You may already be familiar with the initialism, AMR, the racing arm of Aston Martin (which unsurprisingly stands for Aston Martin Racing). Though in an exciting recent announcement, Aston Martin have revealed plans to launch ‘AMR’ as a sub-brand in itself.
The team (Aston Martin Racing) originated in 2004 in collaboration with Prodrive, the Banbury based motorsport group involved in designing and building racing cars for the likes of Aston Martin as well as MINI and VW. The original plan was to get Aston Martin back onto the racing circuit, primarily with the DBR9. The car was subsequently entered into the 24 Le Mans in 2005 in the GT1 class and finished a respectable 3rd with the trio of Darren Turner, Stéphane Sarrazin and David Brabham behind the wheel. With Rickard Rydell replacing Stéphane, the team finished in 1st place a year later.
The first vehicle to benefit from the technology trickle down from Aston Martin Racing into the AMR brand is the Vantage AMR. Available in both coupé and roadster formats and with the option of either a V8 or V12 engine, prices will not be cheap, coming in at around £97,995 for the V8 coupé.
It’s clearly all about performance and looks with the Vantage AMR, and some of the options include a titanium exhaust and an aero kit with carbon spoilers. The colour schemes are probably not for the faint hearted, although they are tastefully done – if you want to be noticed, this is the car for you. I particularly like the Stirling Green with Lime Green contrast and Union Jack inspired badging.
At this level, you can also expect the interior décor to match the exterior perfectly with little expense spared. Leather meets Alcantara (the long lasting synthetic suede developed in the seventies) for the coupé, while the roadster loses the Alcantara. You can choose carbon fibre seats and trim to shave even more weight if you wish too.
Only 300 models will be built, with the V12 be limited to just 100 of those. The 7-speed manual V12 will produce 595bhp, while the V8 will produce a mere 430bhp with a 6-speed transmission. On top of this, the AMR Vantage Pro will be a track only version and a product of the Aston Martin Q division; the unique personalisation service provided by the company.
The future will undoubtedly bring further exciting vehicles from the AMR stable, but it’s a great start; the Vantage AMR is feast for the eyes.
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