2013 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster
Most hard core Aston loses its head
By Shahzad Sheikh
It’s my favourite Aston Martin. It may not be the prettiest in the range, but it’s still better looking than most other sportscars, and there’s certainly a brutish appeal about it. But the best thing about the V12 Vantage is the sheer engineering depravity of the concept – take your biggest engine and put it in your smallest car (not counting that Sygnet thingy).
So that’s a 510bhp 6.0-liter V12 in a small body. And it only comes with a six-speed manual gearbox. Bliss. What could make it even better? Hmm… how about taking the roof off so you could hear that mad motor even better?
Okay then. Here is it. The V12 Vantage Roadster. Hold on to your hair for a 0-100kph run of just 4.5 seconds and top speed of 305kph.
It has a folding electric canvas roof with a redesigned rear boot lid and lower front air intake, plus a modified rear damper set-up, front and rear damper valve tuning and a new rear spring design. There’s carbon fibre strakes, carbon front splitter and rear diffuser and new allow wheels.
It’s available to order now in selected markets – we don’t have local prices, but the UK price is GBP150,000 – $230k.
