A brief history of Vantage, from bigger carbs via Zagato specials to the individual sports model we now know
Words Peter Tomalin
PRECISELY WHO AT Aston Martin came up with the Vantage name has long been lost in the swarf of the machine shop. What we do know is that, towards the end of 1950, the company was readying a more potent variant of its straight-six engine and the chaps in marketing decided that a racy-sounding label would enhance its prospects in no small measure. So a list of possibilities was typed up, and from that list was plucked Vantage.
According to the dictionary, ‘vantage’ means ‘a state or position affording superiority or advantage’, which of course made it entirely appropriate for a more powerful engine option. And, for pretty much the next two decades, that was exactly what Vantage signified.
The first model to have a Vantage engine option was the DB2, and there’s an interesting tale behind it. When the DB2 was announced in April 1950, its 2.6-litre ‘LB6’ straight-six had a low compression ratio of 6.5:1 and a power output of just 105bhp, being designed to cope with the low-octane ‘pool’ petrol that was a hangover from the war years. As higher-octane fuel began to reappear and wealthy enthusiasts looked to go racing and rallying, there was clear demand for something a little punchier…
With larger carburettors and a compression ratio of 8.16:1, the ‘Vantage’ LB6 produced a rather more sporting 125bhp, dropping the 0-60mph time from 12.4sec to 10.7sec and lifting the top speed from 110 to 117mph. The legend was up and running.
But the Vantage lineage wasn’t an unbroken one. In the case of the DB4, it wasn’t until the Series 4 appeared in 1961 that a Vantage version was offered. Again, it featured a more powerful engine, with triple rather than twin SU carburettors lifting the new, Tadek Marekdesigned 3.7-litre all-alloy straight-six’s peak power from 240bhp to 266bhp. This time there was a visual differentiator, too, the DB4 Vantage usually adopting the faired-in headlights of the DB4 GT that would make it virtually indistinguishable from its DB5 successor.
Speaking of which, the Vantage version of the Bondmobile has, unsurprisingly, long been one of the most coveted of all Astons. With the capacity enlarged to 4.0 litres for the ’5, and triple Webers in place of SUs for the Vantage version, peak power was a claimed 314bhp and top speed 150mph. Remarkably, only 65 cars were so-equipped when new, though many more have since been converted. An original
