Last Saturday, I already posted about the white V12 Vantage Roadster that was spotted in London by Alex Penfold. At the time, only one photo was available on his Flickr and Facebook page. But in the meantime, more photos have appeared on GTSpirit.com.
I contacted Alex, asking whether I could also post these photos here and he gave me permission to do so.
These new pics really show the beauty of the open-top V12 Vantage, but also the peculiar specification of this particular specimen. Let’s take a look:
So what do we see here?
Well, obviously a V12 Vantage Roadster (judging from the carbon fibre louvres in the bonnet, the badge on the rear and the open top). Probably a demo unit owned by Aston Martin (because of the “V12 AML” license plates).
Its’ color seems to be Stratus White (not Morning Frost White), with a Chancellor Red interior. We can recognize some of the special V12 Roadster elements listed in last weeks’ announcement: the more pronounced spoiler on the rear, the mirror caps and side strakes in carbon fibre, the rear lamps with the carbon infills and black border.
But I’m also missing some of the announced changes. For example, where are the Aston logo’s with a black background? And, just like in the original press pics, I still don’t see a “redesigned front air gurney”. The wheels look different too, the ones in the press pics seem to have more black around the centres. The rims in these spot photos are more similar to those of the “regular” V12 Vantage.
Remember that the press photos showed a chrome edge around the leather covered humps on the back? Never seen that before on any Roadster (normally that edge is just rubber). The details from Aston Martin did not mention these at all and now this demo car does not seem to have them either. Just a weird mistake in the press pics?
Finally, this demo car does not seem to have the black grill and black tailpipes, but of course these are optional and probably just not specified for the demo unit.
Sadly, we can’t see much of the interior, other than the leather being in Chancellor Red.
So far so good… I love Aston convertibles in white (got one myself), especially with a red interior. I think the car looks absolutely stunning and IMO this is the most beautiful Aston so far (yes, I like it better than the new Vanquish). In fact, for me this is the most beautiful convertible sports car I’ve ever seen (though the 458 Spider is close).
HOWEVER:
What’s up with the carbon fibre on this one?
If you take a close look at these pictures and Munch997’s YouTube video, you can see there’s something strange about the carbon fibre parts on this car. They’ve got a dark red color and the typical carbon fibre structure is much less visible on them (if at all).
The red color is most apparent on the front splitter, the mirror caps and the rear lamp infills. I can’t tell whether the louvres on the bonnet have the same color.
I don’t know about you, but I hate how this looks. They probably tried to match the red theme of the car, but IMO it’s just ugly. Probably another experiment by the infamous “Q” department. (BTW: have you ever seen something you really liked coming from Q? I haven’t, and I am a fan of customizing my cars…)
Anyway, it’s nice to see a real V12 Roadster appear on the streets already, so close after I “leaked” the official details and press photos. It makes it all the more surprising that there’s still no official press release from Aston Martin Lagonda. Are they waiting until all 101 cars are sold?
BTW: Do you think this is #001?
