Children of the late 90s and early noughties will grow up believing Aston Martin was always ridiculously successful. In recent memory, Aston wasn’t able to crack the 100-car barrier. Now, the Gaydon-based ultraluxury automaker is selling over 7,000 units per year.
Much of that jump is attributable to the wildly successful DB7 and its predecessor, the DB9. Many thanks can be given to the V8 Vantage. Even the extremely expensive Vanquish sold like proverbial hotcakes. Now the Vanquish’s indirect replacement, the DBS, isn’t as well appreciated as the majestic ’01 car.
How’d they let that happen? See, the DBS is basically an extreme DB9…. but just isn’t all that extreme. DBS owners must enjoy the amazing grand touring ability of their supercars but really had little reason for paying an extra $90K other than upstaging their neighbours.
Regardless, Aston Martin has introduced a convertible version of the DBS, the DBS Volante in Aston speak. The top drops in 14 seconds. Bang & Olufsen have equipped the DBS with a 13-speaker stereo. And most importantly, the DBS Volante is fully fitted with 12 cylinders. That means 510 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque.
