The Aston Martin V12 Vantage V600 was first shown at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, where I fortunately saw the car for the first time. Only 14 examples will be made, 7 coupe’s and 7 roadsters, to celebrate the success of the previous generation Vantage. Similar to the original 1998 V600, this car has a power output of around 600bhp, but is instead powered by a 6L naturally aspirated V12.
The V600 is powered by a 7-speed (yes, you read that correctly) dog leg manual gearbox with AM shift. AM shift means you can change gear without letting off the accelerator, which results in a paddle shift-like experience as changing gear is so much quicker and easier! The V600 is only available in manual, and is in fact often described as a manual GT12 due to many aspects being carried across.
Many intricate details are featured on the V600, such as a single piece front wing/bumper, forged ultra-lightweight alloys with centre-locks, the infamous ‘bonnet bulge’ and a remarkable full carbon fibre body. However, for me, things get special when you step inside… The level of detail that Aston Martin have gone to in the interior of the V600 is simply unheard of. For example, the air vents are wrapped in leather, the dials for the infotainment system are made up of a single fibre of carbon which has been tightly wrapped together, the seats feature the ‘holed’ pattern seen on the bonnet, and each car has a bespoke luggage kit made to fit.
I feel extremely privileged to have documented this experience, and for that, a huge thanks goes to the owner for kindly inviting me along to document this special experience (You can follow him on Instagram here), and also to the Aston Martin Heritage Trust for hosting such a great handover.
Read more posts by Luke Papworth in Drivetribe Social Team on DriveTribe the new website by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
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