Here’s your first look at the Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate Volante

At no point has the Aston Martin DBS Volante felt like it was lacking horsepower, and yet here we are, staring at the convertible form of an extraordinarily powerful final edition. Aston has released the first official imagery of the DBS 770 Ultimate Volante, and… yeah, those wheels will still divide opinion.

Be that as it may, getting open-air tickets to a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 is a helluva way to bow out. The Ultimate is of course Aston’s farewell to the DBS; 499 cars comprised of 300 Coupes and 199 Volantes. And all have been accounted for.

Easy to see why. The Ultimate packs a boosted version of that already-boosty Aston V12, up from 715bhp to 759bhp and a colossal 663lb ft of torque available between 1,800rpm and 5,000rpm. The additional grunt comes courtesy of tweaks to the air and ignition pathways and… more boost. Seven per cent more boost, to be precise.

The V12's matched to an eight-speed auto ‘box with a quicker calibration, sending power to a diff on the rear axle. It’s no quicker than the not-at-all-regular DBS Volante, but then 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds is plenty quick enough in something with this stature.

Some stature, huh? All the exterior changes that debuted on the Ultimate Coupe back in January arrive in full force on the Volante: ‘horse-shoe’ bonnet vents, a new front splitter, a new rear diffuser, lots of carbon fibre and those 21in wheels (hiding the regular DBS Volante brakes, interestingly, because Aston says they're plenty good enough). There are also more under-the-skin changes including tweaks to the steering, front-end stiffness and adaptive dampers.

“When an iconic model generation reaches the end of production it is important to mark the occasion with something special,” Aston tech boss Roberto Fedeli said back in January. “Not only is it the fastest and most powerful DBS in our history, thanks to a comprehensive suite of improvements to the transmission, steering, suspension, and underbody structure, it is also the best to drive.”