Aston Martin celebrates Works 60th Anniversary with special Vanquish cars

Interior trim of limited-edition cars to feature piston metal from classic engines

    To celebrate 60 years of Aston Martin Works at their Newport Pagnell home, Aston Martin plans to build six limited-edition examples of the Vanquish, in coupe and Volante form, for the occassion. The cars, built by Aston Martin's new in-house coachbuilding and customization division Q, will be distinguished by side strakes and wheels finished in Anniversary Yellow, while the interior will feature center console rotary controls that have been cast from metal that was previously a piston in a classic Aston Martin car. Don't worry, no classics have been melted to create these rotary controls -- Aston Martin just took the pistons from engines in the process of being rebuilt. And each rotary knob will feature laser-etched anniversary lettering.

    Aston Martin used pistons from the following six cars to create the rotary knobs: a 1955-1965 DB 2/4 Mk II saloon, a DB5 from 1965-1975, a V8 Coupe from 1975-1985, a V8 Vantage X-Pack from 1985-1995, a V8 Vantage Supercharged from 1995-2005, and a 2005-2015 Vanquish.

    The Works 60th Anniversary cars will also feature era-specific logos etched into the side sillls, new heavy-weave carbon fiber accents for small detail pieces, white/black Duotone seat center panels and contrasting yellow stitching for the seats.

    Aston Martin isn't planning any performance upgrades for the limited-edition Vanquish cars, so that means they'll stick with the Vanquish GT's 6.0-liter V12 connected to a Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic gearbox.

    Aston Martin isn't telling what each special edition Works 60th Anniversary will cost -- for that you'll have to call up Q and inquire about purchasing one of the six cars planned. He's a young guy and wears hipster glasses. He also looks remarkably like British actor Ben Whishaw from the Bond film "Skyfall," or so we've heard.