GENEVA: Aston Martin has picked the 2017 Geneva Motor Show to launch AMR - a sub-brand that strengthens the connection between road and race cars. The Rapide AMR and Vantage AMR Pro concepts were unveiled in conjunction with the event.

AMR takes technology and inspiration from motorsport to amplify the sporting prowess present across the model range.

The Rapide represents the first tier of AMR, enhancing the four-door sports car with a suite of power, chassis and styling upgrades, plus a new interior treatment. The Vantage AMR Pro - heavily influenced by Aston Martin Racing’s WEC winning V8 Vantage GTE - is the flagship that shows off AMR’s "Track to Tarmac" philosophy whereby race technology is transferred to road cars.



While future development of the core AMR models will be part of Aston Martin’s central vehicle engineering teams, development of all AMR Pro models will be led by Q by Aston Martin Advanced Operations. The department - managed by Aston Martin’s VP and Chief Special Operations Officer, David King - has extensive experience of creating extreme Aston Martins, with recent projects including the Vantage GT12, Vantage GT8 and Aston Martin Vulcan.



Underlining Aston Martin’s commitment to its new high-performance brand, AMR’s European development and brand centre will be based at Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art Nürburgring Test Centre, which is located within sight of the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track.

The AMR brand follows in the wheeltracks of successive iconic Aston Martin road cars which boasted top-level racing pedigree. In the mid-1930s the success of Aston Martin’s Team Cars in the Ulster TT road race led the marque to build further examples of the lightweight two-seater for sale to the public.

[caption id="attachment_123929" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]The Vantage AMR Pro (left) and Rapide AMR concepts.

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In 1951, Sir David Brown introduced uprated and highly desirable "Vantage" specification models, and steered the marque to an historic outright win at Le Mans with the iconic DBR1 in 1959.

Since the formation of Aston Martin Racing (AMR) in 2004, Aston Martin has enjoyed success in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), winning the 2016 FIA WEC GT Drivers Championship, while also securing three class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans over this period. Similarly, Aston Martin Racing’s GT3 and GT4 racers have secured countless victories and championship titles around the world.

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