Aston Martin's new flagship will be called DBS Superleggera

The new two-door coupe, described by Aston’s chief creative officer Marek Reichman as “the definitive Aston Martin super-GT”, promises to be more powerful, more luxurious and, in keeping with the Superleggera (super-light) name, boast some claim to fame on the mass front. There’s likely to be plenty of commonality with the DB11 – including the twin-turbo V12 – but, like the current Vanquish, expect a unique body design with the emphasis on more aggressive looks.

“We’ve pushed the boundaries of performance and design to give this car a distinct character and ensure it’s worthy of the heritage and weight that this name carries,” says Reichman. 

The DBS badge dates back to the William Towns-designed coupe of 1967 with six-cylinder and then V8 power. It was reprised in 2007 for its DB9-based range-topper which evolved into the Vanquish. For the new car, which we can expect to see around the end of June, the name will revert to DBS but with the addition of Superleggera – and in traditionally spidery script crawling up the edge of the bonnet, as previewed by the teaser shot released today. Unconfirmed reports suggest the name Vanquish is being held back as the badge on Aston’s first-mid-engined supercar, still a few years away. 

Superleggera, a lightweight construction technology invented by coachbuilder Touring of Milan, has distinguished some of the greatest Astons of the past: DB4, DB5 and Mark 1 versions of the DB6. The new DBS Superleggera will pay “homage” to Touring, says Aston.

Aston is keeping details to itself for now but clearly, the new model will have to beat 1800kg of kerb weight (current Vanquish) to live up to the Superleggera name. It will also have to get up to date on the performance front: the DB11 is more powerful than the outgoing Vanquish, and very nearly as fast. A switch from the 6.0-litre normally-aspirated V12 to the 5.2 twin-turbo lump would seem likely to fix that: speculation is mounting the DBS Superleggera will have around 700bhp.