would be marketing. Will Aston want to peg the V12 Vantage back enough not to upset the owners who have paid £750k for one of the 88 V12 Speedsters? Or will they be happy to leave that car's exclusivity as the fillip? Who knows at this stage but the V12 has never made less than 600hp, so, even with that as a baseline, it's hardly likely to be a disappointment on the performance front. Which is appropriate if this the model's last hurrah.
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