The 2021 Aston Martin CALLUM Vanquish 25, a Future Rare Ride
Aston Martin’s V12 Vanquish was the company’s heavy hitter GT of the 2000s decade. Between 2001 and 2007, just over 2,500 examples of the Vanquish were produced, composed of 1,492 standard 2+2 coupes, and 1,086 of the sportier S version that ditched the rear seats.
Now, a select few customers can have a thoroughly reengineered Vanquish S, created by the man who designed the original.
Ian Callum designed many Aston Martins of the 2000s, and most recently was design director at Jaguar. As he planned to leave the Jaguar nine to five behind, he decided to set up his own company – CALLUM. Several former employees from Jaguar Land Rover joined Callum at the new company, and the group decided on a first project: a redesigned Vanquish.
The customer base for such a special car is mostly existing owners of the Vanquish, who want another, more special version. Callum and crew are happy to help, and will work their magic on an owner’s Vanquish S, or source one for the customer.
The Vanquish 25 features a number of exterior detail changes: New grilles of milled aluminum, carbon fiber inlets in place of the gawky original driving lamps, and a new front and rear LED light assemblies. Mr. Callum also reworked the interior with various carbon fiber components, a shaved down steering wheel rim, upgraded leather, and a center screen from Alpine. On the rear parcel shelf, luxurious matching luggage appears. The overall interior look is one of Ford switchgear plus additional detailing Aston couldn’t afford when the Vanquish was new. The whole car features many examples of Abstract Tartan, a geometric design that is set to be the company’s hallmark.
Underhood, the 5.9-liter V12 of the original car remains, but horsepower is up by 60. to 580. There’s a new intake, a heavily revised exhaust which exits at the rear and through the hood, and new engine management. There are three transmission options on the revised car. The standard Vanquish single-clutch automated manual (loved by few) can be kept, or swapped for a six-speed automatic from GM, or a six-speed manual swap can be performed by Aston Martin Works.
Well-heeled customers will have to make these tough calls for their Vanquish 25. As the name suggests, the car will be limited to a production of 25 examples. The exclusive car comes with an exclusive price: After you purchase a Vanquish S (probably $80,000 or more), you’ll need to hand over an additional $600,000. Once you’ve paid, all work will be performed in England by R-Reforged, a firm with a history of making high-buck custom cars.
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Ian Callum! The man who is responsible for the "ubiquitous modern coupe shape"! If it weren't for Ian Callum it would be nearly impossible to confuse some many modern coupes at a glance. Although I'll credit GM and the Camaro even though its failing miserably for bucking the trend of stealing Callum's sexy coupe shape.
A world without string is chaos.