The Golden Era of Aston Martin: A Look Back at the History of Mid-Engine Cars

We are on the verge of a golden era for Aston Martin, pioneered by a trio of mid-engine cars. These cars will be the first mid-engined hypercars and supercars to have come out of the Aston Martin factory. We have the Vanquish, which is looking to take on the best from McLaren, Ferrari, and Lamborghini. The Valhalla is seeking to be the more rugged buy sibling to the Valkyrie, while the Valkyrie is looking to massacre the LeMond 24-hour field come 2021, as well as facing off with the engine project one.

Although these are the first mid-engined Aston Martins that we'll see make it to production, if you delve into their history, you will find that the company nearly took the plunge more than 20 years ago. Back in the 1990s, Aston Martin were looking for a new sports car. Tom Walkinshaw racing was establishing itself in the route car space after taking Group C Jags to victory at LeMond. It created the Nissan our 390, the Jaguar XJR 15, and the xj220, and Aston was to be its next customer after acquiring a young Ian Callum onto the design team.

The TWL (TWR) lads set about designing what would become the DB7, a design that still looks stunning today. Callum and his team did such a good job that a new project was led into the TWL design house building a mid-engine sports car to take on Ferrari and replace the old garage-based bulky Vantage. Italians had stuck to front engine layouts for GT cars and mid-engine layouts for their sports cars, an Aston wanted a piece of back key to differentiate a new car from the DB7.

Ian Callum began the project codenamed AM 305 to create what would be the next Aston Martin Vantage, and this is what he came up with. Like most of his designs, the body was compact with sumptuous proportions, there's that iconic Aston grille as well as a wing that looks like it was inspired by the F40. You could see if was roughly at DB7 with an engine transplant. This beautiful AM 305 creation would have gone on to battle against the Ferrari 360 Porsche 911 and Lamborghini Gallardo potentially being released between 2003 and 2005, if it wasn't for Dr. Ulrich.

Dr. Ulrich, who would go on to be the CEO of Aston Martin until 2013, brought the company out of a nasty financial situation but did not take the original DB7 design. A British car should not be mid-engined, he said, and told Ian to go back to the drawing board. So what did he do? He cut the engine out stuck at the front elongated the bonnet, the V8 would fit and voila! He created what we have become known as the Vantage of the early 2000s, with some incredibly cool variants like the V12 Vantage S, the GT eight, and numerous successful racing cars. That design would last from 2005 until 2017 when Aston finally brought out the new Vantage that we know today.

Ian Callum soon left Aston after designing the Vanquish and most of the DB9, switching over to the road to pen the XK F-Type CX75 and many other incredibly beautiful cars. He is now started his own design house, and has kicked things off by tweaking his original Vanquish design called the Vanquish 25. Considering his backlog, expect big things from his startup in the next few years.

