Aston Martin Vanquish unveiled

Actor Daniel Craig's James Bond sits behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DB5 in his latest film, Skyfall. It's the same classic model Sean Connery's Bond first drove in Goldfinger in 1964, underlining the enduring association between the character and the carmaker.

Had the story been set in the modern era, the British spy's bosses might have handed him the key to Aston's new Vanquish.

Unveiled in Hong Kong on Thursday last week before a VIP screening of the latest 007 movie, the 2012 Vanquish replaces Aston's DBS after a six-year production run as its flagship 12-cylinder grand tourer. The DBS, in turn, replaced the original Vanquish, which came onto the market in 2001. That car appeared with Pierce Brosnan in the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day, fitted with an "adaptive camouflage system" that rendered it invisible.

There's no such sci-fi gadgetry in the non-fictional Vanquish, although there is a lot more power than in the DBS. Its 5.9-litre, V-12 engine generates 565 bhp - that's more than 50 extra horses compared with the DBS - and 620Nm of torque. It sprints from zero to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 293km/h.

Andy Gawthorpe, global sales director of Aston Martin Lagonda, says the Vanquish name was revived because it is provocative and suits the brand's ultimate GT. "This is about power, and there's a little edge of malevolence, a little darkness to the car," Gawthorpe says. "You see the tonality and the muscularity. It's just got something else to it that suits the Vanquish name rather than DBS. It's like a DBS that's been sent to the gym."

It also has some remarkable Aston styling, having taken design cues from its limited edition One-77 supercar to dramatic effect, especially noticeable in profile. It's more lean and lithe than the DBS, accentuated by larger, more forceful side strakes.