I couldn't get enough of the V8 Vantage, and that was after sampling two variants of the new Porsche 911, the rival Mercedes-AMG GT R, and a Warwickshire stablemate, the DB11 equipped with same V8.
I've always fallen hard for Astons, however. OK, sure, there's some inbreeding with the brand as far as the now-extensive collaboration with Mercedes-AMG goes: engines, transmissions, infotainment. How can Aston remain Aston under such partnership pressure?
Ye of little faith! Astons continue to have that Aston thing, an Anglo-Saxon predisposition toward suave wildness. The Vantage is a British Corvette, minus the backwoods association. And although its received a heart transplant in the form oa German motor, the same V8 in the Mercedes-AMG GT R kind of overdoes it on the outrageous sonics while simultaneously not departing from a Teutonic enthusiasm for using brilliant engineering to keep all that oomph in check.
If you'll forgive the Bond cliché, the Aston shows you a beautiful suit, then punches you in the face, then adjust its cuffs and tie and restores its outward dignity after a burst of threat, just so you know. Â
The way this played out over 300 or so miles was that I would settle into to a freeway cruise and listen to the thrum of the V8, periodically summoning the demon to pass a semi, and once I exited the highway and found some curvy Catskills roads, I'd sling the Vantage around a bit and enjoy it's seductive out-of-control-ness. Can't do that with a Porsche 911 4S! The telekinetic all-wheel-drive won't permit it!
The whole point of the Vantage is that it isn't composed in corners. But for all the unstable rudeness, the car's beauty remains. And that beauty is hypnotic. Ferraris manage this trick in an aggressive way, and Lamborghinis do it with over-the-topness. The outgoing Corvette C7 wasn't exactly beautiful, but it certainly looked like something. The Vantage is almost completely organized around seeking perfection of shape, form, and proportion. It induces a blissful trance.
OK, yes, as a DB9 enthusiast, I favor the Henrik Fisker-designed first generation of the Vantage, which arrived in 2005, but was briefly discontinued before the new car arrived in 2019. The nose is simply more refined, while the current Vantage is often knocked for its gaping maw of a grille.Â
But these are nitpicky things. On a drive up to the Catskills from my suburban New Jersey residence, the Vantage performed majestically: a cool customers on the freeway, but a beast in curves and corners. At no point did the car make me feel anything other than utterly and completely alive.
Some brands just have a special thing. Ferrari has it. Lamborghini has it. Jaguar sort of has it. Porsche has it, but it's diversified across a variety of segments. Lotus used to have it. Corvette has it.Â
When it comes to Aston, the thing is ever-present and undeniable. And the Mercedes-AMG collaboration hasn't dimmed it at all. The Aston-ness simply blasts through and takes control. What a glorious sensation this is to experience! A car that is, unapologetically, what it's meant to be.Â
That's why the Vantage is the most memorable car I've driven in 2020.