Late within the spring, Aston Martin launched the most recent in its lengthy DB line of grand tourers, the 2024 Aston Martin DB12. Aston Martin did every little thing it might to make the automotive appear revolutionary – even insisting it was the primary instance of a brand new breed of automotive known as “tremendous tourer.” However nobody was fooled. It adopted the system of each prior DB automotive, and we might by no means have forgiven them if it didn’t.

It was a stunning, slinky factor with a protracted hood and a brief rear deck, providing sufficient energy to maintain up with devoted sports activities vehicles just like the Porsche 911 in every single place however the observe but reeling the ability in simply sufficient to make it formally one thing extra comfy than a sports activities automotive.

However there’s yet another step to the system. After introducing a brand new Grand T…excuse us, Tremendous Tourer, Aston Martin is meant to quietly herald a roofless mannequin.

To not fear. Aston hasn’t forgotten that step.

Meet the Aston Martin DB12 Volante.

Aston Martin hasn’t even hinted at pricing. The present DB11 Volante began within the mid-$230,000 vary.

Twin-Turbo V8, RWD

The Volante makes use of an identical mechanical underpinnings to the hardtop DB12. Which means a twin-turbo V8 borrowed from Mercedes’ AMG sport division. It makes 671 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. Energy goes by way of an 8-speed computerized transmission to the rear wheels. Aston says the mixture is sweet for a high pace of 202 mph (no phrase on whether or not the roof must be as much as obtain that) and a 0-60 mph dash of three.6 seconds.

Michelin Pilot S 5 tires “made to Aston Martin’s exact necessities” put all that energy down. An adaptive damper suspension helps hold all of it exact. Aston says particular rear damper tuning is “the principle distinction between DB12 Coupe and Volante” – presumably to permit it to bounce with the identical agility with the roof within the trunk.

Shut the Roof at 31 mph

There aren’t any vital physique modifications aside from that roof – an 8-layer delicate piece. Aston says it lays right down to a “a class-leading 260 mm stack peak” – making us notice we’ve by no means measured the depth of a folded convertible roof. It hides completely when retracted, “takes 14 seconds to open and 16 seconds to shut, and can be utilized at speeds of as much as 31 mph and right into a 31 mph headwind.”

Inside, Aston Martin has lastly ditched the turn-and-click management interface nobody cherished, utilizing a ten.25-inch high-resolution touchscreen to regulate most local weather and leisure features. However Aston homeowners are sometimes individuals with concepts about custom. So a military of buttons beneath helps you to do most issues with out touching the touchscreen if that’s your desire.

As with the coupe, it’s the seats which might be the actual head-turners. The look is sculpted of carbon fiber with Bridge of Weir leather-based added solely the place wanted for padding. Right here, too, the Volante differs from its coupe counterpart. Patrons can choose carbon fiber or wooden veneer rear seat shells to “create an additional layer of visible curiosity and luxurious when the roof is lowered.”

Unchanging in a Altering Discipline

It’s, frankly, every little thing you count on from a drop-top Aston Martin. And that alone is outstanding.

As a lot as Aston Martin would love us to say its vehicles don’t have any friends, there’s a Grand Tourer phase the place the DB12 sits naturally. It’s quickly altering.

The Maserati Gran Turismo goes electrical. The Jaguar F-Kind is disappearing completely in 2024, with a probably-electric alternative nonetheless pending. Bentley has hinted that the Continental GT will quickly go electrical, too.

That may make a V8-powered drop-top grand tourer one thing of a throwback earlier than lengthy. That’s in all probability precisely what some Aston followers are searching for.