THE ‘baby Aston’ aims to distil the brand’s desirability and heritage into a more affordable package and makes a good stab at it. The Vantage looks great inside and out, with an improved and charismatic 4.7-litre engine and a driving experience that’s a well-judged compromise between comfort and enjoyment.

The V8 Vantage was announced at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, and even in its unflattering shade of bright yellow, the car looked knee-weakeningly stunning – it did then and it does now.

The yellow was deliberate, emphasising the V8 Vantage’s younger and more extrovert appeal compared to the more restrained and elegant DB9 and Vanquish models. In size, it’s not too far off a Porsche 911, with the original version’s 4.3-litre V8 replaced by a 4.7 litre V8 engine with a power output of 420bhp (up from 380bhp).

This delivers peak torque of 470Nm (a 15 per cent increase), providing the V8 Vantage with new reserves of mid-range performance, an improved 0-60mph time of 4.7 seconds and top speed of 180mph.

Both the standard manual stick-shift gearbox and the optional Sportshift transmission are more responsive and easier to use, and while the basic body silhouette is instantly recognisable as an Aston Martin, the V8 Vantage is nearly 305mm shorter than a DB9 and 60mm lower slung.

Interiors have never been an Aston Martin problem and the V8 Vantage’s cabin is one of the best efforts to date. Much of the architecture and components are common with the DB9. There’s enough head and leg room for six-footers, while the width of the cabin and the broad transmission tunnel will make banging elbows a distant memory.

“The car looked knee-weakeningly stunning – it did then and it does now”

With that relatively large 4.7-litre eight-cylinder engine up front, weight distribution was a priority for Aston Martin’s engineers. A transmission at the rear of the car helps to generate a 49:51 weight distribution front and back, the engine being what is fashionably termed ‘front-mid mounted’ or, in more layman’s terms, with its centre of gravity set behind the line of the front axle. All of this helps the Vantage V8 corner nimbly, and predictably. A dry sump also allows the engine to sit low in the chassis, lowering the car’s centre of gravity.

The latest 4.7-litre engine may be larger but still manages to be more economical. Combined European fuel economy and CO2 emissions are improved by 13 per cent over the original 4.3-litre model and the cars turns in 20.4mpg on the combined cycle and 27.3mpg in extra urban open road conditions, but just 14.2mpg in urban conditions. CO2 emissions are usefully improved too, at 328g/km for the manual and 312g/km for the Sportshift model.

This so-called ‘baby’ Aston Martin has already attracted a whole slew of buyers and it’s still one of the hottest tickets in town. The Aston Martin brand holds massive kudos, and, as the most accessible way to own one of the company’s products, the Vantage was never likely to fail. It’s much more than a bauble for the well-heeled, however – the elegance and style in the design, the engaging driving experience and the charismatic engine make the Vantage a real experience. Just what you want in an £80,000 sports car.