What your looking at above is the brand new Aston Martin Virage, it sees the revival of a name we last saw in the 1990's on the last of the really hairy chested Aston Martin's. I've got nothing against the new Virage, I'm sure that in isolation it's a very good car indeed. It'll be quite fast, quite comfortable and handle quite well; a good all-round car then.
A bit samey
The trouble is that statement could also be applied to both the DB9, which sits below it in the range, and the DBS, which sits above it in the range.
The official bumph from Aston describes the car as "Beautiful, dynamic and prestigious, the Virage combines outright sports car performance with luxury, comfort and refinement." Again, this statement could quite easily be applied to the other two cars. 
It doesn't end there though, Aston go on to say that with the introduction of the Virage they can now "provide customers with a class-leading range, all with different characters". 'Different'? All three of these cars are comfortable, stylish, 2-door sportscars with a front-mounted V12 engine powering the rear wheels. 'Different' is pushing it a bit.
It doesn't end there though, Aston go on to say that with the introduction of the Virage they can now "provide customers with a class-leading range, all with different characters". 'Different'? All three of these cars are comfortable, stylish, 2-door sportscars with a front-mounted V12 engine powering the rear wheels. 'Different' is pushing it a bit.This issue isn't just confined to Aston Martin, it's infected the entire car industry. Manufacturers are constantly releasing cars simply to plug the tiniest of gaps in their ranges on the off-chance that someone somewhere might want a car with 1cm more legroom in the back and will therefore buy something from someone else instead. So they make both kinds of car, one with 23cm's of legroom and one with 24cm's of legroom.
I could understand it if the gap between the DB9 and the DBS was bigger but with the DB9 starting at £122,000 and the DBS starting at £170,000 it's only £48,000. That may seem a lot but it really isn't, especially when you consider that if the Virage goes exactly in the middle it'll cost £146,000.
Hypothesising
Let's hypothesise for a moment; you're quite well-off and you want to buy an Aston Martin, so you buy a DB9. But if you're spending over £120k you probably don't mind shelling out a few extra quid for some options, pushing the price up to around £135-140k at which point you say "The Virage is the next model up, therefore it must be better and it's only another five or ten grand, I may as well buy that instead". Again, you're going to want some options which pushes the price up to around £160-165k at which point you say to yourself "Well, the DBS is the top model, therefore it must be better and that's only another five or ten grand, I may as well buy that instead." It's a vicious circle, and one that the snob in you won't be able to get out of.
I'm sure the new Aston Martin Virage will be a very good car, it's just a shame that it's also an utterly pointless one.
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