Aston Martin’s Vanquish Volante Is a Seriously Fast Drop-Top GT

Aston Martin claims its new Vanquish Volante is the fastest and most powerful front-engined convertible on the planet. With 824 hp, a 0-62 mph time of 3.4 seconds, and a 214 mph top speed, it will smoke even AMG’s most exclusive speedster—the PureSpeed.

The Vanquish Volante will also be relatively exclusive, with Aston Martin saying it will build less than 1000 Vanquish models a year, be they coupes or convertibles.

The launch coincides with the 60th anniversary of the first Volante—the so-called ‘Short Chassis’ of 1965, which briefly filled a small gap between the DB5 and DB6. Only 37 were made, but the Volante name (Italian for ‘flying’) stuck for future open-topped Astons.

Now in its most extreme form yet, the Volante shares its 5.2-liter V-12 engine and eight-speed ZF automatic transmission with the recently-announced Vanquish coupe. With a pair of turbochargers, it almost doubles the power output compared to Aston Martin’s first V-12, which appeared in the DB7 Vantage, despite being smaller in capacity.

Replacing the fixed roof with a K-fold fabric top does add almost 210 lbs to the weight of the Vanquish, but you get the same level of thermal insulation as the coupe, plus it can be lowered in 14 seconds and closed in 16 seconds, while driving at up to 31 mph.

Aston Martin hasn’t released any images of the Volante with the roof up, but it looks mighty fine when open to the elements. You get the same muscular haunches and F1-inspired aero tricks as the coupe, but it somehow appears lower and leaner. Adding to the elemental thrill of open-air driving is an optional titanium exhaust system with a smaller muffler and a 23-lb weight savings.

Further mass is shed by using carbon ceramic disc brakes as standard—they are more than 50 lbs lighter than iron rotors, and significantly shorten stopping distances. The bonded aluminum chassis, meanwhile, leads to a 75 percent improvement in lateral stiffness compared to Aston Martin’s previous flagship convertible.

Suspension is taken care of by adaptable Bilstein DTX dampers, and the Vanquish can be driven in GT, Sport and Sport+ modes, while the ESP can also be set to On, Off, Track, or Wet configurations.

The cabin is a carry-over from the coupe, with a pair of hefty screens, but a decent number of tactile switches as well. The Bowers & Wilkins 15-speaker surround sound audio system has been tuned especially for top-down driving. Behind the sports seats is a sculpted rear cross brace for added torsional rigidity, along with a dedicated storage space for a set of saddle leather bags (at extra cost, of course).

No price has been announced yet, but you can expect to pay a premium over the $432,700 coupe.

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