The 50 Greatest Aston Martins of All Time, Ranked

It has two doors and a hardtop, sure, but the Cygnet is vastly different than every other coupe ever made by Aston Martin. For starters, it wasn’t really made by Aston Martin. Under the sheet metal, it was pure Toyota—a reskinned version of the front-wheel-drive iQ city car meant to compete against the likes of the Smart Fortwo. It makes just 97 hp, and while the Aston-typical leather-wrapped interior had four seatbelts, there is really just room for two occupants. The Cygnet was initially so uncool that it almost manages to be cool by now.

Aston Martin’s second attempt to stick its toe into the sedan market certainly looked like nothing else on the road, with a wedge-shaped design and a face that, with the benefit of hindsight, looks like a Volvo 740 that King Kong sat on. Inside, the cabin was almost entirely composed of straight lines, with the single-spoke steering wheel one of the few exceptions. Almost all the controls were electronic buttons, and the dashboard was entirely digital—two ideas that sound reasonable today but were nightmarishly complex in the mid-1970s. It was a directional dead end for the brand, but a fascinating one.

Aston Martin may have been born in 1913, but it wasn’t until after World War II that its status began climbing to that of the globally known sports-car maker it is today. That trajectory was owed to its purchase by British industrialist David Brown—commemorated in the “DB” used in many models. Those initial cars of the Brown era, however, never quite reached the acclaim of the later ones. The DB2/4 was the third such model, and while it’s certainly elegant in a typical postwar-sports-car way, its biggest claim to fame is an appearance in Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds.

The first car to wear the “DBS” badge was meant to replace the DB6, and its boxier design made clear that, unlike the last few DBs before it, this was meant to be a new flavor of gran turismo. While it had more room than the DB6 and a fresher face, it wound up not doing a particularly good job of actually succeeding it. The two models wound up being sold alongside each other for three years, and it wasn’t until the inline-six engine was tossed for the brand’s first V-8, and the car renamed and upgraded, that the DBS began to fulfill its potential.

The 21st century Virage has nothing notably wrong with it; it’s as elegant as you’d expect, and with a 5.9-liter V-12 making 490 hp, it is certainly quick. That said, it was designed to force itself into arguably too thin a niche, meant to slot between the DB9 and the DBS—in other words, between a sharp-edged gran turismo and a very-sharp-edged gran turismo. And as beautiful as it was, even the sharpest eyes would have a tough time telling the Virage and the DB9 apart, especially after Aston Martin effectively just used the Virage design for the facelift DB9 come 2012.

Such an early appearance on this list might seem like an affront to a car as gorgeous as the DB6. Our issue with it? We find it almost indistinguishable from the DB5, a car whose looks are as close to 1960s-era sports-car perfection as any automaker ever came. In fact, the DB6 was in large part an upgraded version of its predecessor, with most of the changes subtle matters that were meant to improve life for the driver but did little to distinguish the model from its predecessor.

The Lagonda brand existed as a separate automaker from its 1906 creation until 1947, when David Brown purchased it along with Aston Martin and brought Lagonda under Aston. The first car from the combined company, the Lagonda 2.6-liter was a larger, more luxurious model than the early Astons of Brown’s era, and the title engine’s 105 hp output meant it was anything but brisk. Its appearance, while classy, is also rather reminiscent of 1930s automobiles . . . though to be fair, the interceding years of global war meant there had been few opportunities for designers to stretch their pens.

The third car to wear the DBS name was also the most powerful. Introduced in 2018, the DBS Superleggera combines 12 cylinders with two turbochargers to stir up 715 hp, an impressive 115 hp more than the DB11 it was based on. The design made it look as though the DB11 had been hitting the gym and watching its macros, as well, with more muscular curves and ample air ducts that screamed “power.” If anything, though, it was perhaps a little too shouty about it, falling a bit awkwardly between the company’s elegant and brutalist schools of composition.

The follow-up to the Lagonda 2.6-Litre model was, indeed, an improvement in almost every way. The design was more relevant to the decade of the 1950s it arrived during, the interior was a notable upgrade, and the newly enlarged engine—now technically displacing 2.9 liters, but Aston rounded up generously—delivers 140 hp, a full 33 percent more than its predecessor made at launch several years before. Despite offering a wide choice of body styles (coupe, convertible, sedan), it sold in small numbers over its five-year run, no doubt not helped by England’s painful economic circumstances in the era the 3-Litre was born.

