Aston Martin celebrates Spitfire milestone

ASTON Martin will release a brace of eight specially modified Vantage V12s to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first Supermarine Spitfire, the iconic British fighter aircraft that helped shape the Battle of Britain in World War II.

Known as the Vantage S Spitfire 80, the cars will be prepared by Aston Martin and sold through its Cambridge dealership.

All eight will be finished in a new paint hue, known as Duxford Green, which is named after the first RAF base where the fighters were stationed.

The Duxford Aircraft Restoration Company will also produce a handful of bespoke parts for the car, including exhaust tips that will, according to Aston, mimic the ‘rainbow bloom’ effect of the Spitfire’s straight pipes from its 27-litre Merlin V12, which was built, somewhat ironically, by fellow British Marque Rolls-Royce.

Along with the tips, owners can opt to have a serial number of a Spitfire inscribed on the Aston’s side strakes, while the car’s bonnet vents will be colour coded and a satin carbon rear diffusor added.

The yellow pinstriping also pays tribute to the finish of the first Spitfire, while solid silver Aston wings will be affixed front and rear.

The Royal Air Force roundel has been incorporated into the dashboard, a ‘Spitfire 80’ logo is added to the head rests, while red webbing door pulls and inserts mimic the Spitfire’s interior. Even the airbag cover is inscribed with a unique aircraft code.

What does not change is the car’s mechanical specification, the Spitfire 80 is powered by a 5.9-litre V12 engine outputting 424kW and 630Nm through the rear wheels, which equates to a 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds.

In the UK, the special edition cars will be priced at £180,000 ($A316,000), which is £40,000 ($A70,000) over the car’s regular asking price, whereas in Australia, the standard V12 Vantage S costs $385,800 before on-road costs.

The vehicles will be handed over to their new owners at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, where the owners will have a chance to run their new machines down the Duxford airstrip.

Aston Martin Australia was not aware of any Aussies putting their hand up for the extremely limited run of cars.

The marque has sold 65 cars locally so far in 2016, as it awaits stocks of the new $428,032 DB11 to land later in the year.