<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/coupes/" rel="tag">Coupe</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/sports/" rel="tag">Performance</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/aston-martin/" rel="tag">Aston Martin</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/driving/" rel="tag">First Drive</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/luxury/" rel="tag">Luxury</a></p><em><big>The Automaker's Most Powerful Engine Meets Its Smallest Platform</big></em><br />
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<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review/"><img hspace="0" vspace="4" border="1" src="http://blog.pangeic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/lead-2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage.jpg" alt="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" /></a>
<div><em><strong><small>2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
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Sketched drawings of imaginary sports automobiles covered my notebook as an elementary school pupil. Assembled in the ether of a daydream, each penciled design came from an imagination unrestrained by reality, with nary a concession to things like outward visibility, bumper heights or ground clearance. Engines were huge, tires were wide and bodywork was unbelievably sleek. It didn't matter that none of the drawings represented real automobiles. From my naive perspective, I could bring the world's coolest automobiles to life in two-dimensional black and white.<br />
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Thirty years later, I find myself sitting in the driver's seat of a <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/v12+vantage">2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage</a>. To a automobile guy, this artful amalgamate of aluminum, magnesium, automobilebon fiber, leather, rubber and glass represents pure sensory overload. As a jaded automotive journalist, I'm supposed to maintain a poker face when presented with such an <em>objet d'art</em>. Plainly, I am struggling today.<br />
<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/05/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-first-drive-review-road-test/#continued"><br />
Continue reading...</a><br />
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<div><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review">2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: First Drive</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review/"><img src="http://blog.pangeic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/01-2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" title="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review/"><img src="http://blog.pangeic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/02-2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" title="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review/"><img src="http://blog.pangeic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/03-2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" title="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review/"><img src="http://blog.pangeic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/04-2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" title="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-review/"><img src="http://blog.pangeic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/05-2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" title="2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage" /></a></div><br />
<em><strong><small>Photos copyright (C)2011 <a href="http://www.drewphillipsphotography.com/">Drew Phillips</a> / AOL</small></strong></em><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/05/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-first-drive-review-road-test/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>First Drive: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage</em></a></p><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/05/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-first-drive-review-road-test/">First Drive: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:56:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/05/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-first-drive-review-road-test/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19787017/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/05/2011-aston-martin-v12-vantage-first-drive-review-road-test/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>