No self-respecting luxury automaker can go without launching a vehicle during Monterey car week it seems, and Aston Martin’s offering is the Vanquish Zagato Volante.
As the name suggests, the Volante is effectively the drop-top variant of the Vanquish Zagato revealed earlier this year at Villa d’Este. It’s being built due to ‘overwhelming customer interest’ in the coupe, and Aston will manufacture a run of 99 cars.
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Like the fixed-roof car it features the 5.9-litre V12 from the standard Vanquish, albeit in a 592bhp state of tune. We’ve got used to seeing 0-60mph times in the three-second range in the supercar world, but it’s still mildly surprising to see the Volante’s figure quoted as 3.7sec.
Styling is broadly similar to that of the coupe – it features the same slim headlamps and enlarged front grille (complete with ring-shaped LED daytime running lights), with even more pronounced haunches than we’ve seen in regular production Astons.
New is the Volante’s roofline, or more accurately the absence of one. As a convertible the car does lose one signature Zagato touch, namely a double-bubble roof. But the result is if anything even more pert than that of the coupe and distinctly different from Aston Martin’s own rumps.
‘Just like the Coupe, we have emphasised the way surfaces change and intersect to create a muscular form,’ explained Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s chief creative officer. ‘ We’ve endeavoured to create an elegant, flowing shape that really works to emphasise the car’s sculpted rear haunches.
Like the coupe, and indeed like any other Aston Martin, any of those 99 buyers craving extra personalisation can take their Zagato to the firm’s ‘Q’ division, with a vast selection of interior materials and exterior shades at their disposal.
As it is, the Volante gives hints as to its Zagato origins with a ‘Z’ quilt pattern stitch on the seats and door sections, a detail that can also be seen hidden alongside the rear lamps and across the prominent front grille.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2017; no price has been confirmed.
