Aston Martin, on Friday 24th June 2016 showed off its most out-there roadster ever. A one-off Vantage GT12 Roadster, tailor made customer commission undertaken by Q by Aston Martin. The Vantage GT12 Roadster is hardcore, taking lessons from the original Vantage GT12 and gives it a naked roof. Nature, plus unfiltered fury, plus Aston Martin noise = Awesome.
The Vantage GT12 Roadster, designed and completed in nine months, stems from the Vantage GT12 Coupe, adding a 600 horsepower 6.0-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine coupled to a seven-speed Sportshift III paddle-shift box. Revised geometry magnesium inlet manifolds, lightweight torque tube and full titanium exhaust add to its technical prowess.
This roadster signifies another landmark as this is the first time a customer has harnessed the full abilities of Aston Martin's design and engineering capabilities from the Q division specialists. They started out only offering personalised colours and trims, but this was only to be the beginning. Enter, Aston Martin Advanced Operations - the team whose resume includes the original Vantage GT12 Coupe, alongside in-house projects like the Aston Martin Vulcan, Lagonda Taraf and One-77 - You can now go to Aston Martin with full-scale design and engineering projects. Wow!
There's lots of new carbon-fibre body panels and underneath, unique suspension a'la Aston Martin's in-house dynamics team. Bespoke is this animals mantra and the Q guys added unique paint and trim to keep it looking good while it matches the exclusive handling.
"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... The GT12 Roadster is the first project to combine all of those skill sets in one magnificent car. In just nine-months we took a customer's dream and realised it, with a fully-formed, exactingly engineered and fully road-legal one-off. That is the essence of the Q by Aston Martin service.", said David King, Vice President and Chief Special Operations Officer of the project.
Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin President and CEO, added: "The Vantage GT12 Roadster is a hugely exciting project. Not just because it's sensational to look at, but because it vividly demonstrates the expanded capabilities of Q by Aston Martin. By incorporating the exceptional engineering capabilities of Aston Martin Advanced Operations within the Q by Aston Martin bespoke commissioning service we have a truly formidable creative team."
So people, we love it - what do you think?
Picture source: Aston Martin
