Aston Martin planning to challenge Ferrari & McLaren with a mid-engined Aston supercar

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Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer has revealed AML are planning to take on Ferrari and McLaren with a mid-engined Aston Martin supercar.

Andy Palmer has only been at Aston Martin for a couple of years, but he does seem to be a man with a plan, and a clearer vision for Aston Martin then we’ve perhaps ever seen before.

Palmer’s plan is now starting to take shape with the vanguard for AML’s future arriving in the shape of the new Aston Martin DB11, the first properly new Aston for more than a decade.

That will be followed by replacements for the current range – based on the new architecture of the DB11 – with a new Vanquish and Vantage arriving in the next couple of years.

That replacement of the current range over, we can then expect the arrival of the Aston Martin DBX SUV, a car Palmer hopes will do for AML’s bank balance what the Cayenne has done for Porsche’s, and allow it to develop and expand its range of offerings.

That expansion – part of seven new models in seven years – will see AML deliver a pair of Lagonda saloons, almost certainly with hybrid powertrains, just like the DBX, but also an all-new Aston Martin – a mid-engined supercar to take on cars like the Ferrari 488 and McLaren 675.

Speaking to Motor Trend, Palmer confirmed the mid-engined Aston is planned as part of the seven new models in seven years – a car Palmer says will be the start of a new Bloodline for Aston – which could be spectacular.

Not only could it use either Aston’s new 5.2 litre turbo V12, but it could make use of the 4.0 litre AMG lump which will end up being offered in much of Aston’s range in the future.

But the icing on the cake for a mid-engined Aston Martin supercar is surely the possibility that it could be designed by Adrian Newey, F1’s design guru and the man who designed the new Aston Martin AM-RB 001 hypercar, after Newey confessed he would like the chance to design a road car that’s a bit more mainstream than the 001.

Which is a mouth-watering prospect.