Gaydon, Warwickshire: As production of its long-running Vanquish flagship winds down, Aston Martin has given the big GT a last hurrah, in the shape of a limited-edition runout model, the aptly-named Vanquish S Ultimate.
As in the current Vanquish S, Aston Martin’s iconic 444kW naturally-aspirated six-litre V12, eight-speed Touchtronic automatic transmission, three-stage adaptive damping and carbon ceramic brakes are standard.
Just 175 will be made, in either coupé or Volante convertible format, with special carbon-fibre side strakes embellished with rose gold ‘Ultimate‘ lettering, an ‘Ultimate’ sill plaque, special stitched quilting design on the seats, and the ‘Ultimate’ logo embroidered on the headrests.
You can order your Vanquish S Ultimate in any colour you want, but Aston Martin has also created three special colour schemes, available only on this model, which will make it just that little bit more special.
The first is a monochrome design in black with copper bronze graphics around the front air intake, along the side sills and on the rear diffuser. The exhaust tailpipes, brake callipers, window trims and five-spoked wheels are all black, and there’s lots of carbon fibre on the bonnet louvres, grille and side strakes.
The interior is trimmed in black leather with tan accents, tan contrast stitching and clear-lacquered carbon-fibre fascia.
The second ‘Designer Scheme’ was inspired by high-tech sportswear, combining grey paint with blue graphics, set off by the same black and carbon-fibre trim elements as the monochrome edition - except for bright yellow brake callipers.
The inside echoes the same theme with grey leather upholstery, yellow accents and blue contrast stitching.
The third - and most striking - of the special colour schemes has white-gold paint with bronze graphics, combined with the black tailpipes, brake callipers, window trims and wheels, and carbon-fibre bonnet louvres, grille and side strakes that distinguish all three colour palettes.
The interior trim is a flip-flop of the monochrome scheme, with black accents on tan leather upholstery, set off by a spectacular copper tinted carbon-fibre fascia.
Prices start at £211 995 (R3.98 million) for the coupé, and £223 995 (R4.2 million) for the Volante ex works; orders are now being taken with first deliveries scheduled for the first quarter of 2018.