The Zagato design house has lent its skills to many an Aston Martin models over the years, and none of the cars created by the partnership have been unattractive by any stretch. But the 2003 DB7 Zagato was, arguably, not the duo’s best work. There’s a reason most pictures you’ll find of it online are of the front-three-quarter angle. Aston shortened the wheelbase about two inches and the car’s overall by eight inches, and the mix of the altered proportions and the unique design features meant everything aft of the double-bubble roof looked far less elegant than what lay up front.

The idea of an Aston Martin SUV would have once sounded as sacrilegious as a Porsche SUV, or a Lamborghini SUV, or a Ferrari SUV . . . you can see where we’re going with this. Based on its own platform—one only tangentially related to the rest of the lineup, the DBX arrived in the summer of 2020 (admittedly not the best time to make a splashy debut) packing the same twin-turbo AMG-sourced V-8 as the Vantage, but tying it to the nine-speed automatic used by Mercedes-Benz. The 542 hp output is sent to all four wheels while the model offers room for five adults. Some cried heresy, but most were just happy that Aston managed to create a crossover that maintained as much of the brand’s spirit as it did.

As the number suggests, the DB12 was more of a half-step up from the DB11 versus the full jump that car made over the DB9. The bad news? The charismatic V-12 was no longer on the options list; all power henceforth would come from AMG’s 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8. The good news was that the engineers had squeezed 671 hp out of it, 41 hp more than even the strongest V-12-powered DB11 ever made. The updates also included an improved front end that traded away the DB11’s few awkward angles for a more confident face, and—perhaps most importantly for owners considering a trade-in—a thoroughly upgraded interior that finally seemed befitting of a true gran turismo in the DB12’s price range.

The Lagonda brand was all but forgotten by the 21st century, except by a few obsessive gearheads and, of course, the people inside Aston Martin. Come 2015, the carmaker saw a way to resurrect the marque with a new sedan that could both rake in profits and, potentially, test the waters for a broader return. The Taraf comprised 120 examples, and given the $1 million+ price tag for each, the model surely brought in plenty of cash, especially considering it shared its basic platform and 5.9-liter V-12 with the Rapide. Those loftier plans to bring back the brand—as a standalone super-luxury EV maker presaged by a 2019 concept car—never panned out, however, leaving the Taraf as the sole example so far of what a modern-day Lagonda could be.

Zagato’s work on the mighty DBS Superleggera was, of course, limited to the design; that is, after all, what a design house does. Nevertheless, it certainly made the car look faster, so Aston Martin ramped up the twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12 to 760 hp. The extra muscle only added to the appeal of the limited-run DBS GT Zagato debuted in 2019. There was an unusual catch, even for the ranks of super-limited Astons, however: if you wanted one, you also had to buy a DB4 GT Zagato Continuation, a perfect recreation of the 1960s-era sports car, for a combined $7.5 million or so.

The DB Mark III was the odd duck of the brand’s 1960s naming convention, but it also paved the way for a couple of innovations that helped define Aston Martin as we know it. It was the first to use the now-familiar grille shape of a flat bottom and rising dome above gently curving tops, which has since gone on to reappear on the marque’s cars with reassuring regularity. Combining the new front with the DB2/4’s class and rear end created a special silhouette, one that would become forever tied with the marque. It also served as the first Aston ride of choice for James Bond in the novel Goldfinger, although author Ian Fleming accidentally referred to it as “DB III” instead of its proper name.

When the first generation of the 21st century Vantage was on its way out the door, Aston Martin decided to see it off with a tribute to the previous car to wear the name: the Vantage V600. (You’ll meet it further on down the list.) Introduced in 2018, the V12 Vantage V600 comprised seven coupes and seven convertibles in total. The model boasts a uniquely modified design that turned the fender flares up to 11 and gave the car a new face so dynamic, it arguably should have had that look all along. A seven-speed manual transmission, a 592 hp V-12, and a seven-figure price tag, when combined with those limited numbers, mean it has effectively become a sweet piece of unobtanium for all but those handful of people lucky enough to already possess one.

Even by the 1960s, Aston Martin’s history was long, and that history contained more than a few open-topped cars. It was only from 1965, however, that the brand began using the name that it would subsequently apply to many of its convertibles for decades: Volante. The Italian word for “flying” first found a home on a droptop Aston with this chimera, which melded the chassis of the DB5 with much of the design and features of the DB6. By modern standards, its design may not be the most elegant idea of a topless Aston Martin, but its introduction of the now-famous moniker means it certainly deserves a spot on this list.

