The next chapter in Aston Martin's grand touring story is the Vanquish Volante, which our spy photographers have recently captured with camouflage on every single body panel. Considering that we already know how the Vanquish Coupe and DB12 Volante look, it's hard not to wonder why Aston Martin put so much effort into camouflaging this prototype.
Pictured on different color wheels, the Vanquish Volante dons a black canvas top over an orangey tan and black interior. The mechanism of the soft top should be similar to that of the DB12 Volante, namely a K-fold setup that needs 14 seconds to open and 16 seconds to close at speeds no higher than 31 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour).
DB12 Volante owners can operate the soft top from the key fob as long as they're within two meters of the vehicle. No fewer than four colors are available on the DB12 Volante, namely black, red, blue, and black combined with silver. According to the British marque, the fabric roof canopy features eight layers of insulation. As expected, Aston Martin changed the trunk line a bit from the Vanquish Coupe to accommodate said top when retracted.
To debut in 2025 for the 2026 model year, the forthcoming Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is certain to ship with the very same Pirelli summer and winter tires. Both the summer-only P Zero PZ4 and the P Zero Winter 2 feature Pirelli's noise-cancelling technology, and both are specific to the Vanquish.
Given that it's heavier than its coupe-bodied sibling, Aston Martin is also certain to have returned the suspension, including the Bilstein DTX adaptive dampers. Introduced by the DB12, the clever dampers promise ultra-fast response for tighter body control, improved agility, and compliant ride quality.
Photo: Baldauf
Aston Martin's DB12 Volante weighs 1,898 kilograms (4,184 pounds) including lightweight options in European specification, whereas the coupe is listed with 1,788 kilograms (3,942 pounds). That said, 110 plus 1,910 kilograms (4,211 pounds) for the Vanquish Coupe means 2,020 kilograms or 4,453 pounds. In other words, pretty heavy.
Then again, luxury super tourers have gained some weight as of late. The Bentley Continental GT Speed comes to mind, for the switch from twin-turbo W12 to plug-in hybrid twin-turbo V8 saw the 2+2 grand tourer balloon to 2,459 kilograms (5,421 pounds) for the coupe and a colossal 2,636 kilograms (5,811 pounds) for the soft-topped version.
In stark contrast to Bentley's plug-in cruiser, the V12-powered Vanquish Coupe is limited to 1,000 units per year. Said limit should apply to the open-air version as well, making the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante that bit more special than the Bentley Continental GTC Speed.
With the Vanquish Coupe kicking off at 330,000 pounds sterling back home in the United Kingdom and the DB12 twins priced at 187,800 and 202,300 pounds sterling, respectively, one has to wonder if this £14,500 sting will apply to the Vanquish Volante as well. That's £344,500 or $448,325 at current exchange rates, although US pricing will be lower due to the lack of a value-added tax.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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