The Vanquish is powered by a 5.9 L (5935 cc) 48-valve 60° V12 locomotive, which produces 343 kW (460 hp) and 542 N·1000 (400 foot·lbf) of torque. It is controlled by a fly-by-wire gas and a 6 upper 'paddle change' or semi-automatic infection.

A limited V12 Vanquish S debuted at the 2004 Paris Auto Show with the might upped to 388 kW (520 hp) and 577 N·meter (426 foot·lbf). The Vanquish's V12 locomotive shares some components and plan elements with the 3.0 L Duratec 30 V6. It still shares the one drill and shot dimensions.

For this cause, some mass falsely fire the Aston Martin V12 as but "two Duratecs joined jointly. " The V12 locomotive in the Vanquish was planed at Ford Research in the USA. Cosworth Technologies was earlier geted to invent the locomotive, but had no interest with the plan.

It is right that the AM V12 shares components with the 3.0L 'Duratec' V-6 locomotive used in the Ford Taurus, but it is non potential to only place two V6's jointly to be a V12.

The deposit offset for a V12 is same to one pole charge breadth, whereas the deposit offset for a 60-degree V6 is importantly longer than one pole charge breadth, so it is essential to plan a V12 as an all other locomotive.