Vantage
| Production | 1993–2000: 280 produced Volante, 2000: 8 SWB, 1 LWB |
|---|---|
| Body style | 2-door 2+2 coupé 2-door 2+2 convertible (Works Service) |
| Engine | 5.3 L supercharged V8 |
As with many other Astons, a high-performance Vantage model of the Virage would later appear. First shown at Birmingham in September 1992, the Vantage was produced from 1993 through 2000 and, like so many other Aston Vantages, soon became the only variant available. Indeed, the Virage name lasted just a few years, with its final descendants inheriting the simple and familiar V8 name.
The design was freshened, leaving only the roof and doors of the car intact. The Vantage was wider, appeared lower, and used four round "grapefruit" tail lights (rumoured to have been those used on a Bova coach for the prototype). Like the 6.3, the Vantage used record-sized 362 mm (14 in) brake discs and 18 inch wheels.
The most radical change to the Vantage, however, was inside the engine compartment. The 5.3 L engine now sported twin superchargers. Power output topped the industry at 550 hp (410 kW), and torque was equally impressive at 555 lb·ft (745 N·m) at 4,000 rpm. Top speed was 300 km/h (186 mph), with a dash to 60 mph (97 km/h) taking just 4.6 seconds. Considering that the kerb weight of the car was almost two tons, this was no mean feat. The engine was later uprated to 600 hp (447 kW) for the 1998 V600. The earlier version is often referred to as "V550" to set it apart from the later, upgraded ones.
In 2000, Aston Martin's "Works Service" unit built nine bespoke Vantage Volantes (convertibles), one of which was built to long wheelbase specifications.
| Production | 1996–2000 101 produced |
|---|---|
| Body style | 2-door 2+2 coupé |
| Engine | 5.3 L V8 |
Read more about this topic: Aston Martin Virage
Famous quotes containing the word vantage:
“My position is a naturalistic one; I see philosophy not as an a priori propaedeutic or groundwork for science, but as continuous with science. I see philosophy and science as in the same boat—a boat which, to revert to Neurath’s figure as I so often do, we can rebuild only at sea while staying afloat in it. There is no external vantage point, no first philosophy.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
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—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947)
“It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to standing upon the vantage ground of truth ... and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)