Thanks to a new engine and a slowly but thoroughly updated body, the Aston Martin V8 eventually grew into the car the DBS was meant to be in the first place. The body was given more brawn, even to the point of beginning to resemble an America muscle car, giving the vehicle a presence that would define it for generations to come. Power, unfortunately, went down over the years due to concerns over fuel economy and increasingly strict emissions regulations, but even at its 245 hp weakest, it was still able to uphold the model’s reputation as a proper gran turismo. It proved a strong enough representative of the brand that Aston Martin was able to survive almost entirely on its shoulders for almost two decades.

The second car to wear the Vanquish badge was, arguably, one of the most perfectly proportioned, exquisitely designed Astons since the 1960s. It built upon the appearance of the DB9 to create a super-GT that looked every bit ready to battle the best supercars in the world on a back road, and beat them in the competition for featured parking spot at the Hotel Bel-Air. There was one slight weakness, however: the 5.9-liter naturally aspirated V-12’s 565 hp felt a bit inadequate. This was especially the case as the Ferrari F12berlinetta came out making 710 hp and AMG’s CL65 had been making 603 hp since 2004.

The move to Mercedes-AMG-sourced V-8 power that came with the Vantage of 2018 suggested the world had seen the last of stick-shift Astons; after all, Mercedes didn’t strap sticks in its sports cars. But Aston pulled out a surprise roughly a year after the new generation’s debut, revealing a sharper-edged AMR (Aston Martin Racing) variant. The latter managed to affix the unconventional dogleg seven-speed manual transmission used in the past-gen V12 Vantage S to the German-made, twin-turbo 4.0-liter eight-pot. Torque had to be reduced from 505 ft lbs to 461 ft lbs to go easy on the gearbox, but the regular 503 horses were all there, and the thrill of shifting yourself was enough to make up for a slight acceleration deficit versus the regular car.

Replacing the DB9 after more than a decade on sale was no small matter, and it required a car that—to the customer, at least—represented every bit as big a leap as the DB9 had been from the DB7. Hence, the DB9’s successor was dubbed DB11. The looks were all new yet still instantly recognizable as an Aston, even if it seemed a tad busy next to its forbear’s minimalist design. Under the hood was a serious step up, however: a twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12 with 600 hp, which was 90 hp more than even the most powerful late-build DB9s. That was soon joined by a V-8 version that used AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter motor; output coming in at “just” 503 hp, but the engine made for a lighter, more well-balanced car that sounded better to boot.

The first pass at welding the Aston Martin and Lagonda marques together for a sedan was, admittedly, a little bit phoned-in. It was really little more than a stretched version of the Aston Martin V8 with an extra set of doors. Nevertheless, the design worked surprisingly well as an elongated saloon, especially with its fastback-like rear haunches and unabashedly pugnacious front end. And the 320 hp, 5.3-liter V-8 provided ample poke for the early Malaise Era. Sadly, only seven ever found owners, but there’s no doubt they had no trouble starting conversations at the 1970s equivalent of Cars and Coffee.

To the surprise of very few people, Aston Martin brought back the 12-cylinder Vantage for a second round with the modern version’s sophomore generation. What was a bit of a shock was the twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12’s output of 690 hp, putting the welterweight Aston closer in output to the heavyweight DBS Superleggera than the middleweight DB11. That punch came alongside tweaks to the suspension and body to increase grip; the added visual pugnacity those changes brought was surely just a side benefit to the buyers of the 333 coupes and 249 roadsters.

After leaving David Brown’s initials off its cars for a couple of decades, Aston Martin resurrected the DB nomenclature in the early 1990s for a new grand tourer. The DB7, unveiled in 1993, came about in no small part due to Aston’s then-parent Ford Motor Company also owning Jaguar. The project began as a Jag based on the bones of the XJS, only to be taken over by Aston, who then saw Jaguar use the chassis for its own car, the XK, after all. The DB7’s supercharged straight-six engine makes 335 hp, but while straight-line speed is ample, going too fast means depriving the world of the details of the car’s incredibly streamlined design.

For the second generation of the brand’s smaller sports car, Aston Martin knew better than to mess with the basic idea; the proportions and mission stayed the same. Beyond that, however, big changes arose. The design was a drastic departure from previous Astons, ditching the effortlessly speedy look for a furious, contentious design language with almost cartoonish proportions. Under the hood is a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 from Mercedes-AMG, with an eight-speed automatic from ZF now handling shift duties. It may have been a break from traditional practices, but no one could argue that this model wouldn’t hold its own in a fight.

