Ian Callum drew the original Vanquish sketch more than twenty-five years ago. That car is still in the Aston lineup today. It looks almost exactly the same as it did a quarter century ago. Most designers would call it a job well done and walk away.
Not Ian.
He never liked some parts of the original design. The window surrounds bothered him. He felt the detailing was sloppy. Now, with his new shop, Ian Callum Designs, he finally fixed it. The result is the Vanquish 25. It looks like the classic Aston at first glance. You wouldn’t suspect how much work went into it unless you knew.
“There were things about the original that frustrated me.”
The goal was perfection. Or as close to it as one man could get without a team getting in his way. This exterior is entirely his. No committees. No Jaguar rubber extrusions butt-jointed together ugly bits that ruined the flow.
Just his vision.
They don’t just slap stickers on an old car. Oh no. That would be insulting to the material. The team tears each donor vehicle down to the bare shell. Every piece comes off. Every panel gets reworked. It is a massive undertaking.
“You have to take the whole car apart.”
Engine out. Rebuilt. They installed bigger manifolds. Redid the cams and heads. The ECU is new too. All of that adds up to eighty extra horsepower. Think about that. Most cars built twenty years ago didn’t have eighty horses total. Here they squeezed another eighty out of an engine that already had plenty.
Suspension tweaks too. Better handling. You get the choice of an automatic or a manual. Your pick.
While Ian handled the outside, Neil Simpson—another Aston veteran—took on the cabin. He did a brilliant job, if Ian can say so himself. The old seats looked a bit soft. Doughy. Disconnected. Not cohesive enough.
Simpson changed everything. New dials. New switches. New materials. They even designed a custom interior pattern called “Fragmented Tartan.” It’s deconstructed tartan. Quite fun. The whole cockpit feels modern but retains the soul of the original.
What do you get at the end?
A stunning touring car. The most iconic one ever, updated. It costs £385,00 minimum. That is roughly $446,00 before you pay for the donor car or shipping or VAT. You can add more options if you like. You will need deep pockets for that much beauty.
It’s not really a restomod. That word implies cheap tricks. This is something else entirely.
“It’s the car that I always wanted it To be, really.”
It looks powerful on the road. It looks brand new. And Ian gets to say it’s his.
