After more than a decade of faithful service, it has come time for Aston Martin to retire the venerable Vantage sports car. To replace the most successful model in company history is no small feat. But that's exactly what Aston Martin has done with the unveiling of its next-generation Vantage on Tuesday.

"I’m enormously excited by what we’ve created: a new Vantage that’s more explicit in looks and intent, wrapping heart-pounding performance and dazzling dynamics into an everyday usable package," Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Andy Palmer said in a statement. "A true sports car with a sharper look and a keener dynamic edge, the new Vantage is the Aston Martin pure driving machine enthusiasts have been waiting for."

With a long hood, fastback tail, sleek greenhouse, and perfect proportions, the Vantage is undeniably an Aston Martin. It's the latest work of Aston design boss Marek Reichman and draws heavily from the DB10 movie car created for James Bond's 24th adventure in 2015's "Spectre."

Under the Aston's stylish hood lives a 4.0 liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that's shared with the company's pricier DB11 V8 Coupe and Volante convertible. Here, it produces 503 horsepower. Mated to a rear-mounted, ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, Aston claims the Vantage can hit 60mph from a standstill in just 3.6 seconds.

The 3,373-pounds sports car is good for a manufacturer-claimed top speed of 195 mph.

Roughly 70% of the Vantage's rigid and lightweight bonded aluminum structure is brand new. With the engine set low and as far back in the chassis as possible, Aston has managed to achieve perfect 50:50, front to rear weight distribution.

In addition, the Vantage will be loaded with the latest high tech goodies in Aston Martin's arsenal. This includes dynamic stability control, dynamic torque vectoring, active dampers, and electronic rear differential, a company first.

Inside, the Vantage's cabin comes in several flavors with more luxury-minded versions getting Aston's traditional leather and wood treatment, while more sporting interiors will receive a heavier dose of Alcantara and carbon fiber. The Vantage will also get an 8-inch LCD screen running a Mercedes-Benz-sourced infotainment system.

The new Aston Martin Vantage is expected to arrive in US showrooms sometime during the second quarter of 2018 with a price tag of $149,995.

Though Aston Martin had more than enough news in revealing the new V8 Vantage, it decided it needed to show one more thing: the Vantage GTE race car.

Obviously the body work is based on the road car, but it's more aggressive. It has an even bigger version of the V8 Vantage's massive grille. The hood gets extra vents. The exhaust now exits out the front fenders. And, of course, it gets a huge wing and equally monster diffuser. The interior is quite a bit different, though, with the comfy seats and leather trim gone in favor of a roll cage and bare carbon fiber components.

Under the skin, there are some similarities to the regular V8 Vantage. The main connection is the Vantage GTE's engine, which is a version of the same 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged AMG V8 found in the road car. It makes more power than the street version with at least 530 horsepower. Torque is roughly the same, though. Instead of an eight-speed automatic, the Vantage GTE uses a six-speed sequential manual transmission. Both cars use double-wishbone suspension front and rear, but the GTE gets adjustable anti-roll bars and Ohlins adjustable shocks. The brakes are also upgraded to six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear calipers from Alcon.