The Vantage went on to become the backbone of Aston's range, so it's difficult to argue that mid-engine cars have been the better choice but there's probably a part of all of us that wishes this sports car had come to fruition preceding the Valkyrie, Valhalla and Vanquish by nearly 20 years. What do you guys think? Have we gone mid-engined back then or was it right to stick with the Vantage that we ended up with? Tell us in the comments below!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe are on the verge of a golden era for Aston Martin pioneered by a trio of mid-engine cars these cars will be the first mid-engined hyper cars and supercars to have come out of the Aston Martin factory we have the vanquish which is looking to take on the best from McLaren Ferrari and Lamborghini the Valhalla seeking to be the more rude buy sibling to the Valkyrie and the Valkyrie which is looking to Massacre the LeMond 24-hour field come 2021 as well as facing off with the engine project one but although these are the first mid-engined asin's we'll see make it to production if you delve into their history you will find the company nearly took the plunge more than 20 years ago let me explain back in the 1990s Aston Martin were looking for a new sports car Tom Walkinshaw racing was establishing itself in the route car space after taking Group C Jags to victory at LeMond it created the Nissan our 390 the Jaguar XJR 15 and the xj220 and Aston was to be its next customer after acquiring a young ian callum onto the design team the twr lads set about designing what would become the db7 a design that still looks stunning to this day Callum and his team did such a good job that a new project was led into the twr design house building a mid-engine sports car to take on Ferrari and replace the old garage based bulky Vantage Italians had stuck to front engine layouts for GT cars and mid-engine layouts for its sports cars an Aston wanted a piece of back key to differentiate a new car from the db7 Ian Callum began the project codenamed AM 305 to create what would be the next Aston Martin Vantage and this is what he came up with like most of his designs the body is compact with sumptuous proportions there's that iconic aston grille as well as a wing that looks like it was inspired by the f40 you could see if is roughly at db7 with an engine transplant this beautiful AM 305 creation would have gone on to battle against the Ferrari 360 Porsche 911 and Lamborghini Gallardo potentially being released between 2003 and 2005 if it wasn't for dr. Ullrich bets bets would go on to be the CEO of Aston Martin until 2013 and brought the company out of a nasty financial situation but he did not take the original column Vantage design at all a British car should not be mid-engined he said and told Ian to go back to the drawing board so what did he do he cut the engine out stuck at the front elongated the bonnet the v8 would fit and boo he created what we've become the Vantage of the early 2000s back car injured for 12 years and had some incredibly cool variants like the v12 Vantage S the GT eight and numerous successful racing cars that design would last from 2005 until 2017 when Astin finally brought out the new Vantage that we know today Ian Callum would soon leave Aston after designing the vanquish and most of the db9 switching over the road to jankier where he went on to penned the XK f-type CX 75 and many other incredibly beautiful cars he is now started his own design house and has kicked things off by tweaking his original vanquish design called the Vanquish 25 considering his backlog expect big things from his startup in the next few years now the Vantage went on to become the backbone of Austin's range so it's difficult to argue that the mid-engine car booth have been the better choice but there's probably a part of all of us that wishes this sports car had come to fruition preceding the Valkyrie Valhalla and vanquish by nearly 20 years what do you guys think shoot Arsen have gone mid engined back then or was it right to stick with the Vantage that we ended up with tell us in the comments below youwe are on the verge of a golden era for Aston Martin pioneered by a trio of mid-engine cars these cars will be the first mid-engined hyper cars and supercars to have come out of the Aston Martin factory we have the vanquish which is looking to take on the best from McLaren Ferrari and Lamborghini the Valhalla seeking to be the more rude buy sibling to the Valkyrie and the Valkyrie which is looking to Massacre the LeMond 24-hour field come 2021 as well as facing off with the engine project one but although these are the first mid-engined asin's we'll see make it to production if you delve into their history you will find the company nearly took the plunge more than 20 years ago let me explain back in the 1990s Aston Martin were looking for a new sports car Tom Walkinshaw racing was establishing itself in the route car space after taking Group C Jags to victory at LeMond it created the Nissan our 390 the Jaguar XJR 15 and the xj220 and Aston was to be its next customer after acquiring a young ian callum onto the design team the twr lads set about designing what would become the db7 a design that still looks stunning to this day Callum and his team did such a good job that a new project was led into the twr design house building a mid-engine sports car to take on Ferrari and replace the old garage based bulky Vantage Italians had stuck to front engine layouts for GT cars and mid-engine layouts for its sports cars an Aston wanted a piece of back key to differentiate a new car from the db7 Ian Callum began the project codenamed AM 305 to create what would be the next Aston Martin Vantage and this is what he came up with like most of his designs the body is compact with sumptuous proportions there's that iconic aston grille as well as a wing that looks like it was inspired by the f40 you could see if is roughly at db7 with an engine transplant this beautiful AM 305 creation would have gone on to battle against the Ferrari 360 Porsche 911 and Lamborghini Gallardo potentially being released between 2003 and 2005 if it wasn't for dr. Ullrich bets bets would go on to be the CEO of Aston Martin until 2013 and brought the company out of a nasty financial situation but he did not take the original column Vantage design at all a British car should not be mid-engined he said and told Ian to go back to the drawing board so what did he do he cut the engine out stuck at the front elongated the bonnet the v8 would fit and boo he created what we've become the Vantage of the early 2000s back car injured for 12 years and had some incredibly cool variants like the v12 Vantage S the GT eight and numerous successful racing cars that design would last from 2005 until 2017 when Astin finally brought out the new Vantage that we know today Ian Callum would soon leave Aston after designing the vanquish and most of the db9 switching over the road to jankier where he went on to penned the XK f-type CX 75 and many other incredibly beautiful cars he is now started his own design house and has kicked things off by tweaking his original vanquish design called the Vanquish 25 considering his backlog expect big things from his startup in the next few years now the Vantage went on to become the backbone of Austin's range so it's difficult to argue that the mid-engine car booth have been the better choice but there's probably a part of all of us that wishes this sports car had come to fruition preceding the Valkyrie Valhalla and vanquish by nearly 20 years what do you guys think shoot Arsen have gone mid engined back then or was it right to stick with the Vantage that we ended up with tell us in the comments below you\n"