Sometimes practice makes perfect, and that’s certainly the case with Aston’s S.U.V. The original version led to the DBX 707 of 2022, which dialed up the power to nearly 700 ponies and dialed the visual belligerence up to 11. Then, three years later, the carmaker came out with version 2.0, which upped power to 717 hp and sliced a little weight off, too. Of course, DBX 707 2.0 would have sounded weird, so Aston dubbed it DBX S as part of a range-wide effort to roll out improved “S” variants of much of the range.

By the later part of the 1970s, the Aston Martin V8 was a well-known commodity, so the carmaker decided to give it a refresh in the best possible way: by upping performance. Along with the name “Vantage” (which had become Aston-speak for “more go”), the updated GT came with a 5.3-liter V-8 packing 380 hp. That, combined with an updated design that made the car look less like a Ford Mustang and more like a machine worthy of the House of Windsor, gave it a fresh shot of relevance for another decade-plus. Also helping the model’s longevity was, admittedly, the mid-1980s help of a 6.3-liter V-8 option.

Aston Martin’s final attempt at building a sedan, at least so far, has also proven to be its best run at the concept. Coupes often wind up being based off sedans, but in the Rapide’s case, the four-door was built off the bones of the two-door DB9, with the two sharing more than half their parts—including the 5.9-liter V-12 and six-speed automatic. The back seat was somewhat compromised in headroom and legroom (and torso room, thanks to a giant center console), but the car’s curves more than made up for its flaws—at least, from the driver’s seat.

Of the many versions of the Aston Martin V8 to emerge over its two-decade run, none was quite as wild as the one rebodied by Zagato. The model had always been boxy to one extent or another, but the Italian design house gave it the full 1980s treatment, shaving off anything close to a curved line in favor of a design defined by a square-edged Blade Runner style. Buyers from the era of the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa, and Lotus Esprit loved it, however, even though it carried a price tag higher at the time than any of those. And with just 89 examples built, finding one available today poses a significant challenge.

If high-performance station wagons are cool (and they are), then high-performance shooting brakes—a.k.a. two-door wagons—are even cooler. And Aston Martin made exactly eight such examples based on the DB6. Admittedly, by modern standards, the two-box design is hardly the most elegant rendering of such an idea; the rear is nearly as straight-edged as the hearse in the movie Ghostbusters. But the idea of an Aston Martin gran turismo wagon wearing this car’s face is so undeniably awesome, it would earn a good spot on here no matter how awkward it turned out.

It may not bear the design house’s name, but the AR1’s slippery sheet metal was indeed opened by Zagato; in fact, much of its design would have been familiar to Aston fanatics because it was in some ways an open-top version of the DB7 Zagato that launched just six months before. But while the DB7 Zagato was a coupe (and a somewhat TVR-ish looking one at that, due to its shortened wheelbase), the AR1 was all roadster, in that it lacked any sort of roof—folding or otherwise, which gave the design unparalleled fluidity. While homologation requirements meant the DB7 Zagato couldn’t be sold in the U.S.; the DB AR1—the “A” standing for American, the “R” for Roadster—was intended for the stateside market. It was designed for sunny climates, but if an unexpected rain came, drivers had 440 hp of 5.9-liter V-12 to help outrun the droplets.

Speedsters, as any true gearhead is liable to tell you, are as awesome as they are impractical. Chopping the windshield off a car along with the roof makes it seem like a fanciful concept from another time or place. The DBR22 of 2022 is an exceptional example of the type, complete with extensive use of carbon fiber to deliver strength along with lightness, and a twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12 making 705 hp to make it every bit as quick as it looks. The only reason it’s not in better position on this list? It was awfully similar to the V12 Speedster that came out just two years before.

The end of the 1980s saw Aston Martin surviving on cars with roots well over a decade old, and their designs did little to hide that. A shakeup was needed, and it came in the form of the Virage. Square-faced as Churchill’s bulldogs and with a hood like an aircraft carrier’s flight deck, the model featured a 330 hp, 5.3-liter V-8 at its launch. That engine gave it plenty of pull, even when shackled to the optional three-speed Chrysler automatic instead of the five-speed manual. Later versions would add power and gears, but every one of them had panache.

Impressive as the original Vanquish was when it launched in 2001, it was dated within a few years, as such models as the DB9 and Vantage made clear that Aston Martin had moved on in tech and style. Enter the DBS, resurrecting an old name for a hard-edged grand tourer that showed just how angry the new design language could be. The DBS of 2007 backed up that attitude with a 510 hp V-12. It even received global attention as the first new Aston for Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Casino Royale, where it proved so capable that the stunt drivers couldn’t get it to flip in the climactic chase without outside help.

