An icon of British motoring, Aston Martin sits amongst the great car manufacturers. Each and every car produced is in its own way jaw-droppingly beautiful, with innovation making them seemingly better and better. Not only are the cars beautiful, but the latest generations are able to keep up with the highest ends of both the supercar and sports car markets. For years, Aston Martin always had the “sex appeal” in design, but when driver were not at the same standard as competitors, such as the DB4 Zagato and the DB5, two of the most beautiful cars ever made. Aston’s post-WWII racing heritage is not as great as its rivals’, with only one Le Mans win in 1959, the car driven by future GT-40 designer Carroll Shelby and Formula One driver, Roy Salvadori. The winning DBR1, named after its legendary designer, Sir David Brown, would go on to etch its name in history. A total of nineteen wins for Aston Martin through many different categories, such as the 1.5-litre class in the 1930s, and the GT1 class in the late 2000s, Aston Martin has proved its worth on occasion, but on far fewer than the likes of Porsche and Ferrari.
However, times have changed, and when we look at the newest generation of cars, there is a level of performance never seen before from Aston Martin Racing. The new Aston Martin Vantage, a variant of the DB12 family, has racked up wins in both America’s IMSA series and in the FIA World Endurance Championship, performing at the highest level and competing with the dominant Porsche 911 GT3 R winning the Circuit of the Americas, and coming second in both Qatar and Sao Paolo in the GT3 class. Furthermore, Aston Martin are branching into the Hypercar class with the Valkyrie for the 2025 season, a homologation of the road car designed by former Red Bull and now soon to be Aston Martin Formula One chief engineer, Adrian Newey. Not only is the car so incredible to look at, but the Cosworth V12 provides the perfect soundtrack, and has already showed great promise in testing at Silverstone.
Since Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll bought the company in 2020, Aston Martin has re-entered Formula One, with ten podiums total, eight of them coming in the 2023 season. As well as this, both the new Vantage and the DB12 have been released on sale to the general public, with many describing both as now leading cars in their fields. The DB12 challenges the likes of the Ferrari 812 Superfast and the Bentley Continental GT, but advocates itself as a “Super Tourer”, rather than “just” a Grand Tourer. Its throaty V8 growls with the perfect soundtrack and pushes out an astonishing 671 brake horsepower. There are also whispers of a V12 edition, which would be absolutely brilliant, as a British V12 is not only one of the best sounding engines, but in the modern day, a rival to some of the German versions.
In a world where regulations and activists want to enforce silence upon the streets, Aston Martin stood up and fought back, releasing both a V12 Vantage special edition and a new edition of the Vanquish, also fitted with their most powerful ever V12, built and designed inhouse. Again, both cars provide total eye candy, and are worthy of the badge that adorns their bodywork. Their roars have been showed off, particularly the Vanquish, at Goodwood Festival of Speed, setting a decent time, especially for a production car, and wowing the crowd. What Aston Martin and their V12s signify is not only performance in the modern day, but also recognition of a 111-year-old icon, that promotes its British identity as well as entertain everyone who sees their cars in public. With such a large range, from the DBX and its variants to the Valhalla, Aston Martin sits at the top of British motoring, and indeed alongside the top of global motoring. Despite this broad catalogue, the firm only made 6,620 cars in 2023, 7,000 fewer than Ferrari. Not only a rarer icon, but also now a true competitor. Ferrari’s Roma has often been compared as a “knock-off ” in design to the new Vantage. To me it looks like an ’80s tribute band that tried too hard with the makeup, but it is a compliment to what Aston Martin have produced, borderline motoring perfection.
To say that Aston Martin is without fault would be untrue, and there have been some failures, but the brand itself has survived many mergers, buyouts, and bankruptcies and still come out on top. Of all the firms in motoring, it has this unique identity not only around its racing heritage or use in modern media, but also its link to royalty, with King Charles regularly driving a DB5 that he converted to run on biofuels. Perhaps what Aston Martin is, is a symbol of Britain.
Tough, resilient, always getting back up from a tough fight, and providing beauty and perfection in the most intricate and wonderful ways. As we turn towards alternatives to petrol and diesel combustion, Aston Martin is stubborn to keep those engines in use for as long as it can, and one can only admire how well they have done with their latest crop.
I’ll finish here: Aston Martin is the coolest car brand in the world, all of its cars leading or at the top of their fields, and its wings are oh so very iconic. A brand that has stood the test of time and provided some of the best road and racing cars ever. The motoring world is incredibly lucky to have it. And this entire article didn’t even need to mention James Bond.