Aston Martin reveals Vantage GT3 special edition

The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 special edition will be Gaydon-based manufacturer’s most extreme Vantage to date.

Tapping in to Aston Martin’s motorsport experience, the GT3-inspired Vantage will debut at the Geneva Motor Show early next month with more power, less weight and some very extreme looking aero bits.

It’s a simple recipe, and it begins with the 6.0-litre V12 powerplant carried over from the Vantage V12 S. The engine’s modified, and has relied on extensive use of magnesium, and titanium for the exhaust system, to produce a very healthy 441kW – or 20kW more than the Vantage V12 S.

To make best use of the extra power Aston Martin’s carved 100kg out of the Vantage’s weight. The lighter exhaust system, a lithium-ion battery, optional polycarbonate windows, lightened bucket seats and various carbon-fibre body parts means the Vantage GT3 is predicted to flash up as 1565kg on the weighbridge.

Those lightened body parts aren’t just lightening the Vantage either. Thanks to the snow-plough spec front bumper, pronounced side skirts, and a rear-wing that would make a WRX STI whimper, it’s understood by XCAR the GT3 produces seven times the “aero load” of a Vantage V12 S.

Wider, lower and with a broader front and rear track, the Vantage GT3 special edition is certainly reminiscent of Aston’s GT-racing cars. And its chassis is set to be as impressive as the rest of the package, featuring tuned suspension, motorsport wheels and brakes to round out the transformation.

Despite all these radical credentials much of the car’s interior remains tame, besides the bucket seats, leather door straps and new fittings.

Aston Martin will build 100 units, predictably all in the garish-but-sort-of-cool orange, blue and black colour scheme, with deliveries beginning the second half of this year.