By the 2020s, Aston Martin’s designers had gone all-in on sleekness for more than two decades. So, to celebrate the company’s 110th birthday in 2023, the marque tacked the other way with the Valour. The model is a limited-edition homage to the blunt instrument V8 Vantages of the 1970s, with bold looks that managed to be both classic and modern, all the way down to the circular headlamps. What’s under the hood is strictly modern, however: a twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12 making 705 hp. What sends that power to the rear wheels is an old-school-style six-speed manual gearbox.

What, you might ask, could improve on the Valour? Why, what about a limited-run variant based on the wishes of a Formula 1 driver? The Valiant was born out of a request from none other than racing legend Fernando Alonso, who after signing with Aston Martin’s F1 team asked the company to let him build a one-off designed more for attacking the track than driving on the street. The result—bodied in carbon fiber with extravagant aerodynamic bodywork, power pumped up to 735 hp but still tied to a six-speed stick—was so cool, Aston convinced Alonso to let them make a small production run for their finest clients. Alonso, being equally cool, said yes.

The Vantage has served as the foundation for many a special Aston Martin, but the ranks of the most unique have to include this open-top machine—the V12 Speedster. The 12-cylinder engine under the hood boasts twin turbos that help it make 700 hp, but the acceleration no doubt feels faster than it is on account of the lack of a windshield. Kindly, Aston included two spots behind the seats to stash helmets; you won’t be taking it on track without a roof or roll cage, but at least you and your date can keep the bugs out of your teeth and hair while indulging in the roar of the V-12 power plant.

While the aforementioned DB7’s original form was impressive for its time, the car only truly came into its own in 1999 with the arrival of a 12-cylinder engine under the hood. While the original inline-six was no slouch, the all-new homemade 5.9-liter V-12 was on a whole different level, making 420 hp in impeccably smooth fashion. It also came with an updated design that aimed to push the sleek coupe and convertible visually further from the Jaguar XK they were closely related to under the skin—a design that finally gave the car the swagger it always deserved.

The first car of the David Brown era didn’t even wear his now-famous initials when it entered production. The DB1 moniker was applied after its creation; it being known as the “2-Liter Sports” when first made in line with the company’s prewar creations. As the name suggests, it uses a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine, which is less of a problem than you might imagine, as the car is roughly the size of a Mazda Miata. While it may not look much like what most of us imagine when we picture an Aston, it paved the way for every DB-named or V-prefixed sports car, grand tourer, and supercar to come through Gaydon’s gates down the road.

Aston had originally planned for the third-gen Vanquish to be a mid-engined, V-6 powered McLaren fighter, but those ambitious plans wound up dashed on the jetty of fate. Good thing, though, because the car the marque built instead is a super-GT for the record books. Wearing a design that blends much of the brand’s past-and-present best, its true masterpiece is a reengineered twin-turbo 5.2-liter V-12 that makes 824 hp—a number doubly astounding when considering power only goes to the rear wheels. It’s a combination of elegance and performance so good, we named it our Car of the Year in 2026.

As you’ve seen, Zagato’s name has bedecked plenty of limited-run Aston Martins over the years, but the first remains by far the greatest—the DB4 GT Zagato. The Italian design house took the DB4 GT—hardly an already beautiful car in its own right—and transformed it into an even sleeker machine that looked like it was going flat-out even when standing still. But the new bodywork was about more than just curb appeal. Zagato not only made it more aerodynamic, but also cut weight through different materials and the slashing of excess, knocking as much as 300 pounds off the regular model in order to optimize it for competition. A total of 19 were made originally in the early 1960s, but it proved so compelling, Aston sent half a dozen leftover DB4s to Zagato decades later to be turned into official “Sanction” follow-up models.

Aston has made plenty of niche versions of the Vantage, but none has quite managed to combine swagger, power, and involvement like the late release of the V12 Vantage S. The model combined the 565 hp version of the marque’s naturally aspirated 12-cylinder engine with a truly unusual gearbox: a seven-speed dogleg stick shift. The untraditional layout stuck first gear off to the side, making the 2-3 shift most likely to be often reached for under hard use easier to crack off. Considering third gear took this Vantage past 90 mph, those two cogs were likely all you’d need for 90 percent of your driving fun. Mix the unique transmission with that generation Vantage’s most intimidating looks, and you’re left with a car overflowing with bravado.

