It's their own doing.
Ferrari campaigns the 458, not the 599 and do not have a prototype powered car. Porsche campaigns the 911, not the Panamera and no longer run the RS Spyder.

Aston on the other hand, has run or is running three/four race programs (DBR(S)9, Vantage GTE/GT3, 007 LMP), race in 10 different series, have a factory works team and 3/4 factory supported satellite teams, in addition to several privateer teams.

It would be foolish on their part to expect for consumers not to draw a line between an expectation of top-performance and their road going products.

The irksome criticism also stems from the fact that we all know Aston can produce a range benchmark/chart topper if they choose to, but seem to be content with being a step or two behind the other high mark brands in the GT car classification.

(Sidenote: Anyone know why Aston stopped campaigning the DB series in favor of the V8)

 

The DB series is getting old and very few know what DB even stands for.. so the old names were rebirthed, Vantage started in '93-2000 and was a V8...way before that was the AMV8 from '77-89, all powered by V8's, DB7 Vantage became the V12 edition to kind of help over come the I6 S/C previously released.. The V8 Vantage came back in 2005 and the V12 Vantage came back as a celebration to the DB7 Vantage(V12)..I doubt we'll see more DB series unless its some kind of celebration edition to David Brown

 

The DBR9 ran in GT1, which I thought was defunct. That said, I saw something recently where they were trying to get it going again.

 

I hope the DB series continues...in my opinion, David Brown is synonomous with Aston Martin...and the DB is truely the hallmark of the company...From the LeMans winning Carrol Shelby driven DBR1, to the DB4, DB5, DB Superleggera, DB6, DB7, DB9 DBR9, DBS etc....

DB is Aston Martin. From the begin, thru the glory years, and the modern Astons to the present. The other names, Vantage, Vanquish, Virage are all specific models and off shoots....but none of those and no series name has stood for as long or been closely tied to the brand stronger then the DB model line.

 

One would think, but mention to someone DB5 that doesn't know about Aston Martin, and they would be dumb founded..tell them it was the original James Bond car and they respond .."Don't you mean Vanquish"..

I agree on everything you say about DB series..just at one point it's gotta change otherwise we would be at DB14+ right now

 

According to what I have read, the DB series will continue and the range will be cleaned up and simplified.
The Vanquish will replace DBS as the flagship model. The the current DB9, Virage, and DBS will be discontinued and a new DB9 based around a slightly downgraded current Virage will be released soon.

There will be a "Virage" option available for new DB9 to take it back up to current Virage specs.

Addition by subtraction I guess.

 

I spoke to the team at the factory about this, and the One-77 was actually a really smart business move. The financial case for the One-77 stood up on its own, i.e. the revenue from sales covered the whole development cost and gave some profit on top.

Coming out of the One-77 was a stack of expensive development, using Cosworth for the engine, others for the CF body etc. that was now fully paid for, so that development can now be fed into the new cars with only production costs to consider. It's a brilliant move.

They will need to leave some space between Vanquish and One-77, or they will never sell another 'ultimate' car, but over time, that space will narrow. There will always be features of One-77 that can't be manufactured at a sensible cost, but there is plenty of scope for improvements now sat on the shelf ready to go.

 

I'm glad the One-77 was profitable. I assumed that it wasn't. Still wonder about AMR. I really enjoy watching Aston race and there is PR value in it, but I don't know how that value stacks up against the costs.

I agree that Aston probably left room to improve with the Vanq, but I wish they would have started the initial offering at a bit higher power output. They could have started at around 600 bhp and would have plenty of room before getting close to the One-77's power. Also, I don't think there are any real problems with the Vanq challenging the power of the One-77 in a couple of years time because the One-77 will have been out of production for several years at that point.

 

^^^ I was speaking to the owner of our local dealership over the weekend, he says they plan to have one as soon as early fall. I will check it out if they do and hopefully take it for a drive

 

That's weird, sales are supposed to start come fall and delivery ETA is early 2013..from now till delivery Aston was stating a 9 month period, which again puts us right at the 1st quarter of 2013

 

^^^ your probably right...I dunno it was late and all of us were having a good time at the AM sponsored event, was loud there also... I could have heard wrong. I am excited to see it though for sure! Our dealer is planning an open house later this year, looking forward to that

 

I was wondering how you like living with your V12 as I am looking at a 2011 versus the 2013 S model as I really like to shift...

 

Also was wondering what issues if any you have had with it...thanks racer X

 

I love it. The only issue I've had in two years is some loose chrome trim on the passenger door. Had the same issue with my '07 V8. My advice is drive both back to back and decide which you prefer. Neither would be a bad choice.

 

I don't think Aston tries to compete based on performance figures. They want a comfortable, fast, GT car. It's a about style. More like a Maserati than a Ferrari.