Aston rolls out Vantage Roadster
Newswheel staff :: 15 November 2006 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Roadster, Aston Martin, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Europe & UK, US
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V8 (Volante)
Enjoy the ineffable beauty of the new V8 Vantage Roadster, revealed yesterday, while the honeymoon lasts, folks. For it will soon be a pestilence upon the humble roads of west London – when the Roadster arrives, Aston Martin will surely be beating well-heeled customers out of showrooms with a shitty stick. Well, so long as the boutique British sports car brand survives the process of being defenestrated from the Ford empire…
(click for immense imagery)
In the meantime, Aston Martin Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez has naturally taken the opportunity to big up the new Roadster.
“The V8 Vantage Roadster is a pure sports car, a car that heightens the senses and provides a dynamically thrilling driving experience. The Vantage Roadster adds to the unbeatable thrill of open air motoring and by combining engineering excellence, technological innovation and physical perfection, will ensure every journey is one to remember,” quoth he.
In keeping with all recent Astons, this new drop top is a cosmetically immaculate effort. The dual-cowl, flush-fitted tonneau cover is utterly seamless and the roof itself can be opened or closed at a touch of a button in just 18 seconds and at speeds of up to 30mph.
Based on familiar but still high tech VH bonded aluminium architecture (the basis of all Astons, going forward), the Roadster is claimed to have been conceived in parallel with the existing coupe model. All of which bodes well for rigidity. It also translates into what Aston describes as a minimal weight penalty and, in turn, quoted performance figures which are identical to the V8 Vantage coupe’s - 4.9 seconds to 60mph and a Vmax of 175mph, to be precise. However, at 1,710kg, the Roadster is fully 150kg portlier than the coupe. It will do well to match the coupe’s straight line speed.
That’s because, powerplant wise, it’s the same Jag-derived V8 lump in 4.3-litre, 380bhp trim as seen in the tin-top Vantage. As ever, two tranny options are on the table, a conventional six-cog manual stick ‘n clutch-operated box and a robot paddle-flicker, again with six speeds.
The Vantage Roadster will receive its first public outing at the LA auto show on 29th November (like, awesome) with initial deliveries said to be pencilled in for Q2 ’07. That’s April onwards in old money. Prices are yet to be confirmed but will no doubt flirt with the £100k mark. No pushing, no shoving, just get to the back of the queue.
Meanwhile, back at Aston’s Gaydon HQ…
Following Ford’s announcement in September that Aston was up for sale, no official details of the current pole position sitter in the race to bag the brand have been released. However, the smart money remains glued to Dr Bez himself, along with a group of investors, rather than one of the big car companies.
Posted 15 November 2006, by James
Will Newswheel be acquiring one of these beauties for a little test any weekend soon!? Oh, and is it ipod compatible??