You might have heard Aston Martin posted a £24m loss last year, but things aren't as
bad as that sounds.
For starters it received £150m of outside investment recently, it's signed and agreement
with Mercedes to use AMG V8's and share platforms and yet again it was voted the coolest brand
in the world, however that's judged.
Oh, and it's about to introduce this stunning thing at the very top of its range.
The Vanquish Volante is the latest in a long line of V12 Aston convertibles, known more
for their supernodel good looks and posing prowess than pin sharp handling, but with
a chassis that's 14% stiffer than the DBS Volante, the same 565bhp 6.0-litre V12 as
the Vanquish coupe, and an identical 0-62mph time as the coupe of 4.2 seconds - this could
be the convertible to buck
the trend.
You'll have to excuse the background noise because I've got the roof down and it's not
coming up, we are in sunny Palm Springs in California after all, and first things first
this has to be one of the best-looking Aston's ever.
The designers have kept the gorgeous carbon fixed rear wing while the roof slots behind
these two humps behind my head in 14 seconds.
Right now, cruising around, life feels pretty damn good.
But what happens when we find a road that's a bit more fun?
Well, let's start with the bad news - it weighs over 100kg more than the coupe and the two
stage dampers have been softened up ever so slightly, so it flows on smooth roads like
this but will feel a bit brittle back in the UK.
Chassis is 14 percent stiffer, but you can still feel it flexing here and there.
Honestly though, unless your going to take this on track it clings on just as well as
the coupe.
And the engine?
We'll we all know how good it sounds, and there is
huge pace if you let it rev out.
I know it sounds hyper critical, but the performance is effortless rather than explosive.
More like a Bentley GT than a ferrari F12.
So, as expected, it's utterly gorgeous but not the sharpest tool in Aston's box.
If you want that though, then there's always the V12 vantage S....
There are cried that Aston needs to do something all-new, replace the Vantage, DB9 and Vanquish
and build an SUV, and those cars will come, but for now it's still producing some exceptional
cars.
It's hard not to be seduced by the glamour of the Vanquish Volante, and for most of the
time it now feels as rigid as the coupe.
Is it worth £200,000?
Well I'll leave you take another look, and you decide...