National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 44

DRIVER'S EDGE D06 NATIONAL POST, FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2002 I in, v' vim it I ir. I BP- Mill II tr- c. The coolest feature of the Vanquish is its six-speed, close-ratio, manual transmission. The Formula One-inspired paddle shift; gear change uses technology to facilitate near-instantaneous gear changes. Sophisticated sex appeal front and 28540ZR19 rear tires provide monster grip.

Individual tire pressures and temperatures are monitored through an automatic electronic sensing system. The only things impeding a truly indecent dash through the circuit are the Vanquish's thick windshield pillars, which obstruct corner views and make picking apexes a matter of trial and error. Huge ventilated and drilled 355-millimetre (front) and 330-mm (rear) diameter Brembo disc brakes with ABS haul the Aston Martin down from triple-digit speeds with a complete lack of drama. A limited slip differential in tandem with electronic traction control senses poten- what we would be doing on the various sections of track. Despite driving on the wrong (left) side of the course, from the wrong (right) side of the car, on an unfamiliar track at speeds I have not achieved in more then a decade, not once could I get young Mr.

Dickinson or any of the several other instructors I hooked up with during the morning to elicit even one "Sweet Jesus, we're going to die." Les Goble, who heads up the Performance Driving Course, says the instructors are chosen as much for their temperament as for their driving skills. The drop-dead coolest feature of the Vanquish is its six-speed, close-ratio, manual transmission. Developed in conjunction with Magnetti Marelli and Ford, the Formula One-inspired paddle shift gear change incorporates electronics matched to hydraulics to facilitate near-instantaneous gear changes. Putting the transmission in neutral requires a slight tug on both pad- VANQUISH Continued from Page D01 Not that Aston Martin would ever suggest to its clientele that their driving skills are anything less than razor sharp. No, since possessing an Aston Martin is "a relationship between a high-performance car, the craftsmen who created it and its owner," the Performance Driving Course "is designed to show you just how fulfilling that relationship can be." Helping to fulfil my relationship with the Vanquish is 27-year-old Simon Dickinson, sometime racer and part-time instructor.

As one of Aston Martin's 12 contracted instructors, he spends about three days a week at Millbrook. Notwithstanding his youth (I have T-shirts older than this kid), he is consummately professional, his voice and manner practiced, placing me at perfect ease as he explains how the paddle shift functions, as well as dies, Mr. Dickinson explains; foot on the brake for neutral and first (there is no clutch pedal), the car only moves when the throttle is pressed. The right paddle upshifts, the left paddle downshifts. Foot off the throttle slightly when shifting up.

In normal mode, the transmission upshifts automatically should you forget. It is like learning to play a video game. Then there is the sport mode, whose hyper-shift action decreases the shift time to milliseconds. For our acceleration runs on the one-mile straight, young Mr. Dickinson suggests foot to the floor, don't shift until the engine is above 6,000 rpm, but don't forget to shift.

In sport mode, the transmission will not upshift, allowing the engine to hit the rev limiter. The six-speed's sophisticated electronics also permit the transmission to operate as a regular automatic when the Automatic Sequential Mode is activated (ideal for heavy traffic); plus there is a program for slippery driving conditions that automatically upshifts early. Despite the Vanquish's aluminum body panels and space-age structure the main body assembly is constructed from carbon fibre, extruded aluminum and composite materials bonded together to form a central monocoque safety cell it is, at 1,835 kilograms, no lightweight; the powertrain accounts for about 60 of the sports car's avoirdupois. Still, it moves well for a big car. The steep gradients, flowing corners and sharp hairpins of Millbrook's unforgiving Hill Route Circuit did not corral its handling dynamics.

Specially designed Yokohama 25540ZR19 passenger seats and incorporates the red engine starter button (tres chic), the sound system and the climate control system, the latter looking suspiciously like Jaguar's. The major instruments are white-faced and grouped in a binnacle directly in front of the driver with the gear change paddles mounted on the steering column. Aston Martin hopes to produce 500 Vanquishes this year of which nine are coming to Canada. The type of people who buy them, says Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of the firm, are, obviously, those who have "made it." He sees the car as a reward for a life well lived.

"You don't buy a Vanquish for other people, you do it for This car is sophisticated sex appeal." At the pinnacle of automotive exotica, beauty, power, status, emotion and rarity are all in the eye of the beholder. The closest natural competition to the Vanquish is Ferrari's magnificent 550 Maranello a little smaller, a little lighter, a little more powerful, but less aggressive and, dare I say it, somehow more conventional than the Aston Martin. It matters little; cars such as these are so far beyond the automotive spectrum to have conventional benchmarks apply. Let me put the Vanquish and the few others of its rarified class into terms easily grasped by who can only dream of such cars: If the accumulation of vast wealth is what it takes to own such a car, never in my entire life have I more desperately yearned to be stinking rich. National Post bharpernationalpost.com 'Never have I more desperately yearned to be stinking rich' I tial wheel slippage, automatically reducing engine power and, if necessary, applying the rear brake system.

Aston Martin invites its Vanquish customers to visit the factory in Newport Pagnell "in advance of production" to select the car's colour, leather hide upholstery scheme and either the two- or 22 seat configuration. In either seating case, the cabin is a tight fit. A deep centre console separates the driver and front Richly detailed, the Vanquish interior trim can be custom ordered. $12-million ride of a lifetime Rare DBlll was the winner of the 1959 LeMans 24 Hours A 'wi'w "uV'V Jt'' lV The vestigial passenger seat area is not designed to accommodate someone who is 6-foot-2, so the ingress procedure is to scissor over the side, stand on the seat and slide down, placing both feet on the wooden insert, so as not to damage the aluminum cockpit. Place left hand on the door crossbrace, right hand between the legs (no, not to protect "the boys," and grab the seat brace.

I should have clued in that this is not going to be ajoyride when Les Goble taps me on the shoulder and says, "I don't know if you want a helmet or not, but you should know that the driver will be wearing one." I take the helmet. Peter Hardman's name is probably not familiar to race fans on this side of the pond but, on the Continent, he is a driver with an impressive c.v. He fires up the Aston (the bark of the DBRl's straight six is a special kind of music), flicks the gear lever into first and heads us for the diabolical Hill Route Circuit. Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun and thrash one of the most storied post-war sports cars to within an inch of its life. For a 45-year old car with skinny rubber, the DBRl demonstrates remarkable road-holding ability.

Hardnian in motion is a blur, his feet tap-dancing over the brake, clutch and gas pedal, wrist snicking up and down the gears, hands juggling the steering wheel. I can't do anything but hold on for dear life in the cramped, non-insulated cockpit and HKIAN HARPKR NATIONAL POST l'or a 45-year-old with rubber, the DBRl has great road-holding ability. There are cars with race histories and then there are cars with to use a term from Antiques Roadshow provenance. The DBR1 has provenance coming out its Aston Martin Racing Green-painted wazoo. Of only five produced, this particular one just happens to be the winner of the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, a Texas chicken farmer who would go on to greater automotive things.

listen to the shriek of the engine, smell the car's fluids heating up, hear the whir of mechanic.il mesh-ings coming from the gearbox. I laugh like an idiot. All too soon the ride is over. As Hard- man kills the engine, I casually ask him how much the DBRl is worth. "It's insured for five million," he says with a complete lack of diffidence.

"Pounds." Brian Harper, National Post II.