[AUTO] Nearly new buying guide: Aston Martin DB11

[Profesoruツ]

It might rank as the understatement of the decade to say that when the DB11 was launched in 2016, it was a fairly important car for Aston Martin. Never a company to prosper with quite the financial success you’d imagine a maker of such desirable and expensive sports cars might do, the DB11 arrived at what could be called a make or break time for the British firm. Luckily the car was liked by the press, the public and the people who bought it, so the work Aston had put in was certainly justified. It sat on a brand-new platform, for one, and it borrowed a lot of technology from Aston’s partner, Mercedes. The DB11 is made mostly from aluminium, too, which is light, except where it’s made of magnesium, which is even lighter, and on top of that a lot of work went into making its graceful and arresting shape aerodynamic, so it not only looks like a million dollars but also goes like it.Under that voluptuous bonnet was an initial choice of either a twinturbo 4.0-litre V8 or a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12. Some buyers felt a proper GT Aston should always have a V12, but they were in the minority and the engine was discontinued last year. Although it turns out that Aston didn’t really discontinue the DB11 V12 after all, it simply rebranded it as the DB11 AMR (for ‘Aston Martin Racing’).Those seeking some wind-inthe-hair action might look to the convertible Volante version, which, if anything, looks even more divine than the closed-top coupé. Volante buyers will have to make do with just the V8 option, and inevitably 110kg of extra weight, but one look at this beautiful machine should be enough to convince most people to overlook such trivialities.