A closer look at the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage at the Geneva Motor Show (photos)

11-Mar-2005 • Bond News

The long-awaited Aston Martin V8 Vantage is arguably one of the stars of the Geneva Motor Show - reports MSN.

It's the most compact car that Aston Martin has made in generations and, they say, the most affordable Aston Martin ever.

According to Aston boss Ullrich Bez, and there's no reason to doubt him, this all-new V8 Vantage is also the most important car in Aston Martin history. And as he admits, that's a very mixed history, with a long succession of owners, and numerous trips to the brink of extinction.

But now, as part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, Aston is performing well and looking to perform even better, and this car is the key to the next leap.

With a projected price of around â¬104,500 in Europe, it goes head to head with rivals like the Porsche 911 - and although Aston doesn't expect to sell anything like 911 numbers, they do expect the V8 Vantage to become Aston's biggest seller ever.

This assumes an annual production of around 5000 cars, which would allow both efficiency and profitability. Such numbers would also, Bez says, give Aston global visibility without sacrificing the brand's exclusivity.

So what about the car? Well, it looks to have all the ingredients to make it work. Its styling is absolutely superb, mixing aggression with grace, and it is significantly smaller than the DB9. It is powered by a thoroughbred 4.3-liter 380-horsepower Aston V8, built like all Aston's engines in Cologne, but the car couldn't be anything but English.

Performance should be impressive. It promises a top speed of 175 mph and 0-60 mph in just 4.9 seconds, and Bez promises that where the DB9 is a Grand Tourer and the Vanquish a supercar, the V8 Vantage is a sports car in the finest sense.

Whatever label you put on it, it is undoubtedly one of the major stars of the show.

Click here for earlier news story unveiling the car.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.