Vanquish
The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, designed in 1995 by Ian Callum, is a grand tourer manufactured by Aston Martin since 2001. It rose to fame after being featured as the official James Bond car in Die Another Day, the twentieth James Bond film. In the film, the Vanquish has the usual Bond film embellishments, including active camouflage which rendered the vehicle virtually invisible, giving it the nickname "the Vanish".
The Vanquish is powered by a 5.9 L (5935 cc) 48-valve 60° V12 engine, which produces 343 kW (460 hp) and 542 N·m (400 ft·lbf) of torque. It is controlled by a fly-by-wire throttle and a 6 speed 'paddle shift' or semi-automatic transmission. A special V12 Vanquish S debuted at the 2004 Paris Auto Show with the power upped to 388 kW (520 hp) and 577 N·m (426 ft·lbf).
The 2005 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, a carryover of the 2004 model, is a hand-built two-door luxury sports car, and is available as a Coupe. The design team spent many hours in the wind tunnel honing the car’s profile to ensure stability throughout its speed range and adequate airflow for power and cooling; utilizing a complementary aerodynamic ‘splitter’ at the front which helps improve high-speed stability. The specially developed braided carbon fiber used for the ‘A’ posts and the engine bay cross brace result in an immensely strong yet light structure capable of withstanding the force of a crash or rollover. The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is dynamically safe providing incredibly fast stopping power. The front and rear discs are mounted on a patented floating mechanism to maintain pedal feel for very heavy braking. The antilock brake system re-balances front and rear braking forces depending on the load.