Aston Martin has long had a reputation for being streamlined, but that reached its peak with the DB9, which looks as though its sheet metal has been worn smooth by a thousand years of wind and rain. But it’s more than just an exceptionally pretty face. The DB9 also marked the first use of a whole new “vertical/horizontal” platform that would serve as the foundation of the company’s lineup for over a decade, giving it far superior handling to its predecessor, the DB7. Combine that with an elegant new-at-the-time interior design that blends leather, metal, and glass, and it’s instantly obvious that this car was a statement of intent by the brand—one that pointed it in a direction it’s still traveling today.

After Ford divested itself of Aston Martin in the early aughts, the company needed a splash to show it was doing just fine. That turned out to be the remarkable One-77, a gran turismo extraordinaire made for the burgeoning hypercar market. Just 77 examples were built, each with a seven-figure price point and a monstrous naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V-12 that made 750 hp and could push the carbon-fiber-bodied machine past 220 mph. That top-speed capability means that no one can let their gaze linger on the design that would inspire an entire generation of Astons to come. Some might even argue that none of its successors could match the almost cartoonishly gorgeous looks of the One-77.

Much of Aston’s history has revolved around the consistent refinement of automotive chassis and platforms long after other carmakers might have moved on, and that ability officially rose to the level of art form with the V8 Vantage V600 of the late 1990s. Starting life as a hotted-up version of the Virage grand tourer, which in turn was based on the bones of the 1970s-era Lagonda, it is equipped with a twin-supercharged 5.3-liter V-8 that was refitted in the factory to make 600 hp and 600 ft lbs of torque—this in an era when Ferraris and Lamborghinis hovered around 500 hp. Built by hand and boxy, it was brutal British cool, and deserves more credit than it’s received.

Aston Martin had long carved out something of its own space in the fast-car world, but with the all-new Vantage, the automaker both moved down in price and up in sharpness, putting it head to head with the likes of the iconic Porsche 911. It was a bold move, but the 21st century Vantage proved more than up for the challenge, thanks to a front-mid-engine layout that delivers near-perfect weight distribution and a 4.3-liter V-8 making 380 hp. Other versions would follow (and many, as you’ve seen, are also on this list), but it was that first new Vantage that showed just how the company could add fun and expand its offerings while only strengthening the brand’s character.

Aston forcefully launched itself into the 21st century with the V12 Vanquish, which debuted in the fall of 2001 as the spitting image of a 1998 concept car. Its bold design was a fresher, more aggressive take on the marque’s latest design language, one that seemed ideal for a new range-topper. Its 5.9-liter V-12 delivers 460 hp and is mated to an innovative-for-the-era six-speed sequential automated manual gearbox with paddle shifters. This model set the stage for a new era of harder-edged Astons that could still serve as exceptional grand tourers. It also kicked off a new era of Aston Martins costarring in Bond films, as it was showcased in the otherwise-forgettable Die Another Day.

Announced in 2016, Aston Martin joined forces with Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing for a spell. Aston got access to the dominant F1 team’s engineering genius; RBR got to put an actual automaker’s name on its signs. The collaboration didn’t last long, but one of the few flowers to blossom was the Valhalla, a car unlike almost anything else in Aston’s history. Its design and power plant shifted during development, but in final form, it packs an AMG-supplied V-8 and a plug-in hybrid system to make 937 hp, enough to make it competitive with all but the wildest hypercars of the modern era.

A street-legal vehicle capable of keeping up with modern Le Mans hypercars on track sounds like an impossible proposition, yet Aston managed just that with the Valkyrie—albeit with the help of friends. Formula 1’s engineering legend Adrian Newey did some moonlighting from his job on the Red Bull Formula 1 team to help design its otherworldly countenance designed for maximum aerodynamic performance. Cosworth helped build the 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V-12 that puts out 1000 hp and revs past 11,000 rpm. And as if that weren’t enough, a hybrid system is part of the fun too, pushing total power to 1,160 hp. It was, and remains, among the most utterly mad production cars ever to turn a wheel.

How could any other car take the ultimate place on this list? Even setting aside its cinematic importance (we’ll get back to that part), the DB5 would still go down as a remarkable automobile. It was technically a refinement of the DB4, but its sheet metal made its predecessor (and almost every other car) look staid, while its 282 hp inline-six gives it added punch. But it was its role as James Bond’s car in 1964’s Goldfinger that launched it to global fame, an arc that only continued to climb as it reappeared as the fictional spy’s ride of choice in seven more films. The coolness of Bond and the DB5 are forever wed, and that earns the car the top spot here.