It’s the first full carbon-fibre bodied Volante, powered by a 565 bhp 6.0-litre V12 engine, and it arrives in the UK and Continental Europe sometime in late 2013.
Despite the carbon-fibre body shell, in its transition from Coupé to Volante the Vanquish gains 105 kg (1844 kg vs 1739 kg). Even so, Aston Martin quote the same performance of 4.1 seconds for the 0-62mph sprint and a top speed of 183 mph.
The Volante features a triple-skin lightweight fabric roof, which sits beneath a tonneau and decklid that have been aerodynamically tuned for optimum performance. The roof can be lowered in just 14 seconds.
SEE ALSO: Aston Martin Vanquish: where beauty comes from within.
To accommodate the folding roof, luggage space is reduced, but it’s still 50% larger than that of the previous DBS Volante with a capacity of 279 litres.
Aston Martin Design Director Marek Reichman explained, “Vanquish Volante is a sports car, of course, but more even than that it is the ultimate Volante.”
“The aerodynamically shaped tonneau, the proportions of the folding fabric roof, the luxurious nature of the cabin – these elements have been pored over by the Design team, working with our Engineering colleagues, to ensure we deliver the aesthetic appeal for which Aston Martin is renowned around the world.”
The dynamics of the Vanquish Volante have been tuned to suit the redesigned body structure, with new springs and damper settings calibrated to deliver the same ride and handling as the coupé.
Like its coupé counterpart, the Vanquish Volante uses the latest generation of Aston Martin’s class-leading VH (Vertical Horizontal) architecture, which in this gen4 derivative contains semi-structural carbon fibre components. The resulting car is 14% torsionally stiffer than the DBS Volante which preceded it and therefore more predictable and responsive to drive.
The rest is pure Vanquish, which since being released last Autumn has quickly become recognised as one of the finest Aston Martin’s ever made.
The price of Vanquish rises from from £189,995 in the Coupé to £199,995 in the Volante, while first deliveries are expected to begin later this year.
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