The Vanquish Volante is a stunning new luxury sports car that brings the
thrill of open top motoring to the super GT class. Alongside its coupe sibling,
launched to worldwide acclaim last autumn, the Vanquish Volante sits at the
pinnacle of the luxury British car maker's sports car line-up.
Benefitting from all of the technical, engineering and design advances present
in the Vanquish coupe, the new Volante enhances the driving experience still
further through the option of exciting convertible driving.
Instantly becoming one of the most beautiful cars in its class, Vanquish Volante
crucially retains the coupe's dynamic character and sporting capability. It
boasts the same new AM11 6.0-liter V12 engine as the coupe and the same
blistering performance figures, meaning the 0-60 mph sprint is despatched in
just 3.9 seconds (estimated) while the top speed stands at 183 mph.
Vanquish Volante is the first fully carbon fiber-skinned Volante in the brand's
100-year history, while also being the stiffest Volante body structure yet
created by the engineering team at Aston Martin's global HQ in Gaydon,
Warwickshire, England. The new car's triple-skin lightweight fabric roof takes
just 14 seconds to fold.
The design of Vanquish Volante represents the latest take on Aston Martin's
iconic visual language. Styling cues such as the elegant waist, elongated side
strakes and LED rear light blades are derived from the One-77 supercar while the
folding fabric roof sits beneath a tonneau and decklid that have been
aerodynamically tuned for optimum performance.
The windscreen, meanwhile, is now full height - a first for Aston Martin - which
means that the glass runs up to meet the fabric roof, thereby achieving a
particularly clean transition.
The Vanquish Volante's 'suit' of carbon fiber panels cloaks a cabin that is both
sophisticated and comfortable. The 2+2 cabin is elegantly attired in authentic
and luxurious materials: full grain Luxmil leather with optional quilting, metal
controls and satin chrome trim underscore the car's well-appointed nature.
As practical as it is well-dressed, the Vanquish Volante boasts a boot that's
fully 50% larger than that of the previous DBS Volante. It measures 279 liters -
roof up or down - and makes the new Aston Martin the perfect choice for
continent-crossing grand tours as well as daily drives.
Perhaps one of the most striking interior design elements is the centre stack
with refinements providing a more elegant form that is also more intuitive and
accessible for both driver and front seat passenger.
A direct descendent of the One-77 centre stack, the Vanquish and Vanquish
Volante's set-up retains familiar elements such as the ECU engine start button
and glass gear selection buttons while featuring a new infotainment system and a
significantly more user-friendly design.
The facia trim now stretches down the whole centre stack and is manufactured
from a single piece of material giving a uniform finish.
The user interface boasts a simple, ergonomically efficient layout as well as
technological updates that make it the brand's most advanced in-car system
available today.
Capacitive glass buttons with illumination and haptic feedback feature in the
rest of the center stack's switchgear. Haptic feedback is more commonly found in
touch-screen mobile phones and Aston Martin became among the first significant
luxury car manufacturers in the world to use the technology in a series
production model when it debuted on Vanquish coupe in 2012.
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. A car
which follows a long line of elegant Aston Martin convertibles, this super GT is
sculpted to convey sophistication as much as raw power.
"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."
Priced from 199,995 GBP in the UK; 264,995 EUR in Germany; $297,995 MSRP in the
United States and $323,974 RRP in Dubai, first deliveries of the new sports car
are expected to begin in the UK and Continental Europe late in 2013.
