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Aston Martin likely to resurrect Vanquish name for Ferrari fighter

Aston Martin recently hosted press drives for the new DBS Superleggera in Germany. On the sidelines, Motoring spoke to the carmaker's chief creative officer, Marek Reichman. Answering the question of whether the coming mid-engined rival to the Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Huracan, and McLaren 720 S could revive a very important name for the brand, Reichman responded, "Without saying yes, that sounds like a plausible solution for a beautiful name like Vanquish." The Vanquish named first appeared from 2001 to 2007, returning from 2012 until retiring again this year on the Vanquish S (pictured). Although it's historically been used on the most powerful vehicles in Aston Martin's range, and both of them V12s, the latest flagship switched to two erstwhile monikers in combining DBS and Supeleggera. Reichman said the switcheroo "better reflected [the DBS% positioning than Vanquish." The future V-named coupe will be out to conquer every vehicle in the segment, not just in the family line-up. Still light on details at the moment, we expect the Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 behind the seats, boosted by an electric motor. Reichman didn't shoot down the possibility of using an electric motor for e-AWD capability and all-electric driving. That motivation will power a body expected to go heavy on carbon fiber, active aerodynamics, and the wind-cheating prowess gained from partner Red Bull Racing and aerodynamicist Adrian Newey. After iterating through 12 scale models and three full-sized mock-ups so far, the creative honcho said the final car will "be the most beautiful mid-engined car on the road." The coming Vanquish will be car number five of Aston Martin's Second Century plan, aiming to deliver seven cars in seven years. The Aston Martin SUV will be the fourth when it enters production late next year, after the DB11, Vantage, and DBS Superleggera. The mid-engined screamer follows in 2020. Related Video:

2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S coming to US with manual

A few years back, the lovely Aston Martin V12 Vantage was available with an honest-to-goodness six-speed manual transmission. It was capable of instilling serious cognitive dissonance. "If I sell the cars, the furniture, and remortgage the house twice ..." That sort of thing. The package is back, in a sense. For the 2017 model year, Aston will produce the V12 Vantage S with a seven-speed manual transmission. And not the automated manual business supplied by Graziano, that has attracted my ire for being about as subtle as a kick in the pants. There's a human-operated clutch and a proper manual lever. It gets better, at least if you're a manual-transmission geek. Aston fitted a dogleg box to this car, meaning first gear is to the left and down, below reverse and where second gear would sit in a traditional H-pattern floor shifter. Less traditional is the throttle-blipping function, which will make downshifts smoother for those unable or unwilling to heel-toe. If AMSHIFT, which is Graydon's code-word for the system, is not your thing it can be disabled or used in any driving mode. More good news: there's no real penalty for choosing the manual over the Sportshift III transmission. The two cars are mechanically the same, offer the same performance metrics and top speed, and are offered at the same basic price. New for 2017 but not exclusive to the manual are many exterior and interior cosmetic options, like brightly-colored exterior accents, in line with Aston's recent styling trends. As the subtitle suggests, there is a serious catch for Americans. It's not that we won't get the V12-manual combination – we will! – it's just that there won't be very many of them. It'll be a no-cost option in the rest of the world. If you want one, let's hope you've stopped reading this article the first few lines and hopped on the phone with your local Aston dealer to get a place on what looks like a very short list. Related Video:

The Rolls-Royce Dawn leads this month's list of discounts

If you're one of the few readers of this site who is in the market for a $350,000 Rolls-Royce Dawn, well, first of all, good for you. And you should be prepared to keep some extra money in your pocket, too, as the drop-top Roller leads this month's list of the largest monetary discounts with an average of $14,733 taken off the machine's $359,250 sticker price. That means buyers are paying an average transaction price of $344,517 for the 2020 Rolls-Royce Dawn this month, according to data provided to Autoblog by TrueCar, which equals about 4.1% off the price on the sticker. An intriguing pair of supercars land in second and third positions this month. The 2019 Acura NSX is selling for an average of $145,174 this month, which represents a 9% discount, or $14,373. With an eerily similar 9% discount of $14,079 comes the 2020 Aston Martin Vantage, which has an average transaction price of $142,002 this month. The Maserati Quattroporte is up next with an average discount of $13,634. Another Rolls-Royce model lands in the fifth spot, but instead of the aging Dawn it's the brand-new Cullinan SUV. Although the luxury 'ute boasts a large discount of $12,427, its staggeringly high retail price of $332,750 means buyers are getting a little less than 4% off the sticker. More interesting to most buyers will be the 2019 Lincoln Navigator, which is one of our favorite full-size SUVs in America. Buyers of Lincoln's range-topping vehicle are getting average discounts of $11,761. That represents a 13.4% savings for a final price of $75,940. For a look at the best new car deals in America based on the percentage discount off their suggested asking prices, check out our monthly recap here. And when you're ready to buy, click here for the Autoblog Smart Buy program, which brings you a hassle-free buying experience with over 9,000 Certified Dealers nationwide. Related Video: