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This Armored Aston Martin Vantage Could Invoke Your Inner James Bond
You wouldn’t know it from looking at it, but this Vantage can stop a .44 Magnum!
by Robert Moore, onBordering between the line of spy worthy and presidential, this Aston Martin Vantage is not your run-of-the-mill sports car. AddArmor by Quality Coachworks has instilled this particular Vantage with on-road protection suited for anyone with some less-than-ideal rivals. It features a B4 level of protection, which means it can stop a number of bullets, including the .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, and 9mm Parabellum.
Bulletproof Aston Martin Vantage
The Aston Martin Vantage’s armored future comes courtesy of new bullet-resistant glass for the windshield, doors windows, and rear glass. There is 450 pounds worth of Kevlar and hardened steel to protect the roof and fuel tank. Composite materials are used to protect the firewall ahead of the driver. AddArmor thought of everything because, even if you are forced to stop, anyone trying to open the door will get a very stout electric shock via the door handles.
The armor package is rounded off by run-flat tires, covers for the exhaust to prevent the insertion of foreign objects, and a revised suspension system to compensate for the added weight from all the new protective equipment. From the outside, you’d have difficulty spotting anything that makes this specific car different from any other Vantage on the road, with exception of the mesh over the exhaust outlets, which isn’t really noticeable. Then again, the Vantage’s wow factor – since it’s not something that you see all that often – will certainly distract from that.
Stepping inside the AddArmor Vantage yields a cabin that’s just as luxurious as you’d expect and, at a glance, you wouldn’t notice anything different. If you’re paying attention, though, you’ll notice how much thicker the glass is compared to normal, and there is a new button to activate the door handle shock feature.
All of this said, don’t expect the Vantage to perform quite as well as one that rolls off the production line. AddArmor did its best to keep weight in check, but it’s still ultimately heavier than stock. The base Vantage is powered by a twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8 that delivers 503 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque. There is a Vantage F1 edition with the same engine tuned to deliver 528 horsepower and an equal amount of torque, and a limited-run V-12 model with some 690 horsepower on tap.
In standard guise, the Aston Martin Vantage can hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, but with all the extra weight, you can expect at least a 0.5-second penalty. Despite the revised suspension, the handling dynamic might not be quite as good as stock, either, and the extra weight will probably hamper braking performance just a bit too. Still, if you’re in a business that puts a target on your head but don’t want to skip out on the sports car, this Vantage is probably worth it. There’s no word as to how much the conversion costs, but don’t expect it to come cheap. The Vantage itself costs $142,086 before any options, taxes, or fees, so something the added armor could see you paying close to $200,000 before all is said and done.
