Aston Martin's mid-engined Vanquish supercar due around 2022 will feature an available manual transmission, the automaker's CEO has confirmed.
"I've already made a commitment that I want to be the last manufacturer in the world to offer manual sports cars and I want to honor that commitment," Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told Car Sales in an interview published Friday.
At a time when its rivals have phased out the manual transmission, Aston Martin is still engineering some of its cars with the third-pedal option. In April, Aston Martin added a new 7-speed manual transmission to its Vantage sports car.
It's likely a version of the in-house developed 7-speed, which features a dogleg H-pattern, will be modified to fit the Vanquish. Instead of pairing with a front-mounted V-8 like in the Vantage, the transmission in the Vanquish will be hooked to a turbocharged V-6 sitting behind the cabin.
Aston Martin Vanquish Vision Concept
Palmer also revealed in his interview with Car Sales the reasoning behind the decision to go with an aluminum tub in the Vanquish instead of using the carbon tub developed for the Valhalla hypercar, which would have been the cheaper option. He explained that aluminum means lower and narrower door sills, which will make getting in and out of the Vanquish much easier.
"Our mainstream cars, have been created to be usable daily,” he said. “That's why they employ an aluminum tub for a lower and narrower sill; it makes them easier to get in and out of.”
He added that a lighter, stiffer carbon tub is ideal for hypercars like the Valhalla and Valkyrie, as the buyers seek ultimate performance.
Aston Martin rolled out the Vanquish Vision concept at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show to preview the new Vanquish. The car will compete at the save level as the Ferrari F8 Tributo and McLaren 720S and won't have a limited production run like its hypercar big brothers. There will even be additional variants.
