#2019AstonMartinVantage

Matt Becker is the chief of vehicle engineering at Aston Martin. Needless to say, he played a critical role in bringing the British brand’s all-new Vantage sports car to market.

The first 2019 Aston Martin Vantage has rolled off the assembly line in Gaydon.

Aston Martin is going through something of a renaissance and is working hard to bridge the disconnect between how its cars look and how they drive.

While handing me a plate of pan-fried fungi, the mustached, silver-haired proprietor of the Portuguese eatery we patronized for lunch said to me with a certain pride in his authoritative but subdued voice, “You have to write that Aston Martin brought you to a restaurant with the best mushrooms in the world.” I wouldn’t have taken him up on this editorial suggestion if he weren’t right.

The new 2019 Aston Martin Vantage has debuted with a radically different design and an AMG-sourced 4.0-liter V8.