Aston Martin - Unleash your inner Bond
Published by Napa Valley Supercars | Napa Valley, California
There are cars that make you look twice. Then there's the Aston Martin Vantage, which makes you stop completely.
In a fleet that includes a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, and a McLaren — cars that announce themselves from three blocks away — the Aston Martin is still the one that draws the longest stares. It doesn't shout. It doesn't need to. It has the kind of presence that comes from genuine beauty rather than spectacle, the sort that works in any context — parked outside a Napa Valley winery, rolling through downtown, or disappearing into a canyon road at speed.
But anyone who writes Aston Martin off as merely beautiful has missed the point entirely. The Vantage is a serious performance car, and the canyon roads above Napa Valley have a way of making that very clear.
Warwickshire, England, 1913
Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford — the name taken from the Aston Clinton hillclimb in Buckinghamshire where Martin had raced. From the very beginning, the company was defined by two things: competition and financial precariousness. Aston Martin has changed hands more times than almost any other storied manufacturer, passing through a succession of owners who were drawn to the brand's reputation and then confronted with the reality of keeping a low-volume, hand-built British sports car company solvent.
It nearly disappeared entirely on multiple occasions. Yet it survived every near-death experience — because the cars were too good, and the brand was too beloved, for anyone to let it die.
The Le Mans victory in 1959 with the DBR1 cemented Aston Martin's place in motorsport history. The DB4, DB5, and DB6 of the 1960s established its reputation for the most elegant grand tourers in the world. And then came James Bond.
The Bond Effect
No single cultural relationship has shaped a car brand more completely than James Bond and Aston Martin. When the DB5 appeared in Goldfinger in 1964, driven by Sean Connery's 007, it became an instant icon — the car that defined what a sophisticated, dangerous, impeccably dressed secret agent should drive.
The association has proven remarkably durable. Bond has driven Lotuses, BMWs, and Jaguars at various points in the franchise's history, but Aston Martin is always where he returns. The DB5 reappears in film after film decades later, a shorthand for a particular kind of British cool that has never really gone out of fashion.
That cultural weight means something when you're behind the wheel. Aston Martins carry a mythology that other supercars — for all their engineering brilliance — simply don't have. Nobody has ever made a Ferrari look quite as iconic as that DB5 looked in Goldfinger.
The Vantage: Aston Martin's Most Focused Sports Car
The Vantage is the most driver-focused car in Aston Martin's current lineup — smaller and lighter than the DB11 or DBS, designed to prioritise handling and engagement over grand touring comfort.
Under the bonnet sits a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, developed in collaboration with AMG-Mercedes, producing 503 horsepower and — crucially — 505 lb-ft of torque available from just 2,000 rpm. That low-down torque delivery is what makes the Vantage feel so effortlessly muscular in real-world driving. You don't need to be chasing a redline to feel the engine's full character. It responds immediately, urgently, from the moment you ask.
The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout gives the Vantage a balance and a playfulness that mid-engine cars can't quite replicate. There's a classic sports car feel to the way weight shifts under braking and the rear responds to throttle — communicative and rewarding without being nervous or demanding.
And then there's the sound. The V8 Vantage has one of the finest exhaust notes of any car currently in production — a deep, authoritative growl at low speeds that builds into something far more urgent as revs rise. On an open canyon road, with the windows down, it's genuinely one of the great acoustic experiences in motoring.
Our Vantage is finished in Lime Essence — a vivid, slightly unexpected yellow that suits the car's character perfectly. It's bold without being brash, striking without trying too hard. Very Aston Martin.
Aston Martin in Napa Valley
The Vantage is, in many ways, the ideal car for the roads above Napa Valley. It's not trying to be a track weapon like the Porsche GT3 RS, and it's not making a statement of excess like the Lamborghini. It occupies a particular sweet spot — genuinely fast, deeply rewarding to drive, and beautiful to experience in a landscape as naturally dramatic as this one.
The canyon roads here suit the Vantage's front-engine character well. Turn-in is precise and confident, the rear follows with a natural, satisfying balance, and the twin-turbo V8 pulls cleanly out of corners with the kind of authority that makes you want to find the next one immediately. For guests who want a supercar that feels like a sports car in the best possible sense — connected, characterful, exciting without being overwhelming — the Vantage is consistently one of the most talked-about cars in our fleet.
On our 1.5 Hour Supercar Canyon Tour, you'll drive the Vantage on real canyon roads with a guide car ahead. No racing experience required. On the 3.5 Hour Multi-Supercar Tour, you can put the Aston Martin back to back with the Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Porsche — and discover for yourself how differently these cars approach the same road.
More Than a Pretty Face
Aston Martin has spent over a century surviving against the odds, building cars of extraordinary beauty that are also — and this is the part that surprises people — genuinely exciting to drive fast. The Vantage is the clearest expression of that balance in the current range.
It's a car that looks like it belongs in a film. It drives like it belongs on a great road. Fortunately, Napa Valley has plenty of both.
Want to drive the most beautiful car in the fleet? Book your Aston Martin experience online or call us at (707) 927-2014.
Napa Valley Supercars offers supercar canyon tours, exotic car rentals, bachelor parties, and corporate events in Napa Valley, California. Tours operate April through November. Rentals available year-round. 🏎️🍷