Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

When Aston Martin revived the DBS name in 2018, it did so at the top of the range, positioning the DBS Superleggera above the DB11 as the marque's flagship grand tourer. The Superleggera badge nods to Carrozzeria Touring of Milan, the coachbuilder whose lightweight tube-frame method Aston Martin had licensed decades earlier, though here the name is more evocative than literal. Beneath the clamshell bonnet sits a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 producing 715 bhp and 900 Nm of torque, sent to the rear wheels through a ZF eight-speed automatic.

The result behaves less like a plush cruiser than its DB11 sibling and more like a genuine supercar. Top speed is 211 mph, with 0-62 mph dispatched in 3.4 seconds, and the bodywork is shaped to generate 180 kg of downforce at maximum speed, the highest figure Aston Martin had achieved on a series-production car. The aggressive aerodynamics, from the double-diaphragm rear diffuser to the curved front splitter, are functional rather than decorative.

Production ran until 2024, when the DBS Superleggera gave way to a new generation of Vanquish at the summit of the range. Over its life it spawned a run of special editions and, fittingly for a British flagship, carried James Bond through the film No Time to Die. It stands as a high point of Aston Martin's twin-turbo V12 grand tourers before the marque's return to a mid-engined and hybrid future.