Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster: Official

Following the leak of Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster photos and an undisguised car in London we now get the official reveal of the V12 Vantage Roadster.

The leak of photos we had of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster last week (assuming they were a leak rather than a Photoshop) managed to make the new soft top V12 Vantage look decidedly bland (not an easy thing to do with an Aston).

But the photos of the V12 Vantage Roadster we had at the weekend were much more appealing; a white V12 Vantage Roadster obviously on an official photoshoot in appealing London locations.

We said the same photos would turn up officially soon, and here they are accompanying the official reveal of the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster.

It’s taken Aston Martin three years to take the roof off the V12 Vantage and what you get is pretty much a V12 Vantage Coupe with a couple of RSJs bolted in to keep the back and front of the Aston together. That blunts performance from the 510bhp V12 a bit, with the Roadster taking 4.5 seconds to get to 62mph – 0.3 seconds longer than the coupe.

But Aston Martin Convertibles (normally Volante, but Roadster in the Vantage) aren’t really about the drive but the look and feel. And the V12 Vantage Roadster keeps the stunning looks of its tin-top sibling with just a few changes.

There’s a new lower front air intake to help the engine breath and a new boot lid (the least convincing part) with plenty of carbon fibre bits dotted around together with a modified rear damper setup, damper re-tuning and new rear springs.

The 2012 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster (or maybe, by the time it hits the road, the 2013 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster) is now on sale at a price of £150,000 in the UK, £15k more than the V12 Vantage.

By Cars UK