Aston Martin Vantage (DB5)

This is Aston's 911 rival: the Vantage or 'baby' Aston, and a model which is expected to account for 40-50 percent of Aston sales in 2005, when it goes into production at the former Rover factory at Gaydon. Revealed as the AMV8 Vantage concept at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2003, the Vantage is, like the new DB9, built on the 'VH' advanced aluminium platform, with modularity that allows engineers and designers to develop multiple power and drivetrain configurations without long development times and huge cost impacts. Composed of a mix of pressed, cast and extruded alloy components bonded together, it has a structure even stiffer than that of the latest Jaguar XJ. Aston boss Ulrich Bez told 4car in Detroit that "this is a dedicated and flexible production system that only Aston will have. This new platform is simpler than that used in the Vanquish - we have learned from that - and this simplicity means we can look at V8 and V12 engines, as well as hard- and soft-top options." This underscores the fact that the so-called AM305 project has diverged from the stalled Jaguar F-Type programme, although originally, the two models were intended to share much of their underpinnings.

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