Vanquish: Aston Martin nails it

The Vanquish is, above all, a luxury car. Outrageous performance comes fairly cheap these days. Surely, much cheaper than this. What you're paying for here is outrageous performance that knows when to behave itself.

At ordinary road speeds, the Vanquish rides smoothly and quietly. The steering wheel is easy to turn but still gives good feedback. Yes, you can feel the road -- as you should in a car like this -- but only as much as is necessary to understand what's happening under the front tires. It's information, not annoyance. A long highway cruise would be as pleasurable as charging around a winding country road.

The Vanquish's interior design is lush and completely customizable -- my car had bright blue stitching to match that bright blue exterior -- and the buttons and knobs seem logically laid out.

There are back seats in this car but, really, they're not intended for frequent use by humans. As an option, they can be left out altogether.

NEXT: High value