Q by Aston Martin, the British automaker’s customization and personalization service, just announced its third limited edition series. The Aston Martin Vanquish S Red Arrows edition honors the Royal Air Force Red Arrows, one of the world’s premier acrobatic flight teams.
Only ten Red Arrows Vanquish S versions will be built. Nine Red Arrows will be sold to customers exclusively through the Aston Martin Cambridge dealership. The tenth version will be donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund. The price is not available, but the Vanquish S starts at $294,950. Let’s guess you may have to add another $50-100K for a Red Arrows model.
In honor of the flight team, the Vanquish S Red Arrows edition will all be finished in Eclat Red, the same color as the Red Arrows team Hawk aircraft. “Eclat,” the team motto, is a Scrabble-legal English word derived from the French that means “brilliant display or effect.”
The Vanquish S Red Arrows won’t have any performance tweaks above the already mightily tweaked 590 horsepower S model Vanquish. Of course, since the car is built by Q, there may be opportunities for special features. Because Q series vehicles are demonstration pieces that show the lengths to which the division will go to personalize cars for customers, the Red Arrows are replete with detailing features unique to the series.
Red Arrows bodywork and interior enhancements include a white smoke trail on the side of the car, an exposed carbon fiber roof panel, Union Jack enamel wing badges, and a titanium exhaust.
Think of an interior component and it is probably special in a Red Arrow from door handles to transmission tunnel, and even the green webbing seat belts. If you tell a passenger the car has ejection seats, she or he might believe you based on appearance.
Twin racing helmets in the Red Arrows style are included and have their own rear-mounted storage. Owners will also receive bespoke accessories such as luggage, bomber jackets, or racing suits — the cars will not come with the same items. All cars will be sold with specially designed car covers and build books that record each step in the process.
In the James Bond films that are closely associated with Aston Martin, “Q” was the Quartermaster of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service. The character Q in the 007 series is a genius inventor who runs MI6’s research and development department. Q by Aston Martin may not be willing to weaponize a Red Arrows edition for you, but if you want something very special, ask.
In the states, we have the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the U.K. has the Red Arrows, which were founded in 1965. The team, which includes pilots, engineers, and ground crew, is used for RAF recruitment and to entertain crowds with spectacular precision flying.
