With the launch of their first car under Ford, the Aston Martin DB7, most people found themselves dumbfounded a bit: a chassis based on a Jaguar XK8? Running on a super-charged inline-6 engine?  Most thought that the car's virtual twin the XK8 and the DB7 should have exchanged places.  Sure the DB7 is more muscular in design and more elegant and luxurious in execution, the sweet V8 symphony seemed to be better suited to the DB7 rather than the XK8.  Another thing is the price tag.  With seemingly similar body design and configuration, are people willing to shell out an additional US$50,000 for an Aston Martin? 

It seems the answer is yes.  According to Bob Dover, chairman and chief executive of Aston Martin, the DB7 is the most successful Aston Martin ever.  It seems that the Ford formula is working once again (in terms of sales).  But what about the motoring enthusiast who is dying to get a bit more from the powerhouse that is Aston Martin?  It took Aston Martin to reply, but they did reply with a huge punch in their latest creation: the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage.

The Vantage nameplate has actually been used since 1950 to identify the highest performance model in a particular range.  It was the first Aston Martin has used the Vantage name since 1950 to identify the highest performance model in a particular range. It was first introduced for the Aston Martin DB2 and was applied to the 120-horsepower derivatives of this model's 2.6-liter six-cylinder engine - the regular version developed 105 horsepower. However unlike present day Aston Martin models the only change to the regular specification of the DB2 was the increase in engine power output. Since the DBS model in 1972 a Vantage derivative has included changes to the specification of the brakes, steering and suspension to match the improved performance.