You’ll seldom come across car names as iconic as this one: Vanquish. The Aston that most notably accelerated to fame after being piloted by Pierce Brosnan posing as Britain’s super spy in Die Another Day back in 2002. And praise be, Aston Martin has returned the Vanquish as its new range-topping GT for 2025, and in its new form, is the most powerful production car the marque has ever produced.

Powered by a thunderous 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12, the Vanquish aims to do just that to its nearest rivals. The Vanquish will produce 835 horsepower and 1,000Nm of torque to shove you down the street. Power meets the road via the rear wheels only and you’ll see 100km/h in a staggering 3.3 seconds from standing. The only Aston cars quicker are the very limited-edition Victor and Valkyrie, though the Vanquish promises almost all of the performance with far less compromise on real roads. Shifting gears will come by the use of column-mounted paddles at the command of the familiar venerable eight-speed automatic, but now with greatly improved shift times. Manual transmissions now appear to be limited to only the most exclusive and illusive models in the AM range.

Aston has made no secret about the intention of the Vanquish, with this hulking new GT car setting its crosshairs firmly on Ferrari’s 12 Cilindri. In fact, AM has been on a mission to make each of its front-engine GT cars – the Vantage, DB12, and now the Vanquish – the most powerful cars in their respective segments. Which makes for some decent bragging rights at the golf course, if you’re into measuring that sort of thing.

But atop its stirring performance stats are its looks. Aston’s design department have done, in one man’s opinion, a sterling job of modernising some of the classic Vanquish lines and cues, while making it look distinctly like a new-gen Aston. It also shares no body panels with the DB12, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if it did, as the DB12 is stunning in its own right. But it certainly helps to give the new Vanquish a more unique look and feel over the previous cars.

Aston has decided to elongate the classic long-hood GT proportions, giving a nod to some of its heritage cars, extending out the wheelbase by pushing the front axel 80mm further forward from the A-pillar. A subtle change that has a huge impact on the imposing scale of this wonderous looking machine. The rest of the outer shell houses some trick aero slits and cutaways as we’ve come to expect, inspired by Aston’s F1 engineering prowess, helping to manage hot and cold air, and keeping the Vanquish stuck to the floor at speed. The grille is larger than the one found on the face of the DB12 – yes, that is actually possible – helping the V12 to chug down more cool air on the move. Advancing to the back of the car you’ll feast your eyes on a contrasting lower diffuser at the bottom, and on top, a ducktail spoiler – a staple of many great AM cars of all previous generations spanning the marque’s illustrious 111-year back catalogue.

The engineers at Aston Martin claim the car to be first and foremost a grand tourer. A very fast one at that. But a car that will remain sophisticated and comfortable, while being shockingly capable. As such, they’ve made efforts to ensure the weight is low for a car of this nature. Dry, the Vanquish will tip the scales at 1,774kg with all the lightweight options ticked on your order form. It’s certainly no Lotus Elise, but it’s packing a lot less heft than the Bentley Continental.

At the time of writing, the sticker price for the new Vanquish is to be confirmed but expect it to exceed the DB12 and be in the region of €350.000. Aston is limiting production of this new car to just 1,000 examples each year, so you’ll have to get orders in early and can still expect this to be quite a rare sight on the road. The first cars should be rolling out of showrooms before this Christmas.

While we can’t wait to discover more about how the new Vanquish will drive on the road, there’s absolutely no doubt that this new flagship face of the Aston Martin brand looks truly exquisite.

POWER: 835hp and 1,000Nm-torque
0-100KM/H: 3.3 seconds
TOP SPEED: 344km/h
MARKET ALTERNATIVES: Ferrari 12Cilindri, Bentley Continental GT, Porsche 911 Turbo S
PRICE: Estimated €350.000