The VH Platform (for vertical/horizontal platform) is Aston Martin's automobile platform that underpinned their grand tourers and sports cars. It served as the basis for Aston Martin's production cars up until the introduction of the Aston Martin DB11 in 2016, which featured an all-new bonded-aluminium platform that would underpin future Aston Martins. [1] [2] The VH platform was used in all of Aston Martin's lineup at the time excluding the One-77, [3] which uses Carbon Architecture and the Cygnet [4] which is based on the Toyota iQ. There are four variations of the VH platform.
The original first-generation Aston Martin Vanquish used an advanced and complex chassis that predated the VH platform. Featuring a carbon fiber central tunnel and A pillars along with an aluminum alloy space frame, experience building the V12 Vanquish would be applied to all future Aston Martins. While the original V12 Vanquish is not considered to be a VH platform car, some consider it to be the "Ur-VH" platform vehicle as some elements of the Vanquish evolved into the VH architecture. [5]
The first true VH Chassis was an aluminum intensive structure that made its debut in the Aston Martin DB9 in 2004, and has underpinned the DB9 through the course of its production run from 2004 to 2012. It was refined in 2008 for the 2009 model year DB9. The 2013 model year DB9 was underpinned by the Generation III platform (VH300), where it shared structural components and hardware technology from the Generation III architecture that was used in the 2011 Virage and the second-generation Vanquish (VH310) in 2012.
The second VH platform underpinned the 2005 Aston Martin V8 Vantage and its V12 and S variants, as well as the Vantage V12 S based Zagato (VH290Z) and the bespoke Aston Martin DB10 concept car for the James Bond film Spectre. The DB10 was based on the V8 Vantage chassis albeit with modifications, as it featured a longer wheelbase and is nearly as wide as the Aston Martin One-77. This platform was also used in the 2007 DBS.
The third VH platform underpinned the 2011 Virage and facelifted DB9 (VH300), Virage Volante and facelifted DB9 Volante (VH340), the Vanquish (VH310), the Vanquish S (VH320) and the Vanquish Volante/Vanquish S Volante (VH340). It was also used as the platform for the Vanquish Zagato (VH319Z), the Vanquish Zagato Volante (VH340Z), the Vanquish Zagato Speedster (VH3612ZS) and the Vanquish Zagato Roadster (VH3410Z).
Based on VH Generation III, Generation IV is a stretched and re-engineered Generation III platform used on the Rapide (VH410/VH410D) and its variants, and the Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake (VH324ZB).
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with expensive grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional character James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger. Their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to Charles III since 1982, and has over 160 car dealerships in 53 countries, making it a global automobile brand. The company is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. In 2003 it received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. The company has survived seven bankruptcies throughout its history.
The Aston Martin Vanquish is a high-performance grand tourer introduced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin in 2001 as a successor to the Aston Martin Vantage (1993).
The Aston Martin DB9 is a grand tourer produced by Aston Martin. Available both in coupé and a convertible bodystyles, the latter being known as the Volante, the DB9 was the successor to the DB7. It was first shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show, and was the first model built at Aston Martin's Gaydon facility.
The Aston Martin DB7 is a car which was produced by British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. It was designed by Ian Callum and Keith Helfet as a grand tourer in coupé and convertible bodystyles. The prototype was complete by November 1992 and debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1993. The six-cylinder DB7 was positioned as an "entry-level" model below the hand-built V8 Virage introduced a few years earlier. This model was the most-produced Aston Martin automobile up to that point in time, with more than 7,000 built before it was replaced by the DB9 in 2004.
Zagato is a coachbuilding company. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. The company's premises occupies an area of 23,000 square meters.
Ulrich Helmut Bez is a German businessman and was, until the end of 2013, chief executive officer of Aston Martin motorcars when he stepped down to serve as non-executive chairman.
The Aston Martin Vantage is a 1972–73 British sports car. Other vehicles of this name include:
The Aston Martin V8 is a grand tourer manufactured by Aston Martin in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1989. As with all traditional Aston Martins, it was entirely handbuilt – with each car requiring 1,200 man-hours to finish.
The Aston Martin Virage is an automobile produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin as a replacement for its V8 models. Introduced at the Birmingham Motor Show in 1988, it was joined by the high-performance Vantage in 1993, and then the name of the base model was changed to V8 Coupe in 1996.
The Aston Martin Vantage is a series of hand-built sports cars from the British automotive manufacturer Aston Martin. Aston Martin has previously used the "Vantage" name on high-performance variants of their existing GT models, notably on the Virage-based car of the 1990s. The modern car, in contrast, is the leanest and most agile car in Aston's lineup. As such, it is intended as a more focused model to reach out to potential buyers of cars such as the Porsche 911 as well as the exotic sports and GT cars with which Aston Martins traditionally compete.
The Aston Martin Rapide is a sports saloon car, built by the British marque Aston Martin from 2010 to 2020. It has four doors and four seats. It was first presented as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in 2006 and the production version was shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.
The Aston Martin DBS is a high-performance grand tourer based on the DB9 and manufactured by the British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin.
Volante is the name given to convertible versions of various Aston Martin automobile models from 1965 onwards. They include:
The Aston Martin DB11 is a car produced by British marque Aston Martin from 2016 to 2023. A grand tourer, it debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016 as a replacement to the DB9. It is the first model launched in Aston Martin's 'second century' plan and the company's tie-up with Daimler AG.
The Aston Martin Vantage is a two-seater sports car built by British manufacturer Aston Martin since 2018. It replaces the previous model which had been in production for 12 years.
The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, also sold as the Aston Martin DBS, is a grand touring car produced by British manufacturer Aston Martin since 2018. In June 2018, Aston Martin unveiled the car as a replacement to the Vanquish that is based on the DB11 V12 but featuring modifications that differentiate it from the DB11 lineage. The DBS name was previously used for a model built from 1967 to 1972 and for the DB9-based DBS V12 between 2007 and 2012. In addition, the car also uses the Superleggera name which is a reference to Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, who helped Aston Martin develop their lightest grand tourers in the 1960s and 1970s.
This is a list of automobiles produced for the general public in the European market. They are listed in chronological order from when each model began its model year. If a model did not have continuous production, it is listed again on the model year production resumed. Concept cars and submodels are not listed unless they are themselves notable.
Aston Martin has produced a number of V12 gasoline engines for its flagship models. The first version appeared in 1999, when a 5.9-liter, 60° V12 debuted in the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage.
Aston Martin has made a number of mechanically similar V8 engines over the years, since the first one used in the Aston Martin V8 in 1969. They have been both naturally-aspirated and supercharged.