Glorious Aston Vanquish S Ultimate for sale

It says something of the progress being made at Aston Martin at the moment that a car like this Vanquish S Ultimate, despite being registered in 2018, definitely feels very much like one of the old school V12s. There was concern about the turbocharged DBS replacement being unable to match that character (no issues there), then some angst about Aston making an SUV (which also turned out pretty well) and further worry about the AMG V8 in Aston sports cars – now it’s hard to imagine them without. That’s all post Ultimate, which was announced in November 2017. Time flies and all that. 

Based on the already-excellent Vanquish S – power up to 603hp, some Matt Becker influence on the chassis – the Ultimate was a fitting farewell to an era of Aston Martins that had become so loved. The Gaydon built VH models – DB9, DBS, Vantage, Vanquish, Virage – were the foundation of 21st century Aston Martin. It’s impossible to picture the current situation of super GTs, 700hp SUVs and a 1,000hp plug-in hybrid supercar without those front-engined cars of the 2000s. Yes, it was easy to identify similarities between them all, but by the same token it was just as easy to admire them all as well. To think the problem back then was too many fast and handsome V12 Aston Martins. 

The Ultimate signed off the era with a spec that included the choice of three colour schemes: Ultimate Black with Copper Bronze, Xenon Grey with Cobalt Blue or White Gold with Bronze available. You might notice this Vanquish is none of those, pairing the grey with black and exterior carbon fibre, because those who bought an Ultimate were also given ‘maximum choice’ when it came to personalisation – hence what you see here. The specs shown at launch were advisory rather than obligatory; back then not everybody loved the more aggressive aero parts of the S that the Ultimate was built from (however modest they now look) and so might not have wanted attention drawn to them as the contrast colours did. Looking at this now, it’s hard to contest that decision. 

The interior is Obsidian Black with Chestnut Tan, and jazzed up further with the shadow bronze interior jewellery pack, carbon shift paddles and ventilated front seats. The spending didn’t stop there, in fact, with dark anodised brake calipers, a carbon roof and even a carbon fibre engine cover added on by the first (and only) owner. Bear in mind that the original asking price was £211,995 and this must have been getting on for a quarter of a million in 2018. 

It’ll be glorious, of course. The Vanquish S was a real highlight of the time, the added muscle of the GT12-spec engine working in wonderful harmony with a chassis and steering that had benefitted from years of honing. That Aston Martins never quite launched in optimum spec became something of a running joke, only really being shown at their best a few years into production; the upside of that was that the final were often superb, just as the world was thinking about the replacement. 

Sure, the interior will look a bit old and the turbo cars will offer up more torque. But these VH V12s were loved for very good reason: the way they looked, drove and sounded made every drive feel very special indeed. There were only ever 175 Ultimates produced, of which 121 were Coupes and just 55 of those right-hand drive. Like the V12 Vanquish Ultimate before it, this old Aston is surely going to remain highly prized for a long while yet. Whatever new Aston Martin conjures up next.