The Vanquish S has one of the most advanced construction techniques of any road car, using composite materials and processes familiar to the aerospace business but rarely seen in the motor industry.

Each car starts as a heat-cured aluminium bonded monocoque, known as the ‘tub’, which uses a combination of extruded and folded aluminium panels that are bonded and then riveted together. The tub is bonded to a nine-layer carbon fibre tunnel, which gives the Vanquish S an extremely rigid yet lightweight backbone.

The benefit of a carbon fibre tunnel over aluminium is its high strength-to-weight ratio. To provide the same levels of strength and rigidity, an aluminium tunnel would be approximately twice as heavy.

Carbon fibre also provides superior insulation from transmission and exhaust heat in the passenger cabin. It is this unique combination of tub and tunnel that gives the Vanquish S its structural rigidity and allowed engineers to develop a suspension that combines precise road behaviour with unrivalled ride quality.

The aluminium body panels are shaped using a patented Superform process invented for the aerospace industry. The aluminium forms are submitted to 480-degrees centigrade temperatures and 150 psi air pressure to create the deep-drawn profiles of the Vanquish S, which are very difficult to mould from traditional aluminium stampings.

Final shaping and detailing of each body panel are done as they always have been at Aston Martin - by hand, to ensure flawless edges and finish. This is not just for sentimental reasons of heritage. It is still the best way to finish complicated panels.

Aston Martin was not content with complying with the most stringent crash criteria. The Vanquish S comfortably exceeds them, thanks in part to the front end’s two forward-mounted technically innovative composite rails.

The rails consist of three elements. The first is a layer of glass fibres aligned in one direction. A second layer of carbon fibres is laid at 90 degrees to the first layer to maintain the integrity of the glass fibres in a crash.

A third corrugated glass fibre composite element is used as the carrier structure to hold the crash rails in position. Similar composite parts are used in the boot floor to protect the car from rear impacts.

As a matter of convenience and safety, the Vanquish S is equipped with a sophisticated tyre pressure monitoring system. If the air pressure in a tyre drops below a level optimal for maximum driving speeds, a facia-mounted warning light will instantly illuminate.

If the sensor light flashes, it means that pressure in one of the tyres has become dangerously low. A boot-mounted LCD readout enables the driver to identify the faulty tyre. Additionally, rain-sensing wipers and automatic lights are standard.