Aston Martin, the British supercar of choice for the film superspy James Bond, has launched a new brand called AMR (after Aston Martin Racing) at the Geneva International Motor Show , which the firm says brings a new dimension of race inspired dynamism and performance.
“Reflecting Aston Martin’s racing pedigree, AMR takes technology and inspiration from motorsport to amplify the sporting prowess present across the model range. With enhanced performance, sharper dynamics and more powerful design language, AMR takes Aston Martin’s road cars to new and exciting extremes,” said Aston which has showrooms in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Since the formation of Aston Martin Racing (AMR) in 2004 Aston Martin has enjoyed success in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), winning the 2016 FIA WEC GT Drivers Championship, while also securing three class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans over this period. Similarly, Aston Martin Racing’s GT3 and GT4 racers have secured countless victories and championship titles around the world.
Two AMR concepts have been unveiled in Geneva: the Rapide AMR and Vantage AMR Pro. The Rapide represents the first tier of AMR, a four-door sportscar with a comprehensive suite of power, chassis and styling upgrades, plus a new interior. The Vantage AMR Pro – heavily influenced by Aston Martin Racing’s WEC winning V8 Vantage GTE – is the pinnacle, Aston said; an uncompromising demonstration of AMR’s “Track to Tarmac” philosophy whereby race technology is transferred to road cars.
While future development of the core AMR models will be part of Aston Martin’s central vehicle engineering teams, development of all AMR Pro models will be led by the specialist Q by Aston Martin Advanced Operations.
AMR’s European development and brand centre will be based at Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art Nürburgring Test Centre in Germany, which is situated within sight of the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife race track.
“Each time we have pushed the boundaries and done something extreme, the customers have loved the cars. AMR enables us to take Aston Martin into a new dimension. One where we can turn-up the sporting DNA present in all of our models and make a true statement,” said Marek Reichman, the Aston Martin chief creative officer “An AMR model will have an instantly recognisable design language. One that accentuates and amplifies, together with the latest GT race car technology for the road. They will be special and rare cars that are credible, thrilling to drive and hugely desirable to own.”
Aston said the Rapide AMR provides a visual blueprint for future AMR models. Featuring a version of Aston Martin’s 6-litre naturally aspirated V12, it is, the firm says, the world’s fastest four-door, capable of very nearly 340kph. The Vantage AMR Pro is a track-only hypercar, is powered by a development of Aston Martin Racing’s GT4 race engine, and is the most powerful V8 Vantage ever. “As passionate enthusiasts of Aston Martin’s competition pedigree, AMR is something we have wanted to bring to fruition for some time,” said Aston Martin’s president and chief executive, Andy Palmer,. “Cars such as the Vantage GT8 and Vantage GT12 confirmed that our customers love raw, race-bred models, but we also knew there was an opportunity to create cars that offer a sharper performance focus but stop short of those truly hardcore, special series models. With the AMR brand we have the perfect platform to deliver both.
“As proof of that intent I’m incredibly excited to announce that we will be putting both the Vantage AMR Pro and Rapide AMR into production: the Vantage in an extremely limited series of no more than seven cars; the Rapide as a run of only 210 cars. They are the start of something very exciting – a programme that will eventually see an AMR version of every model in the Aston Martin range.”
chnelson@thenational.ae
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