Who Makes Engines For Aston Martin Road Cars?

Aston Martin is a storied British automaker, famed for such creations as the DB5 as piloted by James Bond, the Andrian Newey-designed Valkyrie, and brutish Vantage of the 1990s. Throughout its 100-and-some year history, Aston Martin, though widely admired and celebrated, has been through its fair share of financial troubles. As a result, ownership of the brand has been passed around more times than a package at the post office.

Naturally, over these years, and throughout these various different ownerships, engines have been provided by numerous different suppliers. Previous used engines have been self-made by Aston themselves, or come from other famous automakers such as Ford and Bentley, but in recent years, Aston has partnered up with none other than Mercedes-AMG for its thunderous powerplants.

This collaboration is nothing new — Aston Martin has been using Mercedes-AMG engines since around 2018, with the DB11 being the first to receive one. To be precise, the engine in question is a 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8. It delivers 503 horsepower and 498 lb-ft of torque, which is enough to motivate the DB11 to a top speed of 187 mph, with the 60 mph dash being completed in four seconds flat. So, while these boosted V8 mills from Mercedes-AMG might lack some of the aura of an old-school, naturally aspirated V12, they certainly deliver Aston-worthy levels of grunt, and there are other benefits to the down-sized and boosted engines too.

Even in the supercar world, efficiency matters. Given Aston's recent financial struggles, partnering with AMG, a manufacturer that already has an established arsenal of modern engines that are fit for current and future emissions regulations, makes way more fiscal sense than developing a series of engines in-house to tackle these ever-stricter hoops and hurdles.

While a number of Aston Martins use Mercedes-AMG engines, the British automaker has been trying to reach into the pockets of ultra-wealthy customers in recent years, with models such as the F1-inspired Valkyrie, plus the recently relaunched flagship Vanquish supercar.

In order to command the highest price tags, Aston Martin decided not to opt for the off-the-shelf AMG engines, but instead to splash out and develop some truly special creations. With the Valkyrie costing $3.5 million, and the Vanquish commanding almost $500,000, you can see why the automaker decided to pull out all the stops.

In the Valkyrie's case, the engine was developed by none other than Cosworth — a British engineering company responsible for everything from legendary F1 engines through to WRC and BTCC-dominating Ford inline-fours. The Valkyrie V12's sports 6.5 liters, is naturally aspirated, and will rev all the way to a redline of 11,100 rpm, with more than 1,000 horses galloping within. It's a masterpiece, in other words.

The Vanquish's powerplant isn't quite on that level, but it is still a twin-turbocharged V12 with 824 horsepower. Plus, perhaps even more importantly, is the fact it's an all-new engine and has been developed in-house by Aston Martin themselves. It's related to the V12 used by the DBS 770 Ultimate, although revised for those extra horses. While the Mercedes-AMG engines are certainly ideal for the brand's lesser sports and GT range, as well as the DBX, the return of monstrous V12 engines in flagship models is certainly welcome, and hopefully a sign of more in-house designs to come from the British brand.