Aston Martin today unveiled its most extreme roadster ever in the unique form of the one-off Vantage GT12 Roadster. A tailor made customer commission undertaken by Q by Aston Martin, the Vantage GT12 Roadster takes the original Vantage GT12 Coupe’s hardcore ethos and adds the visceral thrill of open-top driving, offering the driver an intensified sensation of exhilaration and the unfiltered fury of a 600PS V12 soundtrack.
Conceived and delivered within a nine-month period, the Vantage GT12 Roadster draws its origins from the Vantage GT12 Coupe, with a special 600PS version of the brand’s 6.0-litre normally aspirated V12 engine mated to a seven-speed Sportshift IIItm paddle-shift transmission. Technical highlights include magnesium inlet manifolds with revised geometry, a lightweight magnesium torque tube and a full titanium exhaust system.
The most visible differences are the significant number of new carbon-fibre body panels, while beneath the skin a unique suspension set-up defined by Aston Martin’s in-house dynamics experts, helping to ensure the Vantage GT12 Roadster shares the same exceptional handling characteristics as the Vantage GT12 Coupe. Naturally being a product of Q by Aston Martin, the Roadster also features bespoke paint and trim.
The Vantage GT12 Roadster is a significant landmark, for it is the first time a customer has been able to call upon the full scope of Aston Martin’s design and engineering capabilities as part of the Q by Aston Martin bespoke commission service.
Initially offered as a means of providing fully personalised colour and trim combinations, the service has been continually expanded. With the incorporation of Aston Martin Advanced Operations – the team responsible for the original Vantage GT12 Coupe, along with low volume in-house projects such as the Aston Martin Vulcan, Lagonda Taraf and One-77 – customers can now commission highly ambitious full-scale design and engineering projects.
David King, Vice President and Chief Special Operations Officer, says of the Vantage GT12 Roadster: “Aston Martin has a growing reputation of building ambitious commissions for customers, perhaps the best example being the spectacular CC100 Speedster Concept. We have also become world leaders in ultra-low volume projects with cars such as the One-77, Lagonda Taraf and Aston Martin Vulcan, while the Vantage GT12 and Vantage GT8 show how far we can take our series production models.
