V12 Vantage RS: Aston names color, considers production

Noah Joseph — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:57:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Performance, Supercars, Aston Martin

Click to view in our hi-res image gallery

Reactions to the Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS concept were all but universally the same across the motoring press: awesome car, strange color choice. Dark silver or British racing green would have seemed a more logical choice for such an aggressively styled and powered supercar, but then, we wouldn't be talking about its silver or green paintjob two months later, now would we?

The baby blue hue used on the V12 Vantage RS made a lot more sense when, a month later, Aston revealed it was reviving the classic Gulf racing livery for its Le Mans-challenging DBR9s, the same racing machine that donated its engine to the Vantage concept. But while it might have made sense to call the concept's color Gulf Blue, Aston instead opened up a contest to "name that hue". The results have since come in: "Mako Blue" was the name chosen, submitted by Mat Watson. Mako is not only the name of the fastest, most agile of sharks, but also the Maori name for "blue lightning".

Meanwhile Aston has also confirmed that if it finds enough potential customers, it could put the V12 Vantage RS into limited production. But while Mako Blue would likely be on the menu, most would probably go with silver or green. Follow the jump for the press release, and scope out the "Mako Blue" Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS in our gallery below.

Gallery: Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS Concept

[Source: Aston Martin]

Continue reading V12 Vantage RS: Aston names color, considers production

V12 Vantage RS: Aston names color, considers production originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pics Aplenty: Aston Martin serious about V12 Vantage RS

John Neff — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:51:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Coupe, Supercars, Aston Martin

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]

Gallery: Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS Concept

Continue reading Pics Aplenty: Aston Martin serious about V12 Vantage RS

Pics Aplenty: Aston Martin serious about V12 Vantage RS originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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