THE Aston Martin Vanquish is bowing out as a fossil-fuel car with a limited edition run of the most powerful version the British sports car maker has produced.

With a 5.2-litre V12 twin-turbo engine developing 700ps the car has a top speed of 200mph and a 0 to 60mph acceleration time of 3.4 seconds.

Production of the new V12 Vantage - which will be priced from around £250,000 - is being limited to just 333 examples and all have been already snapped up.

Aston Martin chief executive officer, Tobias Moers, said of the V12 Vantage: "Every great sportscar brand has a hero car. For Aston Martin in more recent years that car has been the V12 Vantage.

"Right from the moment the first V12 Vantage RS Concept was shown back in 2007 our customers and fans around the world fell in love with the idea of fitting our biggest engine into our smallest and most sporting model.

"The recipe has been refined over the years with great success, but the essence has remained the same. Now it is time to bring this bloodline to a close, fittingly with the most spectacular example yet - the fastest, most powerful and most dynamically capable V12 Vantage ever. A celebration of its forebears and an embodiment of Aston Martin's intensifying focus on driving dynamics, it ensures the V12 Vantage goes out on the highest of highs."

Lightweight construction has given the car a power-to-weight ratio of 390ps-per-ton which is an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to the V8 powered Vantage.

The car is equipped with a new adaptive damping suspension system including new anti-roll bars, bushes, and spring and damper assemblies.

Bodywork has been widened by 40mm to accommodate the chassis and aid stability when cornering and at top speed the car generates some 204kg of downforce.

The front grille is 25 per cent larger to aid cooling and the V12 comes with a horse shoe design engine vent integrated into the bonnet.

At the rear the V12 Vantage has centrally mounted exhausts and a special diffuser as well as a huge spoiler while to boost its V12 soundtrack it comes with an open rear load space which also displays the rear suspension strut brace.

Production is due to start shortly with the most models on the road before summer.