YouTube video teases Final Edition V12 Vantage

ASTON MARTIN has confirmed that it will give its coveted V12 Vantage a final hurrah… The model will return briefly as a Final Edition in 2022 before being relegated to the history books.

Teased in a YouTube video that features little more than a revving engine, the accompanying quote says: “You will certainly hear it coming. V12 Vantage. It’s not just a Limited Edition, it’s a Final Edition. Returning in 2022”.

Although the teaser video gives little away, it’s understood the next-gen V12 Vantage will feature more aggressive styling than its derivative variant, with larger air intakes, bonnet scoops, wider wheels and -arches, plus a deeper rear diffuser spied earlier in secret Nürburgring testing videos.

There’s no word yet on whether the model is confirmed for Australia. Aston Martin’s local PR arm says that “at this point, we are unable to provide any further detail regarding the model above and beyond the (press) prelease”.

As Aston Martin Lagonda and other brands face increasingly tight emissions regulations, the transition from high-capacity engines to hybridised and fully electric models is inevitable. 

Aston Martin has confirmed that its electrification strategy would begin in 2025 with what’s understood to be an all-electric replacement for the DB11. 

The Gaydon-based brand says petrol-powered models (which will comprise just five per cent of its total production output) will be reserved for the racetrack, with the remaining 95 per cent of its production to be made up of 50 per cent electric- and 45 per cent hybrid-powered vehicles.

Until then, the sonorous 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12-engined Final Edition will be the unmistakable flagship of the revamped Vantage line-up with peak output figures that could rival those of the DBS GT Zagato (566kW and 900Nm of torque). Like that model, the V12 Vantage Final Edition will probably be offered exclusively with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Aston Martin AE31-series V12 engine is a “clean slate engine” that, unlike the previous 6.0-litre V12, has no relationship with Ford’s Duratec V6. Force fed by a pair of twin-scroll turbos, the oversquare mill is multipoint-injected and incorporates cylinder-deactivation technology.

At the launch of the turbocharged V12, Aston Martin chief engineer Brian Fitzsimons said: “Further evolution of the current (six-litre) V12 as a naturally aspirated engine was not an option due to the environment and legislative landscape that exists and continues to evolve.”

The same may be true of the current V12 powerplant, although the date of its discontinuation has yet to be announced.

The current, second-generation Aston Martin Vantage was released in 2018 as a successor to the original model launched in 2005. The model is powered by a Mercedes-AMG sourced M177-series twin-turbo V8 displacing 4.0 litres and developing 375kW and 685Nm. 

Aston Martin claims the V8 Vantage can accelerate from standstill to 100km/h in 3.6 seconds and go on to a top speed of 314km/h. The car has a dry weight of 1530kg and its powerplant is paired exclusively with an eight-speed automatic transaxle.

Previous special-edition iterations of the Vantage include the track-focused Vantage AMR – replete with a Graziano-sourced seven-speed manual transmission, the James Bond-inspired Vantage 007 Edition, the 88-unit-only V12 Speedster, as well as the the Vantage F1 Edition, which was created to celebrate the British marque’s return to Formula One after 61 years.

Aston Martin will release full specification and pricing details for the V12 Vantage Final Edition closer to its 2022 launch. Locally, the V8 Vantage is priced from $278,900 plus on-road costs.