Convertible Astons – badged Volantes since the mid ‘60s – have traditionally accounted for half of all sales and the new DB11 Volante announced today (13 October) is expected to be no different, especially in sunnier countries around the world where gran turismo motoring gets no more glamorous than when behind the wheel of an Aston with its top down. For those in colder climes, Aston Martin thoughtfully offers a heated steering wheel as an option…
This is an Aston convertible doing what Aston convertibles do best: looking bloomin’ marvellous. The trade-off for such a sleek top-down profile is perhaps less of the coupe’s contemporary design character – there’s no equivalent of the floating roof arches here. But overall it’s a svelte transition from coupe to convertible with, as expected, beautiful attention to detail. A neat touch is the new veneer panels on the seat backs.
The fabric hood is an eight-layer job available in red, black-silver or grey-silver. Aston says when it is down (in 14 seconds at speeds up to 31mph) it has a class-leading ‘stack height’ for not only that flat rear deck but also 20 per cent more boot space compared to the outgoing DB9 Volante.
Just as with the DB11 coupe, the new Volante moves the game on over the DB9 in lots of other ways, too. More usable rear seats, for the first time with ISOFIX points for child seats, more room, more comfort and more refinement, plus the quality and electronics re-invention ushered in by the DB11, are all evident here.