New Aston Martins used to be an occasion. When Britain’s most elegant car manufacturer showed off their latest model, it was a big moment for petrolheads, particularly those of us from Blighty. However, in recent years, the brand has gone awry, trending toward limited-edition specials and progressively worse refreshes of less relevant models. Although the Vanquish is supposed to be a breath of fresh air, it seems like more of the same.

For the unfamiliar, the 2025 Vanquish is Aston Martin’s flagship production GT, with a big front-mounted V12, taking on the phenomenally, stupidly titled Ferrari 12 Cilindri. That car is elegant, distinct, and powerful but very tech-centric, giving Aston Martin the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the renewed focus on great driver-centric experiences. If they truly wanted to take on Ferrari, Aston would have done that: removing the turbos from their V12 to focus on response and sound over sheer power, making it only available as a manual, and making it lighter than previous generations.

Instead, it is heavier than previous generations, more tech-centric, and Aston’s informal internal memo is to always make more power than its competitors—as though that matters in the age of EVs. For those interested, the Vanquish puts out 824 horsepower, 737 pound-feet of torque, and hits the highest top speed of any production Aston Martin at 214 miles per hour.

Are you yawning? I’m yawning.

And then there’s its looks. Car journalists keep insisting it looks stunning because it’s an Aston, so of course, it has to be stunning. From certain angles, it is. The side profile is just perfect, with a great long bonnet. The curvy, rear-based greenhouse recalls classic British sports cars like the Jaguar E-Type, and the muscular squat rear arches and the way the body and side skirts tighten in just before it looks aggressive and powerful. The squat duck-tail spoiler and wheel design are also great. But there are a lot of areas that just don’t work.

The floating surfboard/shield element at the rear is non-functional and garish in contrast colors, reminding me a lot of the details of various Chinese EVs. The new rear lights are an uninteresting, poor attempt to tone down the rear three-dimensional light units from their limited-edition models like the Vulcan, and combined with the rear arches and blacked-out “shield,” it unflatteringly recalls the rear of the current Mustang. The front grille is also a disappointment, using a gaping, oversized front element that hasn’t been styled well, with headlights nicked off the new Vantage, looking entirely out of place with the new chic but muscular design language of this car. The hood design also confuses overcomplexity for aggression.

This isn’t a great-looking car; it’s a mid-generation facelift away from being a great-looking car that is currently too messy, particularly at the front.

The grille should have been broken into a lower element and an upper, with the upper unit styled in the classic Aston shape, and slimmer headlight units should have been used; or they could have used a similar round-headlight look from the Vulcan and Victor. Ironically, the current generation of the Vantage also had some good elements but was spoiled by an under-styled, oversized grille and some ugly headlights. With this year’s facelift, they refined the design, most notably by fixing the grille and giving it some new headlights. Hopefully when they refresh the Vanquish, they’ll also bring some more soul to the otherwise quite cluttered yet dull interior.

The Vanquish launches in the fourth quarter of this year with pricing starting at $429,000. Although they have announced that production will be “limited” to 1,000 units per year, that is likely a kind way of saying they don’t expect to sell more than that many cars. Expect the looks to be fixed in 4,000 cars’ time with the 2029 model year version.