Joining its coupe sibling, which was launched last fall, the just-revealed Vanquish Volante sits at the pinnacle of the British luxury car maker's sports car lineup.
The Volante shares the technical, engineering and many of the design characteristics of the Vanquish coupe, including a 6.0-litre V-12 engine that produces 565 horsepower and 457 lb-ft of torque and the 294-km/h top speed it enables. It drives the rear wheels through a 'Touchtronic 2' six-speed automatic transmission.
The carbon-fibre body panels exhibit not only a high strength-to-weight ratio, but also flexibility of form, which combine to reduce both mass and the number of individual body panels required – thus reducing joints and contributing to a more coherent shape.
A first for an Aston Martin convertible is a full height windshield with glass that runs all the way up to meet the fabric roof.
The triple-skin lightweight top can be operated at speeds of up to 48 km/h and takes just 14 seconds to switch from enclosed to open top driving, or vice versa, even while on the move.
A new centre stack is said to be significantly more user-friendly, with a new infotainment system and capacitive glass buttons with haptic feedback feature in its switchgear.
From a practical perspective, the new Volante's trunk is 50% larger than in the previous DBS Volante, with 279 litres of space with the roof up or down.
Aston Martin CEO, Dr Ulrich Bez said of the Volante: "This car is what luxury super GT driving is all about... 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."
North-American deliveries of the 2014 Vanquish Volante are expected to begin early next year.