I had always found Aston Martins to be interesting cars, but they never really got my blood flowing, at least with respects to their more common models.

Before working for an authorized Aston Martin dealership, my experiences with the brand were almost non-existent. I did drive a 1953 DB2 that had been traded into the Ferrari dealership. It was an interesting car, to say the least, but I had never driven ANY car from that era, so i had nothing to compare it to.

 

We also took in a 1990 V8 Vantage Volante. It was a cool car with an all-aluminum body – very unique for the day. It drove like a pig! It felt heavy, and the brakes were underwhelming. The power was nothing special either. Not very memorable to me. In fact, I actually had to come back and place these last few sentences about it into this story – that’s how memorable it was!

Way back in the day, I remember reading an article about a concept of theirs, called the Bulldog. It was quite futuristic looking, with incredible capabilities, but that car never saw the light of day as a production model. Of course, there were the Astons being driven regularly in James Bond movies, particularly the DB5s from the older movies that really had a ton of character, and looked incredible.

Years afterward, an article came out about their concept model, called a Vanquish. It boasted some incredible performance numbers, and did end up entering production. We once took one in on trade at the Ferrari dealership, but I never did get to drive it. I will say that the sound it made was one of the best I have ever heard in any car.

Once joining an Aston Martin dealership, I got to drive the entire current lineup, which consisted of V8 powered Vantages, the almighty V12 Vantage, the DB9, the current day Vanquish, and the 4-door Rapide.

With the V8 Vantage, you must always keep the price in mind, because you have to constantly remind yourself of what you are getting for the money. Entry price into the Vantage world is about $100,000. No, you aren’t getting stellar performance and handling. Nor are you getting state-of-the-art technology in the cabin. You do get an antiquated single-clutch transmission that is so far behind in today’s world that I would highly recommend the manual transmission.  What you do get for $100,000 is an Aston Martin. You get the looks of one, and you get to tell people that you drive one. It is still regarded as being exotic, even though it is not much more than a Corvette.

The V12 Vantage, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast altogether. Of course, this is reflected in the price, because it gets up to $200k and over. The looks are updated tastefully, but aggressively. And the power! Wow! It is stupid fast. It still has the single clutch transmission, which works a whole lot better with the torque that the V12 delivers. This ties with the Vanquish as my favorite Aston.

The DB9 – what can I say about the DB9? It just doesn’t excite me. Much of it has to do with how long it has been around for. It has okay performance, with a 6-speed automatic transmission. I like the way it looks, but the looks have been around way too long.

The Rapide is an interesting car. It was introduced when I was selling Maserati Quattroportes at the Ferrari dealership. It’s a good looking sedan, but again, has been around way too long, and not as good looking as the Quattroporte.  All of the switchgear is old school – nothing modern at all. It has a 550-bhp V12 mated to an 8-speed automatic, the highlight of the car.

The Vanquish is a beast in a tuxedo. It has the brutal force of the V12 Vantage along with the sound, but is very happy just being a Grand Touring car. I don’t like the looks nearly as much as the Vanquish that preceded it. Coolest part of a Vanquish is the all-carbon-fiber body. It is the only regular production car to have that, yet still weighs close to 4,000lbs. Go figure.

I learned very quickly that even though there is similar pricing, Aston Martin does not hold a candle to a Ferrari. It’s not even a discussion. You have to be a massive fan of British cars and whatever you feel you get because of that.

You can’t get away with keeping designs around for as long as Aston does. In today’s world, 5 years is a lot. Yet they seem to be okay with using decades as time measurements. Same goes for the mechanicals. Their powerplants are still based on the Ford engines they started to utilize when Ford owned them. It’s ridiculous! Their navigation units are pop-up screens on the dashtop that are Garmins! No wonder the showroom was almost always empty, and the phones never rang. You want somewhere quiet to go to? Forget the library – just go to an Aston showroom!

They have now introduced the DB11, which will boast new technologies from their partnership with AMG. That should bring them up to modern times with respects to technology. But the looks. What is up with the floating roof line-look? Are they copying Nissan with the new Maxima?!?! It looks terrible! The car looks like it is wearing a bad toupee!

Aston Martin have a tough road ahead of them. The entire lineup needs a serious updating, and hopefully they have the resources to do so. Their new partnership with AMG is a good thing. I look forward to seeing what comes after the newly introduced DB11.