Aston reveals new Vanquish Volante

Need a moment to yourself? Then let us give you a moment to yourself. This is the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, and as you can see, it's a rather stunning bit of machinery.

And it appears Aston has been rather busy of late, what with this new Vanquish Volante arriving just moments after the Fastest Production Aston Ever (that'll be the new V12 Vantage S) and the roofless CC100 Speedster concept. TG reckons AM engineers will need some tea, a biscuit, and a nice lie down after all this activity...

See more pics of the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante

So, this new Vanquish Volante. It's powered by the same 6.0-litre ‘AM11' V12 as the Vanquish coupe, here producing an identical 565bhp and 457lb ft of torque, driving the rear wheels and coupled up to a ‘Touchtronic 2' six-speed automatic gearbox. Incidentally, that peak horsepower output comes at 6,750rpm, while the full slug of torque is delivered a little lower down, at 5,500rpm.

As such, the Vanquish Volante will accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds (two tenths slower than the Vanquish coupe) and rock on to a top speed of 183mph. Which is all fine and dandy, but more importantly, the triple-skinned lightweight fabric roof will fold in just 14 seconds, sitting beneath a tonneau and deck lid that have both been aerodynamically tuned for performance. Also, it looks really nice.

We're told that every panel on the VV is made from carbon fibre (a first for a convertible Aston Martin), clothing the fourth generation of Aston's VH bonded aluminium structure underneath, which - in this iteration - is 14 per cent stiffer than the old DBS Volante. There are new spring and damper settings, naturally, and a plethora of driver aids including stability control, ‘positive torque control' and adaptive damping. The latter gets three settings: normal, sport and track, each corresponding to an increase in the level of harassment your hairstyle will suffer.

Aston has fitted 398mm Brembo carbon ceramic brakes up front, and 360mm discs at the back; they're lighter than conventional brakes, and should prove more resistant to fade.

Prices start at £199,995, and the first deliveries will hit the UK at the end of 2013. Have a click through the pictures and let us know what you think of the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. Pretty young thing, isn't it?

See more pics of the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante