Lighter and more powerful than the V8 Vantage on which it’s based, this is Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT8.
Created in homage to Aston’s World Endurance Championship racers, the company’s latest limited-edition model has 440bhp. That’s a mere 10bhp more than the standard vehicle, but it’s been on a weight loss programme that can lighten the load by as much as 100kg.
Carbon panels, magnesium wheels and a lightweight exhaust get the ball rolling. You can even specify plastic switches, acrylic windows and a li-ion battery if you want to take things to extremes.
If you want to go that far, you’ll no doubt also opt for the optional aerodynamic pack. Further choices include that of a six-speed manual or seven-speed automated gearbox.
Even a 100kg weight saving is nothing compared to the 400kg lost by the GTE racecar, whose power output is around 40bhp higher than the GT8’s. Still, there’s enough here to make it usefully quicker than your everyday Vantage – though with so many other special-edition Astons having come before it, this one has a lot to live up to:
• V12 Zagato: A £405,000 collector’s item, this 150-off from 2011 is considered by many to be Aston’s best looking car ever.
• Vantage N24: As its name suggests, this was a Vantage as raced in the 2006 Nürburgring 24-hours – roll cage and all.
• DBS: It was a road-legal take on Aston’s GT1 racer of the time, but people really remember this wild version of the DB9 as Daniel Craig’s first Bondmobile.
• Lagonda Taraf: This luxury grand tourer was conceived to take on Rolls-Royce but built in limited numbers to guarantee exclusivity – and justify a £685,000 price tag.
• Vantage GT12: Like the GT8, this was a lightweight model inspired by Aston’s racers; they built 100, at a quarter of a million quid a pop.
• One-77: This £1.2-million V12 luxury supercar was Aston’s most powerful road-going car to date – and with just 77 made, one of the rarest.
• DB4GT Zagato: Wind back the clock and you have this special edition from 1960 which, due to lack of demand, was binned after they’d sold only nineteen cars.
You can’t imagine the DB4GT’s fate befalling an Aston today. As if to prove that point, only 150 GT8s will be built, at a base price of £165,000 – and though deliveries aren’t due until the other side of summer, more than 75% of them have already been sold.
Not to worry, though. Aston says it plans to launch another special edition during 2016, with more to come in future years.
