It Looks Like an AMG Six-Cylinder Aston Martin Vantage Won’t Happen
The rumor is dead.
Last week we eagerly reported on Aston Martin chief engineer Matt Becker’s comments to Australian outlet Wheels Magazine saying the 3.0-liter turbo inline-six used in the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 is “a very impressive engine” and that Aston was “considering six-cylinders for the future” in order to keep up with emissions regulations. But now it sounds like our fantasy of an Aston Martin-tuned AMG turbo-six in the new 2019 Vantage was just that; a fantasy.
Becker clarified his statements to Wheels while speaking with Australian publication Motoring. “I fear that [the inline-six Vantage rumor] may have come out of one of my answers [to a journalist’s question] at Geneva,” Becker told Motoring, “I was speaking in more general terms that we might have to one day look at downsizing engines.” Becker went a step further saying that “to be honest I don’t know whether the engine would fit [in a Vantage].” Of course, it would, but we get the point.
So, it sounds like it isn’t happening. It’s probably our own fault for getting our hopes up, but it’s still a little sad to hear rumors of an AMG inline-six-powered Aston Martin Vantage denied by the man who sparked the rumor in the first place.
With electrification on everyone’s mind, it seems more likely that Aston Martin will move straight to hybrids and electric vehicles rather than smaller conventional engines to comply with emissions standards. Although an AMG six in a Vantage would have been cool, we have no doubt that whatever Aston Martin decides to use to power its stellar sports cars, we’ll have a hard time getting bored in any of them.
