Almost as soon as the Virage Coupe had entered production, development began of the high-performance Vantage with the ultimate aim of a 186 mph supercar to seat four in supreme comfort. The brief given to the Aston Martin powertrain engineering manager was to achieve an output of 500 bhp: the finished engine featured twin superchargers and developed a ‘conservative’ 550 bhp and immense torque.
Introduced at the 1992 British International Motor Show, the Vantage bore only a passing resemblance to the Virage, for the only panels that were shared with the standard car were the door skins and roof panel. The styling had been dramatically updated by John Heffernan to create a far more aggressive motor car with triple Cibié headlamps either side behind a single heated lens.
A matt black ‘egg-box’ style grille was fitted along with a revised deeper air-dam with apertures for radiator and brake cooling.
The car on display has benefited from the Works Service V600 upgrade package. This comprises of an engine rebuild to produce 600 bhp, ultra-lightweight hollow spoke magnesium wheels, giant brake discs with circumferential cooling grooves with racing callipers and reworked suspension with uprated springs, adjustable dampers and a stiffer anti-roll bar.
Introduced at the 1992 British International Motor Show, the Vantage bore only a passing resemblance to the Virage, for the only panels that were shared with the standard car were the door skins and roof panel. The styling had been dramatically updated by John Heffernan to create a far more aggressive motor car with triple Cibié headlamps either side behind a single heated lens.
A matt black ‘egg-box’ style grille was fitted along with a revised deeper air-dam with apertures for radiator and brake cooling.
The car on display has benefited from the Works Service V600 upgrade package. This comprises of an engine rebuild to produce 600 bhp, ultra-lightweight hollow spoke magnesium wheels, giant brake discs with circumferential cooling grooves with racing callipers and reworked suspension with uprated springs, adjustable dampers and a stiffer anti-roll bar.