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Aston Martin Vanquish | First Drive Review
Aston Martin Vanquish | First Drive Review
Anniversaries are always special, and a bit like old rock bands, they remind you of the good times, make you wonder where the years went, and if done properly, they deliver an issue loud enough to shake the proverbial walls. Five years of chronicling the machines that quicken pulses and weaken knees. So, what better way to mark this milestone than with a car that defies modern trends? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, while the world is busy turning cars into soulless, electrified appliances, we’re here to bask in the glory of a twelve-cylinder, fire-breathing dinosaur. Something truly special.
Typically, an editor’s voice sets the tone for any magazine’s cover stories, especially in an issue as significant as this. But, in what can only be described as a spectacular lapse in judgment, our editor has decided to hand the reins to me, a guy in his twenties who prefers speed to sanity and finds the extraordinary far more appealing than the ordinary. And what’s the task? To experience a car that laughs in the face of hybridisation, flips the bird at efficiency, and delivers power and torque in quantities that should come with a government warning. The absolute pinnacle of automotive indulgence. A car that was launched just days ago. The 2025 Aston Martin Vanquish.
Imagine something that produces more than 800 horsepower, gut-wrenching 1,000 Nm of torque. Not a single AA battery in sight. No hybrid gubbins. No “regenerative braking” nonsense. Just a good old-fashioned 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 mounted upfront, sending all the power to the rear, doing what it was born to do, scare wildlife, rattle windows, and hurl you towards the horizon at speeds that would make a SpaceX engineer sweat.
It joins Ferrari’s dwindling stable of 12-cylinder front-engined machines as a rare critter roaring defiantly against the tide of electrification. A middle finger to the downsizers. A battle cry for the old-school. And, to top it all off, it’s been hand-assembled. Aston Martin claims this V12 will survive "until at least the end of the decade." Remember when we all thought EVs would take over by 2030? Turns out that if you have one billionaire Netflix villain bankrolling your dreams, you can keep the oil-burning dream alive for a bit longer. This is Aston Martin reminding us why petrolheads still have a pulse. Because while other manufacturers are busy telling us that the future is silent and sustainable, Aston has taken one look at that memo, set fire to it, and written their own: "We will keep making V12s until someone physically drags us away."
Of course, exclusivity like this comes at a price. A big one. A rather eye-watering Rs 8.85 crore ex-showroom, to be precise. And by the time you’ve ticked a few options like paint, wheels, or the privilege of breathing near it, you’re looking at around Rs 12 crore. That’s not just expensive; that’s ‘sell-your-house-and-your-kidney’ expensive. But again, this is a V12, more potent than the one from Maranello.
My first date with this beast began at 2 AM at the Bangalore airport. A cab ride through deserted streets, anticipation building like a teenager waiting for exam results, until I finally arrived at the JW Marriott Bengaluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa. There, waiting in its trailer, was the Vanquish, wrapped up like a Christmas present for lunatics.
Having previously grappled with the Vantage and DB12, I thought I had Aston Martin figured out. But this, this was different. My only grievance with those cars? The glaring absence of a V12. And now, the Vanquish was here to confront me with my own desires. With its name revived from its prestigious lineage first seen in 2001 and then reimagined in 2012, it now stakes its claim as the pinnacle of Aston Martin’s GT offerings. It steps in gracefully to replace the DBS, not by imitation but by a ground-up reinvention that solders tradition with futuristic design cues.
The Vanquish ticks an awful lot of boxes. It looks utterly exquisite, moves with the urgency of a last-minute flight to Monaco, and sounds like Eric Clapton letting loose on a vintage Gibson, backed by a V12 orchestra. It’s sharp, precise, and thrilling when the road demands it, and every input is met with an almost telepathic response. But when the adrenaline fades, it becomes something far more dignified. The ride is effortlessly supple, the seats are sculpted for long-distance perfection and the brakes? Immensely powerful yet delicate in their precision, like a pianist’s fingers on ivory keys. But let’s set aside the technicalities for a moment. Picture this: You’re at a private soirée in South Mumbai. It’s 3 am. The champagne is flowing, the conversation is electric, and just as you contemplate a glass, you remember you have a board meeting in Udaipur at noon. In most cars, you’d either arrive late or look as if you’d spent the night on a budget airline. In this? You’d glide in, effortless and unruffled, as if you had all the time in the world.
And that’s what makes the Vanquish special. It’s not just another achingly beautiful Aston Martin. For once, there’s a true sense of engineering precision beneath the elegance. It feels purposeful. Considered. The result? A grand tourer that isn’t just good. It’s phenomenal.
