(June 19, 2013) Aston Martin today unveils the 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 fall, the new Vanquish Volante sits at the pinnacle of the luxury British car maker's sports car lineup.

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 the most beautiful car in its class, Vanquish Volante crucially retains the coupe's full breadth of dynamic character and sporting capability. It boasts the same 6.0-liter V12 engine as the coupe and the same blistering performance figures, meaning the top speed stands at 183 mph.

The V12 puts out 565 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque.

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 can be operated at speeds of up to 30 mph and takes just 14 seconds to fold — meaning the switch from enclosed to open top motoring, or vice versa, can be made effortlessly while on the move.

Announcing the arrival of the 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."

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 windshield, meanwhile, is now full height — a first for Aston Martin — which means that the glass runs up to meet the fabric roof, thereby reducing visual clutter.

The 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, Alcantara and satin chrome 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 Vanquish Volante boasts a trunk that's fully 50% larger than that of the previous DBS Volante. It measures nearly 10 cubic feet — roof up or down — and makes the new Aston Martin a viable choice for continent-crossing grand tours as well as daily drives.

Perhaps one of the most striking interior design elements is the center 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 center stack, the Vanquish and Vanquish Volante's set-up retains familiar elements such as the ECU engine start button and 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 offers a more user-friendly and ergonomic layout as well as technological updates that make it one of the most advanced in-car systems available.

Capacitive glass buttons with illumination and haptic feedback feature in the rest of the centre stack's switchgear. Haptic feedback is more commonly found in touchscreen 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."