Say a big £211,995-shaped farewell to Aston Martin's V12-engined super-coup, says Vijay Pattni in Top Gear magazine. Aston is wrapping up production on the current Vanquish S, and has decided to send out the big lug with a trim special. Just 175 of the Vanquish S Ultimate will be made split between the Coup and Volante versions.
For the £12,000 premium over the standard version, the Ultimate comes in one of three "designer themes". The ultimate black car wears the same paint colour featured on the V12 Vanquish S Ultimate in 2007. Copper accenting brightens the sinister appearance of black exhaust tips, black two-tone wheels and extra carbon-fibre trim, and the scaly looking chestnut tan contrast-stitching pattern on the interior "has us squirming, but in a good way", says Clifford Atiyeh on Car and Driver. Alternatively, you can go for "xenon grey" with phantom-grey seats, yellow accents and blue stitching, or white gold with bronze exterior accents, and obsidian black over chestnut tan on the interior.
Exotic paint jobs and interiors aside, this model remains a "sharper, more polished version of the Vanquish", said Top Gear when the S was first launched. For "sheer excitement and sense of occasion", the Vanquish S beats the DB11 V12 "hands down". Although you'll rarely get to use the car at its full potential on public roads, "what you can enjoy at legal speeds is the steering: lighter and more fluid than before, but with real feedback and subtle resistance when you pour it into corners".
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Although the engine doesn't have the low-hanging torque of the DB11, it responds instantly and crisply, and then "builds and builds to a soaring, harmonic crescendo", says Top Gear. The car has "a soundtrack to make your heart stop", agrees Pattni, and a "body shape that to this day remains utterly, utterly gorgeous. No argument".
Price: £211,995 for the Ultimate Coup (
£223,995 for the convertible)
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Power: 595bhp. Torque: 465lb ft
0-62mph: 3.5 seconds
Top speed: 201mph
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