Aston Martin looks set to make a bigger splash with its new Vanquish Volante

In an announcement that will surprise no one, Aston Martin have taken the covers off its flagship convertible model, the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. The sister car to last year’s V12-powered Vanquish, the Volante drops the top but retains all the power and dynamic brilliance of the coupé.

As is traditional in these matters, there’s a superlative on hand with which to christen the new car, ‘the world’s fastest, most powerful front-engine convertible.’ It’s hard not to see this niche achievement as a direct sideswipe at Ferrari, whose equally impressive 12Cilindri Spider recently dropped to much acclaim.

However, stats are facts and the Vanquish Volante’s 835PS power out and 214mph top speed edges out the Ferrari’s 830PS and 211mph v-max, although it’s important to note that such figures are really only for bragging purposes. The Aston’s 3.4 second 62mph sprint is comprehensively trounced by the Ferrari’s 2.95 seconds, however, and this is the kind of target that an owner might actually try and achieve.

The other key difference is the way the open sky arrives. Ferrari’s folding hardtop gives the car more of a targa-style profile and cockpit feel, whereas the Aston goes all out with a traditional ‘canvas’ hood, one that folds completely flat into a rear tonneau cover and gives the big two-door GT an extremely elegant profile.

Aston Martin has been building Volante models for 60 years, with the name first attached to the rare Short Chassis Volante of 1965, a delicious blend of DB5 and DB6. From then onwards, Volante models have been paired with their hard-topped siblings, creating (in most cases) an unrivalled example of the pinnacle of automotive design in each segment.

The current generation of Vanquish has set new standards for performance and refinement, although it’s widely seen as the swansong of Aston Martin’s long-running association with the V12. Geo-political shenanigans might yet give ICE a little more breathing space, but as with Ferrari, Aston Martin will find it hard to find ways to conjure up the raw magic created by the sound and feel of combustion power.

First customer deliveries of the Vanquish Volante are expected in Q3 2025. Including the coupe, Aston Martin is capping Vanquish production at 1,000 units a year.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, price tbc, AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin