Aston Martin’s prolonged teaser campaign for its new Vantage was almost undone by the racing version of its grand tourer last weekend, which took to the track as a thinly veiled racer weeks ahead of the road car’s official reveal.
At the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race in Florida, US-based teams Heart of Racing and Magnus Racing campaigned the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the event – despite the new model not yet being revealed.
To get around this technicality, the team placed body-coloured decals over the Vantage’s headlights, making them appear horizontally oriented rather than the vertically aligned units which will adorn the heavily updated car.
Aston Martin’s previous-generation Vantage GT3 car
Previous spy shots have shown the altered headlight orientation is one of a handful of changes coming for the Aston Martin Vantage, which is set to be officially unveiled on February 12, 2024.
There were a number of additional tweaks to the new Vantage GT3 racer – officially called the Vantage GT3 Evo – such as vented wheel arches and a new diffuser, though these upgrades are limited to the racing car.
The new Aston Martin GT3 ‘Evo’, complete with tape to disguise its new headlights
Aston Martin released the latest teaser of its new Vantage earlier this week, revealing its new front fender design – following images of new, clear tail light lenses and new seats.
As previously reported, the 2025 Aston Martin Vantage is expected to be a heavy redesign of the current grand tourer which debuted in 2018.
It’s not yet known whether the 2025 Aston Martin Vantage will feature any changes to its Mercedes-AMG-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine, producing 375kW of power and 685Nm of torque.
