You're looking at a brand new Aston Martin.
According to the British company, the new Virage "sits between the enduringly elegant DB9 and overtly sporting DBS, providing customers with a car that remains luxurious and understated but delivers increased performance and crucially performance that is always accessible for effortless driving."
So there you have it. It will be unveiled officially at the
Geneva Motor Show before going on sale later this year. No price yet, but given its positioning we reckon it'll be around the £150,000 mark for the coupé. As ever the Volante convertible will be more.
It uses the same platform as the aforementioned Astons, the same internal architecture and the same 6.0-litre V12 engine, front-mid mounted. In the Virage it produces 490bhp and 420lb.ft. In the
DB9 it makes 464bhp, and in the
DBS 510bhp. Job done.
Justifying the styling, Aston CEO Ulrich Bez said: "100 years of automotive history has demonstrated that evolution delivers the best solutions in time."
It gets a six-speed Touchtronic automatic transmission, and is set up to be sharp supercar one moment, comfy tourer the next. The adaptive suspension has ten stiffness settings in total - five in Normal mode, five in Sport. Carbon ceramic brakes are standard.
The car includes a new satnav system developed with Garmin and designed to be simple to use, as well as full iPod integration and a very loud surround sound stereo.
Watch out for our
First Drive of the Aston Martin Virage, going live on March 22.
Mark Nichol - 23 Feb 2011