Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

The Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is a standard vehicle in Midtown Madness 2 that is unlocked through completing the Final Exam in the London Crash Course. It is one of the fastest cars in the game, behind the Panoz GTR-1. In HQTM Team's Classic Madness mod, it is replaced by the classic Aston Martin DB5.

In-Game Description
"The twelve cylinder engine will have you whipping past opponents with ease, but can you handle this much power?"
 * -|Midtown Madness 2=Aston Martin DB7 Vantage

Details
The Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is a locked car by default in Midtown Madness 2. It is earned after the player completes all the London Crash Course sessions (including midterms and final exams). It has four default colors and is one of the fastest vehicles in the game. It is also a RHD (Right-Hand Drive) vehicle, distinguishing it as a European-spec car.

The Aston Martin DB7 Vantage has twelve cylinders, making it the first type of engine in an Aston Martin. This translates to an incredible top speed that will have you whipping past traffic at breakneck speeds.

History


The Aston Martin DB7 was introduced in 1994 to add a coupe to the brand's lineup alongside the V8 Vantage muscle car. The vehicle was designed with huge influence from Jaguar (hence the similarities to the Jaguar XK-8 of the era), while also taking styling cues from the DB series of the 1950s and '60s (particularly the Aston Martin DB5). The Aston Martin DB7 Vantage was introduced in 1999 as a higher-end performance model, which housed a powerful V12 engine. In 2002, further performance models, the V12 GT and GTA, were released, before design house Zagato released their own version in 2002. In 2004, the DB7 ceased production, to be followed by the beautiful Aston Martin DB9, and subsequently, the new DBS which starred in James Bond's 2006 movie/film, Casino Royale. Aston Martin have also produced Vanquish and Vantage models, as well as the four-seat Rapide and super-fast One-77, as well as the DBR9 and DBRS9 race cars.

Races As An Opponent
All races with the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage as a computer-generated opponent:


 * -|San Francisco (MM2)=All races with the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage in San Francisco:


 * -|London (MM2)=All races with the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage in London:

Stats

 * Top Speed: 180 mph
 * Horsepower: 420 bhp
 * Mass: 3,913 lbs.
 * Durability: Low

Quotes
All in-game commentary provided specifically for the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage:


 * -|San Francisco (MM2)= All San Francisco quotes that apply to the Aston Marin DB7 Vantage, provided by various announcers:


 * -|London (MM2)= All London quotes that apply to the Aston Marin DB7 Vantage, provided by various announcers:

MM1 Mod Version
This is the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage converted from MM2 to MM1. It includes the original dashboard and sounds, appropriate tuning, MM1-style headlights, and all the colors from MM2.

Trivia

 * Like the Panoz Roadster, the Cadillac Eldorado, the VW New Beetle RSi, and the Audi TT, the DB7 uses the wrong drivetrain in the game; it is set as a front-wheel drive instead of a rear-wheel drive. This was corrected in the MM2 Revisited mod.
 * "Southerland Red" is a misspelling of "Sutherland Red". This was corrected in the fifth beta of MM2 Revisited V6.
 * The mm2audex.ar file contains higher quality sounds for this car. This also applies to the Ford Mustang GT.
 * This car was originally going to be based on the standard DB7 model, as seen in the beta versions of Midtown Madness 2, where this car's vehicle showcase screen uses a different picture and the car is simply called the "Aston Martin DB7." Moreover, the rear texture has the badge on the trunk instead of above the number plate like it should on the Vantage model.
 * This car was also simply called "Aston Martin" on the vehicle selection screen in the Betas. This later changed in the final release. In the later versions of the game, including the final release, the announcers would often refer to this car by its brand name, along with the Freightliner Century, the Mini Cooper Classic and the New Mini Cooper.
 * In the early beta versions of Midtown Madness 2, the DB7's paint jobs had different names (except "Scorcher," which originally had an exclamation point added to its name).
 * Despite "Scorcher" being a custom paint job, it is already unlocked when this car is unlocked, most likely because Angel Studios could not come up with a race to unlock it from, unlike other default vehicles that have custom paint jobs (except the American LaFrance Fire Truck, which accidentally has its Dalmatian paint job unlocked by default as well due to an error in the game's files that can be fixing by modding Midtown Madness 2).
 * Due to the shape of its BOUND file, this car has a tendency to hit curbs, usually from its front end. This also applies to the Panoz GTR-1 and the VW New Beetle RSi. They were fixed in MM2 Revisited V6 thanks to new bound files and 3D models for these cars.
 * There is a model file for another version of this car in the game files named "vpdb731.pkg." It has a slightly different shape (not a 100% identical duplicate of vpdb7.pkg, the original model file), last modified on November 23, 1999 at 11:07 AM (GMT), being one of the very first models ever made for Midtown Madness 2 during development. This also applies to the American LaFrance Fire Truck, the VW New Beetle RSi and the VW New Beetle Dune.
 * Coincidentally, its audio files were misspelled as Austin. The Austin Motor Company were a British motor company who were one of the car companies that produced the original Mini.
 * In the alpha version of Midtown Madness 2, this car only reused sound effects from the Panoz Roadster as it didn't have its own sound effects yet. This has been noticed in the game's trailer. This also applies to the London Cab, the Mini Cooper Classic, the Ford Mustang Fastback, and the Double-Decker Bus.
 * Outside of Midtown Madness 2, the DB7 has notably appeared in the Gran Turismo series and the Test Drive series.
 * Its engine sounds were recycled for the Taxi Cabs in Midnight Club: Street Racing, another racing video game developed by Angel Studios.