Aston Martin contemplates Ferrari-beating mid-engine supercar

Since Aston Martin traded controlling ownership from Ford to the consortium comprised of Prodrive,and Kuwaiti investment group, it's landed in the news many times. The sale was big news in itself, and shortly after this was the announcement that some of the workers decided to strike. Oh, and don't forget that the Rapide, the long and lean four-door Aston was confirmed for production. If those headlines weren't enough, it seems that Aston is out to grab the front page of the world's automotive tabloids again with the potential of a mid-engine supercar - reports Automobile.com.

Since Aston made it official that it was separating from Ford, information began to flow revealing a mid-engined vehicle to compete with high end exotics like the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, Pagani Zonda and the now out of production Ferrari Enzo and Porsche Carrera GT.

David Richards, the top boss of Prodrive and chairman of the new Aston Martin said, "Aston has to look at some of the things that are being done by our competitors, like the Audi R8 and the Japanese brands. We believe we can expand quite considerably."

What's more is that during that time period, Aston Martin's CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez displayed a preview of Aston Martin's product range that featured a vehicle called "NPX" which would sit above the Rapide, a vehicle that's estimated to cost $400,000 dollars and sell between 1,000 and 2,000 units per year. Bez said, "It is a sign of the confidence of the company that we could put a model above the Rapide." The vehicle could potentially carry the name “DBX”.

With insider information, British magazine Auto Express painted a verbal picture of what the NPX might be like. It said that despite having its engine behind the passenger cabin, the vehicle would still ride on the“VH” aluminum and composite platform, which is used on all Aston Martins, all of which are front engined. Power would be provided by a 700 horsepower version of the 6.0-liter V12 that is expected to power the DBS, the successor to the current range-topping Vanquish S. Before turning the rear wheels, the power will be routed through a traditional six-speed manual gearbox, not a sequential manual or a regular automatic in order to keep driver appeal high. All of this means that the NPX should at least be able to top 205 mph, and hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. This vehicle would cost in the area of a half million dollars, putting it on par with the aforementioned rivals, and well above the existing Vanquish S.

If Aston Martin is capable of following through on its plans for the NPX, it would shift the brand's product focus away from grand touring vehicles to true supercars, effectively turning it into a sort of British Ferrari.

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