And so to the most importantAston Martinsince theDB11 , which was the most important Aston Martin since theDB9 , which was the most important since theDB7 , which was... well, you understand. You may also like: Autel TPMS sensor. The ‘most important' tag accompanied Aston Martins perennially as the company went through the latter half of its first century, making some outstanding cars but seldom more than skimming the surface of making any money.

The‘Second Century Plan'was conceived to change all that. It was tentatively being followed under the stewardship of chairman and CEO Andy Palmer, who in 2015 introduced a business plan that would include seven core models (one replaced each year – "not rocket science"), cash-flow-generating special editions and a stock market flotation. That last part, which Palmer called a "key milestone", turned out to be a key millstone.

Aston couldn't have foreseen all of it. Who could? Falling car sales in China and a global pandemic later, money from the second-centuryDBS Superleggera ,VantageandDB11 , cars perhaps too similar to each other, still wasn't coming in fast enough and Aston needed new investors. Once they were found, they rapidly invited Palmer to leave through the door they had just entered. On 1 August, Tobias Moers, formerly boss of Mercedes' AMG division but already no stranger to Aston's headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire,took Palmer's place .

The DBX, then – the most important Aston since... well, you understand – officially arrives under the German's leadership. But be in no doubt: this is Palmer's car.

It's the result of bold ambition for a manufacturer of Aston's size: new car, new market segment, new platform, new factory, first SUV, first full five-seater. The only way the DBX could be newer were if the hybridised V6 petrol engine that Aston is also working on were ready. As it is,Mercedes-AMGhas provided both the new boss and familiar old power, in the form of a 542bhp twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre petrol V8.

This engine sits at the front of a new aluminium architecture, sited as far back under the bonnet as possible, giving the DBX a weight distribution of 54:46 front to rear. It drives the rear wheels most of the time but all four when it's slippery, through a nine-speed automatic gearbox and a variety of differentials.

The DBX is bigger than it looks: at 5039m long, it's actually 4cm longer than theRange Roverand of similar width (2220mm across the mirrors), but it's a lot lower, at 1680mm to 1869mm. TheLamborghini UrusandBentley Bentaygaare both 9cm longer than the DBX and the latter is some 5cm taller, but the Bentley's differences look greater in my mind. Perhaps that's due to the DBX's soft edges; the chamfer-cornered Porsche 928 always strikes me as smaller than it is as well.

At 3060mm, the DBX has the biggest wheelbase of them all. It runs on 22in wheels only, with a few different design choices and three tyre options: regular, all-season or winter, measuring 285/40 at the front and 325/35 at the back. Pretty racy.

Aston has thrown a lot of technology at its first SUV, which, priced at £158,000, is more than the base Bentayga and bang against the Urus. There's air suspension, which can both raise or lower the body height, adaptive damping to accompany it and the 48V active anti-roll bar system that's starting to feel obligatory on cars like this. Try to prevent body roll the old-fashioned mechanical way and you will end up with a car that's either too loose or too stiff, and an Aston should be neither.

Also throw in the electronically controlled four-wheel drive system, then, and you have an SUV that's incredibly complex for Aston, a company that typically specialises in honest-feeling front-engined coupés with driven rear wheels, as it tries to do everything for everyone everywhere. Largely, it nails it.

Big, heavy, frameless doors open on a cabin featuring a surprising acreage of leather. This is surely the easiest Aston ever to climb into. In fact, it might be the easiest car on the market to enter – with wide-opening doors, a low-access entry mode and, uniquely for an Aston of recent decades, completely flat sills. Aluminium-platformed sports cars typicall...

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