Aston martin vantage

The V8 Vantage remains an automotive icon two decades on from its launch – still riotous to drive but now tantalisingly affordable

FIRST DRIVE

JUST FOR A MOMENT, FORGET THE pictures and headline accompanying this text. Imagine, without any context, you’re about to drive a prototype for a brand new Aston Martin model. What kind of car springs

Owning something powered by a dozen cylinders is the idle fancy of many of us. The silky-smooth torque delivery matched with a potent punch of performance when ‘the taps are opened’ is peak automotive

= new entry this month. Cars in italics are no longer on sale. Issue no. is for our most recent major test of the car (D = Driven, F = feature, FF = Fast Fleet). Engine shows details of the car’s comb

And for Aston Martin’s next trick? Nailing its late, very ambitious mid-engined hybrid hypercar