Aston Martin has unveiled the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante - 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 Aston Martin 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, Aston Martin Vanquish Volante crucially retains the coupe's dynamic character and sporting capability. It boasts the same new AM11 6.0-litre V12 engine as the coupe and the same blistering performance figures, meaning the 0-62 mph sprint is dispatched in just 4.1 seconds (estimated) while the top speed stands at 183 mph.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is the first fully carbon fibre-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.
Announcing the arrival of the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez said: "This car is what luxury super GT driving is all about. Great performance, fantastic style and exhilarating Volante motoring in one superb package.
"Aston Martin is celebrating 100 years of excellence in 2013, and the arrival of this new sports car - our ultimate Volante - underlines that our mission to make the next 100 years even more successful is starting perfectly."

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante side

The design of Aston Martin 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 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante 's 'suit' of carbon fibre 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. Each body panel on the car is constructed from carbon fibre not just because of its high strength-to-weight ratio, but also for its flexibility of form. This not only reduces mass but means that fewer individual body panels are required - reducing joints and contributing to a more coherent and svelte shape. As practical as it is well-dressed, the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante boasts a boot that's fully 50% larger than that of the previous DBS Volante. It measures 279 litres - 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 Aston Martin 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 wholive performance, agile handling and compelling power-to-weight ratio. The combination of controlled weight, near-perfect 51:49 weight distribution, a powerful V12 engine and a performance-honed six-speed transmission unite to make the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante as rewarding on the move as it is beautiful standing still. Like its coupe counterpart, the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante uses the latest generation of Aston Martin's class-leading VH (Vertical Horizontal) architecture, a lightweight bonded aluminium structure that provides outstanding strength and rigidity. In this iteration, the Vanquish now includes the addition of significant semi-structural carbon fibre components, as well as the use of bonding derived directly from the latest aerospace technologies.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante back

As well as being light, strong and flexible in its application, the gen4 VH architecture is also extremely rigid. The new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is, in fact, 14% torsionally stiffer than the DBS Volante which preceded it, making it highly resistant to flex and allowing for responsive and predictable handling.
This rigid structure also provides an ideal foundation from which the suspension can control the vehicle effectively, further highlighting the importance of the body structure and the effect it has on the dynamic performance of the car.

Aston Martin's engineering teams have worked particularly hard to minimise the weight outside the wheelbase of the new car to reduce yaw inertia. As a result, carbon fibre has been used extensively in the rear structure and the weight of the aluminium front structure has been limited.
To take full advantage of its precise and rigid architecture, the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante employs a battery of sophisticated technologies including Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and Positive Torque Control (PTC).
Aston Martin's Adaptive Damping System (ADS) allows the driver to switch between three distinct damping modes: Normal, Sport and Track, delivering instant adjustment of the car's ride and handliple dedicated to delivering exceptional sports cars with clearly defined characters."

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