Atlanta
September 2017
Photo: Drew Gibson
Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to huge Indian automaker Tata, but Aston Martin went to a Kuwaiti-based investment group with no prior automotive experience, leading to concern for a company that is the purveyor of vehicles to the Prince of Wales. Happily, the new owners chose not to muck with success. First introduced at the 2003 Detroit Auto Show, the Vantage took home a class win at Le Mans and became the firm’s top-selling model. In 2012, an Italian firm that had owned Ducati motorcycles became a major shareholder and the next generation Vantage began to take shape. The 2019 Vantage is essentially a massively updated and massproduced DB11, which transforms a very good thing into a howling monster. The V8 powerplant propels the car from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds, topping out at 195 mph. All this 911-type performance comes in at a very reasonable $149,000. Suffice it to say, the interior is outstanding in terms of comfort and amenities; AstonMartin.com.
