Opinion: why is there another Aston Martin with no roof or windows?

A couple of years ago, the completely un-weatherproofed speedster was the new must-have niche in your supercar range. Ferrari sold out every one of its 500 SP1 and SP2 Monzas – basically an 812 Superfast wearing a mankini. So, competitors lined up to gulp down a chunk of the same profits. 

McLaren said it would build 349 Elvas – basically a Senna with a haircut and a storm drain in the bonnet. One tumbleweed later, it became 249 units. Then 149. Then Woking added a windscreen, so safety-conscious Americans would buy the hardcore screenless car. And even then, McLaren is ominously quiet about whether this super-duper sought-after must-have limited edition is totally sold out. 

Lamborghini was more cautious. Only one SC20 – a decapitated Aventador with Veneno and Essenza SCV12 inspiration – was built, supposedly for an owner who intended to use the car lots and not just buy a garage queen. But we haven’t seen it down the local Waitrose once. 

The Porsche 991 Speedster was common as muck with 1,948 units built, but it sold out quicker than Adele tickets, because it’s a posh Porsche. A drop-top GT3? Ja, danke, said the collectors. 

And amid it all, Aston Martin rubbed its hands with glee and announced a V12 Speedster. A car which, they promised, definitely wasn’t an amuse-bouche for a new V12 Vantage, because they had no official plans to pop their biggest engine into their littlest car. Hmm. In unrelated news, click on these blue words to read Top Gear’s review of the 2022 Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

The numbers seemed modest. Only 88 to be built. ‘Only 693bhp’ from an engine that churns out 715bhp in the DBS Superleggera. It wasn’t especially light, and the gearbox struggled. I drove it, and found it a bit aloof – dead steering, a lively rear axle, and worst of all, so much wind buffeting it might as well have been a three-cylinder diesel. Same goes for the Monza. In a screenless car, a V12 is out-shouted by a 50mph headwind. 

Here we are in August 2022 and Aston Martin – not a company knee-deep in funds or running out of pages in its order book – has announced the DBR22. Another roofless, screenless, windowless car with a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, an eight-speed automatic gearbox and rear-wheel drive. The interior looks frightfully similar to the ‘old’ V12 Speedster, and it’s almost exactly as quick. 

To my eyes, this new DBR22 is the prettier car. And it has the back story that it’s inspired by 1950s racing royalty and celebrates 10 years of Aston’s bespoke Q Division. Allegedly 10 will be built, for £1.5 million a pop – around double what its cousin car cost. Ouch.

If they’re all sold, then great. It’s a nice chunky fifteen million much-needed quid in Aston’s wallet, for a car using lots of familiar components that have already been developed and paid for. Compared to the furiously complex Valkyrie, it’s a sure-fire money-printer. If they're all sold. 

But what else has Aston got in the locker for when the going gets tough? A new Speedster with 10 more horsepower every year? Are they doing to chop the top off a DBX by Christmas and charge collectors half a billion for the honour? 

Speedsters are silly and pointless but we give them a pass because they come round but once a decade, then go away again. If they’re no longer a top-shelf unicorn product, then it all looks a bit ‘same again’, from where I’m standing. And right now, Aston Martin needs (and deserves) more than that.