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NIKA ROLCZEWSKI
photos: Mark Jackson
SPECIAL TO THE STAR |
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 Call
me an optimist, but I know I have the winning ticket for
the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation's Early Bird
Draw. While you may want the 12 grand-prize show homes,
the other 43 exciting vehicles or the thousands of other
prizes in this year's lottery, the Aston Martin Vanquish
will be for my eyes only.
This magnificent,
$360,000 vehicle brings together subtlety with power,
and luxury with performance. It deserves the name of
world-class supercar. Yet, seeing it for the first time
this week, I found it remarkably understated.
The red button
beckoned me — it may have Engine Start written on it but
it screamed rocket launcher. One touch and the engine
would roar to life and I'd begin my James Bond
adventure. I'll drive the car of the most famous
international spy: the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. At the
first purr of its 6.0-litre, 450-hp engine, it promised
meticulous engineering and refined grace.
Unlike James, I was
stirred, not shaken. Settling comfortably into the
Connolly hide leather interior, I vowed to show no fear
and shut off the traction control. If I was to drive the
car, it would be driven right.
I wished I'd played
more video games in my youth, for there's no clutch and
a six-speed paddle shifter. Piloting this throaty beast
on the roads of Toronto, I would never know its
potential. Its 0 to 100 km/h in less than five seconds
would be beyond my reach, to fly another day.
 While
Ferraris are recognized, my silver Vanquish snuck up to
the lights with creeping innocence. When the light
changed to green, 410 lb-ft of torque threw me back in
the seat. How many people would realize the $300,000
price difference between my car and the fancy Chrysler
left standing in a cloud of tire smoke?
After a stop at
Princess Margaret to collect photographer Dave Cooper,
we stepped up the pace, but the car just shrugged off
the far more aggressive drive, its rigid frame of
aluminum and carbon fibre throwing the car into a corner
without noticeable body roll.
My confidence grew.
Here was a vehicle that might take you to the limits of
high-performance driving without being ostentatious. Its
gearshift lacked the hesitation I've felt with other
paddle shifting vehicles, while its computer blipped the
throttle to make downshifts smooth and precise.
If, by chance, driving
were to become too cumbersome, or I just became lazy, I
could switch the car to "rookie" with the touch of a
button — a fully automatic shift mode would take care of
business. I've often wished for the machine gun, grenade
launcher and ejector seat buttons when driving in the
city but, alas, my car lacked the "International Spy"
option package.
Giving back the keys,
I was told that it's "a lot of car to handle," but I'm
not worried. I'll be picking up my Early Bird prize next
month, with my next mission to see how much more I can
push the Vanquish's license to thrill.
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