Why Aston Martin’s Lawrence Stroll is giving James Bond a run for his money
The F1 team boss has as much influence as 007 when it comes to the latest iteration of its impressive new Vantage supercar.
I know, the similarities between super spy James Bond and business ace/Drive to Survive star Lawrence Stroll aren’t immediately obvious, but they don’t begin and end with a shared penchant for expensive tailored suits.
No single person, fictional or otherwise, has had a bigger impact on Aston Martin than Stroll. More so, even, than the famed 007.
See, for the longest time, the most popular colour when it came to buying your new Aston Martin was silver. The reason is simple. Bond’s cars, almost always an Aston Martin, were finished in grey or silver, from the gorgeous and retro DB5 – which has appeared in eight Bond films – all the way up to the DBS, star of Daniel Craig’s debut turn as the secret agent, Casino Royale.
But no longer. Fast-forward to 2024, and the new shade du jour is green, with some 24 per cent of the brand’s customers now picking it for their new Aston, which is more than any other colour, including Bond’s silver.
The reason is Stroll, and the fact the Aston Martin chairman also owns the Aston F1 team. The race cars are green, the official F1 safety car – a Vantage – is green, and now almost a quarter of the Aston Martins you see on the road will be green, with Stroll emerging as the surprise influencer of choice for the supercar brand.
The green has its own Aston history, by the way, and one that dates back further even than the earliest Bond films. Arguably the proudest racing victory the brand has ever achieved occurred in 1959, when a pair of Aston Martin DBR1 race cars finished first and second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France – the brand’s only outright victory at one of the world’s most famous races.
And you’ll never guess what colour the DBR1 was finished in. OK, you would. So, from the heart of France, to F1, to a driveway near you, it’s suddenly easy being green at Aston Martin.
That’s not the only change Stroll is making at Aston Martin. Take the new Vantage, the brand’s entry-level supercar (though, at $410,000, it’s still quite the level). Aston Martin says its sole aim is to elevate the brand back to where it belongs, and that is in the same sentence as Ferrari and Lamborghini, whenever anyone is discussing the very best driver-focused supercars.
It’s a Stroll edict, no less. Which is why everything – from the power outputs and the aerodynamics to the connection between car and driver – has been dialled right up to take the fight to the Italians.
I drove the previous Vantage way back in 2018, and I’ve got to say I was never struck that it was crying out for more power. In fact, it was ridiculously quick, with 375kW and 685Nm and a penchant for frying rear tyres like eggs. And yet, now I’ve driven the new-generation 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 version, with its ludicrous 489kW and 800Nm, I’m left wondering how anyone made do with the plodding, pedestrian outputs of the old one.
At least part of that was down to the fact that Aston Martin had us trundle out onto Spain’s Circuito Monteblanco in formation behind a Vantage done up to look exactly like the F1 safety car, allowing me to ever-so-briefly indulge in my wildest F1 fantasies, imagining what could have been if only I hadn’t been cruelly held back by a lack of both talent and money.
It’s not just the engine, either. Yes, there is 30 per cent more power and 15 per cent more torque, but there’s also new cooling, better aerodynamics, retuned suspension and anti-roll tech, new brake-booster tuning, new tyres, improvements to the ESP system, more body stiffness and more driver tech.
All that power is fed through an eight-speed automatic to the rear tyres. The race to 100km/h takes 3.5 seconds, and the flying top speed is 325km/h.
If you’re wondering how that tortured rear rubber deals with that tsunami of torque, the answer is poorly. But just how poorly is entirely up to you. Unlike some brands, which install a traction-control system so nannying it simply Harry Potters the power away anytime it senses you’re losing grip, Aston employs a far more personalised method. Here, a nine-stage system is deployed, allowing you to dial it from pretty safe to downright homicidal – even Aston describes the lightest setting as “get ready to replace the rear tyres”.
Somehow this Vantage manages not to feel terrifying, partly because you’re so dialled-in to the drive experience, and partly because the entire car is so communicative that you’re acutely aware of every movement from the rear tyres. But there is another perk not quite so common in the rarefied automotive air of supercars. The Vantage’s engine is at the front, under a bonnet. And the doors open normally, not folding up towards the sky like an origami project. All of that means you can get into, and out of, the Vantage like an actual human, rather than grunting, groaning and folding yourself in at impossible angles. Which makes pulling up in front of a crowd far less embarrassing.
And you can’t put a price on dignity, can you? Well, perhaps you can. It’s $410,000.
Aston Martin Vantage
Engine: 4.0-Litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 489kW
Torque: 800Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Fuel economy: 12.1L/100km (approx)
Price: $410,000
This story is from the July issue of WISH.
