Aston’s new drop top, the V8 Vantage Roadster, looks set to cause a stir at the upcoming Los Angeles Motor Show. Just imagine the pleasure of donning a Hermes scarf and exposing yourself to the elements at the wheel of this classically handsome Briton…
By Gareth Dean
Aston’s new drop top, the V8 Vantage Roadster, looks set to cause a stir at the upcoming Los Angeles Motor Show. Just imagine the pleasure of donning a Hermes scarf and exposing yourself to the elements at the wheel of this classically handsome Briton…
By Gareth Dean
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Aston Martin’s much-awaited V8 Vantage Roadster will début at the Los Angeles Motor Show shortly, and between the media release and a statement by the company’s chief executive, Dr Ulrich Bez, the new Roadster has been described in various ways, from “elegant and uncompromising, a single fluid form… open sports car in its purest form” to “combining engineering excellence, technological innovation and physical perfection…every journey is one to remember.”
Usually, styling descriptions from such sources can be seen as somewhat contrived and biased. However, if one considers the combination of classic design cues (such as the trapezoidal grille) and the modern form of the lithe body and aggressive headlamps, this British supercar is nothing short of a visual treat.
The aesthetic appeal of the outside seems to permeate to the cabin with classic touches such as hand-stitched leather upholstery combined with more contemporary materials like aluminium. As with the rest of the Aston range, the new Roadster can be extensively customised with a huge array of options – ranging from personalised sill plates and nineteen-inch anthracite alloys to an eardrum-rupturing 700 Watt Aston Martin Premium Sound System.
Whether closed or folded under its leather tonneau cover with “speed hump” details, the three-layer fabric hood manages to blend tautly with the lines of the car. At the press of a button, the hood will either open or close in just eighteen seconds at speeds of up to 50 km/h with no manual intervention to ruin manicured nails.
Astons claim to have endowed the new Roadster with similar performance attributes to that of its coupé sibling. Using its unique bonded aluminium “Vertical Horizontal” architecture for added rigidity and lightweight materials, such as magnesium and other advanced composites, the Premium Automotive Group has touted the new Roadster as “a light, agile driving machine”.
It’s 4,3-litre V8 engine (which is hand assembled in a dedicated high-tech facility in Cologne, Germany) delivers 283 kW at 7000 r/min along with410 N.m of torque at 5000 r/min and can be mated with a choice of two transmissions. A six speed Graziano manual transmission is fitted as standard and a “Sportshift” automated manual ‘box, which can be operated with steering-wheel mounted paddles, is optional.
Performance is typically impressive for an Aston and the zero to 100 km/h sprint benchmark is claimed to be dispatched in five seconds and on to a top speed of 280 km/h. The Vantage Roadster will be built at Aston’s Global headquarters in Gaydon, near Warwickshire in the UK. Pricing has yet to be confirmed but deliveries of the new roadster look set to start during the second quarter of next year.
For those of you without the money, patience or plane tickets to Los Angeles; you will be pleased to hear that the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupé will be the subject of a road test in the upcoming December issue of CAR Magazine.
