The word supercar has been with us for around 30 years. In the beginning it was applied to a handful of cars from makers such as Lamborghini and Ferrari and it was simple to judge which qualified. A supercar was sexier, costlier and, above all, it was faster.

No longer. Try to thread this £166,000 Aston Vanquish down a quiet, sinuous country road as quickly as thirty grand’s worth of Mitsubishi Evolution VIII and you’ll realise the old order has gone for good. I know: I’ve tried. If you don’t realise it, you’ll be responsible for the most elegant shape ever to be punched into a British hedgerow.

But the Vanquish is not simply up against the rising tide of Japanese road racers. There’s also a home-grown challenge in the form of an upstart younger brother.

Astonishingly, Aston Martin now has two very similar looking coupés, powered by very similar engines and producing very similar performance. One is this four-year-old Vanquish, the other the new DB9 costing, wait for it, £63,000 less.

Leaving aside the undeniable advantage that, if you’re not too fussy about spec, you can get a new Vanquish today while you stand no chance at all of seeing a newly ordered DB9 before 2006, it might not seem immediately obvious what the Vanquish has to offer over its precocious sibling.

It’s something of which Aston Martin is keenly aware, which is why it has gone through the Vanquish from end to end to spice it up. The suspension has been completely revised, it has new brakes, a fresh set of wheels and quicker steering. All that’s been left untouched for now is the 460bhp 6 litre V12 engine, which already has 10bhp more than the otherwise identical unit in the DB9. Its power is due to be increased further towards the end of the year.

Where the old Vanquish felt a little too soft and compliant to convince as a 21st-century supercar, the new one feels taut and sharp. At last it possesses the composure to match the flashing performance of the mighty V12 and the result is a driving experience more complete than that of any Aston in history. Except, that is, for the DB9, which I’d bet will still keep up with a Vanquish in almost all conditions.

But though real-world performance might be similar, these are far from the same car wearing slightly different bodies. In fact they’re not even made in the same way.

While the DB9 is the high-tech product of a new state-of-the-art production facility at Gaydon, Warwickshire, the Vanquish is made in the same Newport Pagnell factory as James Bond’s first Aston was more than 40 years ago. Staggeringly, its body panels are still shaped in part by men wielding hammers, one reason a Vanquish takes 800 hours to assemble, double the time needed to put a DB9 together. It is also built in tiny quantities: fewer than 300 will find their way onto the road in the next year, against 2,000 DB9s.

The Vanquish represents the end of the old Aston, the DB9 the birth of the new, and which is preferable depends on your perspective. Take it from me that the DB9 would be the better car even at the same price. The Vanquish is flawed in many places: the new brakes work well but don’t feel right, the Jaguar-sourced switchgear is a mess, and you can’t see much out of the back. It’s trickier to drive fast than the DB9, too.

But to me there is a perverse appeal there. If the DB9 has a fault it is that it’s almost too good: anyone can drive one fast, smoothly and safely. The Vanquish requires concentration: it will get out of shape if you’re rough with the controls and, because its paddle-shift gearbox is manual, not automatic like the DB9’s, if you want a smooth shift you have to time it properly.

With the new engine on the way, the future of the Vanquish will be safe for a few years but its replacement will be built at Gaydon, and production at Newport Pagnell will then cease for good. It is the last chance to buy an old-school Aston with all the charm, craftsmanship and care that entails.

Does that make the Vanquish worth the extra over the DB9? Not to me, but away from the factory I reckon I’ve seen only three this year. That’s the kind of exclusivity that will make certain people think the Vanquish is worth every extra pound.

VITAL STATISTICS

Model Aston Martin Vanquish
Engine type V12, 5935cc
Power/Torque 460bhp @ 6500rpm / 400 lb ft @ 5000rpm
Transmission Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Fuel/CO2 16.9mpg (combined) / 396g/km
Performance 0-60mph: 4.4sec / top speed 196mph
Price £166,000 (UK price)
Verdict The last of the old-school Astons, charming but flawed
Rating

The opposition

Model Ferrari 575 Maranello £154,350 (UK price)
For Majestic performance, unrivalled image, good handling
Against Not beautiful, disappointing engine sound

Model Lamborghini Murcielago £168,000 (UK price)
For Massively quick, handles surprisingly well, colossal presence
Against Too wide for most British roads, wildly impractical

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