Aston Martin Vanquish Centenary Edition (2013) first pictures

Aston Martin turns one hundred years old today. Inevitably, there's to be a series of special edition Astons to mark then occasion, and here's the first one: the Vanquish Centenary Edition.

As well as bespoke paint and interior colours, buyers get a few curious free gifts thrown in...read on for the full story.

Mainly it's the bespoke paintwork, which takes 68 hours to apply and, according to the company, Aston boss Dr Ulrich Bez personally helped develop. Essentially the Vanquish Centenary Edition has a graduated silver-to-black bonnet, an exposed carbonfibre roof panel, and a half-black bootlid too. Plus the front and rear Aston 'wing' badges are sterling silver. There haven't been any actual bodywork changes, and the powertrain remains untouched too, meaning a 565bhp 5.9-litre V12 lives under that bonnet, powering the car to 62mph in 4.1 seconds and on to 189mph flat out.

Upon opening the door to the Centenary Edition Vanquish, you'll spot more sterling silver, this time for the door sill kickplates. Inside, there's soft-finish leather upholstery previously only seen on the £1.2m One-77 supercar: its black finish contrasts with silver stitching to match that bespoke paint job.

Forget floor mats or a full tank of fuel: the Vanquish Centenary Edition comes with a few more choice add-ons. A presentation box included with the car contains two glass keys, two bespoke key pouches made from leather matching the car’s trim, solid silver cufflinks emblazoned with 'Aston Martin', a solid silver Rollerball pen, and Bang & Olufsen headphones. Oh, and a polishing cloth for keeping that sterling silver trim buffed up. As if Aston owners clean their own car.

If you can't stretch to the top-of-the-range Vanquish, you can celebrate Aston's 100th birthday with a Centenary Edition V8 Vantage, DB9 or Rapide. And yes, they're making just 100 of each.

If that's whetted your appetite for a celebration of Aston Martin's 100 years, don't miss the new February issue of CAR magazine, featuring a 40-page Aston A-Z special. It's on sale now, or available to download on your iPad from 16 January 2013.

By Ollie Kew