After the British marque introduced the Q by Aston Martin personalization service two years ago, the Brits made a habit of churning out Carbon Edition limited run models. The treatment was first applied to the DB9 and DBS, but now came the time to do the same with the top-of-the-range AM Vanquish.
Compared to the standard model we reviewed a little while back in Monaco, the Vanquish Carbon Edition has been enhanced by Aston Martin with a distinctive monochrome visual identity. It basically wants you to embrace the dark side and dwell into a sea of black and Herringbone carbon fiber. If the dark side doesn't float your boat, Aston also offers an angelic Carbon White package, which is the exact opposite of the Darth Vader-like Carbon Black Vanquish.
Both appearance packages add carbon fiber trim on the front and rear bumpers, fender vents, side mirror caps and door handles. Even on the White, the 10-spoke alloy wheels come only in gloss black. If you need a little bit of visual punch, Aston will let you paint the brake calipers in red, yellow or low-key gray. As for the cabin, changes include more carbon fiber on the center console, sill plates and steering wheel-mounted flappy pedals made from the same lightweight but strong material.
A Bang & Olufsen audio system with black speaker grilles is also on the menu, while the leather wrapping the seats, dash and door panels can be had with contrasting red, yellow or gray stitching. As for the oily bits, Aston Martin hasn't touched anything, so it's all Vanquish under the skin. Specifically, there's a 6-liter naturally-aspirated V12 with 567 horsepower and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque on tap.
The British bruiser is coupled to an eight-speed auto, which enables the Vanquish Carbon Edition to get from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 3.6 seconds. If you go for the Volante drop-top, that acceleration time drops by two tenths of a seconds, but hey, does it really matter? It's a topless Aston Martin, after all.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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