Aston Martin doesn't have a huge product range. In fact, until the Rapide and One-77 come along, its line-up essentially boils down to two models: the Vantage and the DB9. And if reports coming straight from Switzerland are to be believed, the now-independent British sportscar company is descending on the Geneva Motor Show next month with new top-of-the-line variants of both.

First up is the convertible version of the DBS. The iconic Bond-mobile, whose name may have finally been determined, will make for a stunning drop-top. Not unlike arch-rival Ferrari, which took the 430 Scuderia and crossed it with the F430 Spider to create the 16M Scuderia Spider, Aston will take the fixed-roof DBS and put it in a room together with the DB9 Volante, dim the lights, put on some Boys2Men and let nature run its course.

Reportedly joining the DBS Volante/Roadster will be the production V12 Vantage RS. Forgot about that one? It's easy when Aston keeps serving up delectable new flagship supercars, so we'll scribble the recipe down for you again: take one V8 Vantage and the 600-hp V12 engine from the DBRS9 race car. Add louvers, spoilers, carbon fiber and alcantara. Shake (don't stir). Production should be very limited, and performance should be blistering. Stay tuned.



[Source: topcarblog.ch]

Aston Martin shocked the industry when it took the wraps off of the baby-blue V12 Vantage RS concept back in December. The idea was revolutionary yet stunningly simple at the same time: take the lowest car in the line-up and turn it into the highest. Would Aston build it? We all hoped so, and our hopes were vindicated with spy shots of test mules running developmental laps around the race track.

From the latest batch, it appears that all those louvers on the hood will remain – a necessity for cooling the 600-hp V12 that is sitting where a 380-hp V8 usually resides – but the rear wing seems to have been reduced, with a big carbon-fiber diffuser taking over the balance (literally) of the downforce requirements. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the test mule is also wearing the carbon-ceramic disc brakes from the current top-of-the-line DBS, while insiders expect the imminently desirable supercar to bear an equally breathtaking pricetag at double that of the base V8 version. Worth it? We're betting yes.

[Source: NextAutos]

Automotive paparazzi have spotted the first piece of evidence verifying that Aston Martin is indeed going ahead with production, however limited, of the outrageous V12 Vantage RS. The concept was first shown when the newly-independent Aston cut the ribbon on its new facility in Gaydon, where the exclusive V12 Vantage RS is anticipated to be produced sometime next year.

The test mule seen in spy shots is wearing largely unmodified bodywork from its standard V8 Vantage counterpart, with a rear diffuser standing out as the only obvious modification. Although the show car's hood had more slats than the back of an A/C unit, the mule's hood has only the standard louvers from the V8 version, which makes us wonder how much of the ventilation was required and how much was for show. Although the concept featured a full-fat 600-hp V12 from the DBR9 racer, the production version is expected to be slightly de-tuned to 550, which will still make it the most powerful production Aston ever made, beating out the 520-hp Vanquish S and the current 510-hp DBS flagship, while being both smaller and lighter than those cars as well, we presume.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS.

Rumors began swirling late yesterday that Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, had confirmed that the V12 Vantage RS was headed to production. Unfortunately, the cited sources spanned from the totally obscure to the remarkably unlikely, and now, the path leads back to Dutch car Magazine Autovisie, which doesn't seem to have any article about the V12 Vantage online, except for its official unveiling.

Regardless, the reported stories say that the 600 hp, V12 Vantage RS will go on sale sometime next year as a limited production model, tipping the scales at a little over 3,500 pounds, and coming equipped with plenty of carbon fiber bits and a rear spoiler that deploys automatically at high speeds. Bez supposedly also confirmed that the DBS Roadster is on its way to production, expected sometime towards the middle of 2009.


[Source: World Car Fans]

click above image for big high-res gallery of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS we told you about yesterday is the real deal. Though officially referred to as a "Performance Concept Car" during its debut at the opening of Aston Martin's new design center yesterday, it's fully functional like all of Aston's concepts and Ulrich Bez, the automaker's CEO, said if the interest is there, they'll build it. We don't know about you, but we're pretty interested in a 3,527-lbs. car with a race-derived V12 motor producing 600bhp. Performance for the car has been conservatively quoted as 4.0 seconds to 62 mph and 8.5 seconds to 100 mph.

Today we can better analyze the design of the V12 Vantage RS thanks to a bevy of high-res images released by Aston Martin this morning. What would you call that color, Cornflower or Baby Blue? Either way, we're not big fans of it for softening the demeanor of this British-born supercar. Despite that, the rest of the Vantage's already gorgeous exterior gets down to business with new carbon fiber pieces for the hood and trunk lid, as well as enough louvers on the bonnet to cool a nuclear reactor. A carbon fiber chin spoiler keeps things steady at high speed and out back the V12 Vantage RS has also been fitted with a retractable spoiler. The interior has also been wrapped entirely in grippy suede, including the heavily-bolstered though comfortable-looking seats.

What we love about the V12 Vantage RS is that it's not just a hat-tip to the recently defunct V12 Vanquish. It is its own car, and a fierce one at that. Though development of the car likely began before Aston Martin had been sold by Ford, we're glad the new owners didn't kill this concept to save some money.

Check out Aston Martin's official press release after the jump.

[Source: Aston Martin]