2025 Aston Martin DB12 Volante: A Masterpiece of British Engineering

Aston Martin bills the new car as 'the ultimate open-top super tourer' with production starting this summer and first deliveries expected from the autumn. And it lives up to the billing.
The Volante was developed in parallel with its stablemate coupe and includes the same design, engineering and technology advances creating the next step in the firm's new generation of sports cars.
Mine was in a fetching shade of Caribbean Pearl with an Atlantic Blue hood and headliner.
The roof operation takes 14 seconds to open and 16 seconds to close and can be used at speeds of up to 31mph and into a 31mph headwind
The DB12 Volante rides on standard 21-inch forged alloy wheels fitted with 'AML' coded Michelin Pilot S 5 tyres made to Aston Martin's precise requirements.
The optional carbon ceramic brakes on our test car were potent and precise. Cast-iron 400mm front discs and 360mm rear discs come as standard, though.
Is this the ultimate open-top super tourer? We take to the wheel of Aston Martin's £200K DB12 Volante
By Ray Massey
Updated 12:00, 15 Apr 2024
+18
77 comments
Youth, they say, is wasted on the young.
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And there comes a point in life for many where desire for comfort equals or exceeds that for edginess and speed.
Perhaps you've made your pile, achieved your life and career goals, and are now looking to cash in a few of your gambling chips.
Not giving up - just pacing yourself a little more than was previously the case. Efficiency of effort. The gain without the pain.
It's all very well getting a thrill - and a numb nether region - from uncompromisingly hard-riding, no-frills super car performance. But the pure joy of those early thrills fade with time and experience.
You still want the fun - but also the comforting, cossetting, and satisfying sense of rewarding yourself with a car that symbolises a job well done.
That's pretty much how I felt driving the powerful new - but distinctly old-school - muscular but elegantly refined Aston Martin DB12 Volante.
Is this the ultimate open-top super tourer? Feast your eyes on the Aston Martin DB12 Volante - the British marque's new £200K luxury convertible +18
Is this the ultimate open-top super tourer? Feast your eyes on the Aston Martin DB12 Volante - the British marque's new £200K luxury convertible
Last summer I drove the Aston Martin DB12 hard-topped coupe in the South of France, setting off from a hotel overlooking Monte Carlo and its famed Casino in the royal principality of Monaco and catching the cocktail-enticing sun of the Côte d'Azur.
But for my spin in the open-topped Volante, my drive was on home turf catching the early rays of Spring sunshine - and a touch of light refreshing rain - in the English Cotswolds.
Aston's new £200,000 open-top super tourer raises booth the roof and the fun - though the price is a £15,000 mark-up on the recently launched companion coupe.
It really is a delight to drive with the added bonus of wind in the hair motoring.
Powered by a feisty 680 horsepower 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo petrol engine linked to an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox, the DB12 Volante accelerates with gusto from 0 to 60mph in 3.6 seconds (0-62mph in 3.7 seconds), which is especially handy for swiftly executed and effortless overtaking on available straight stretches of road.
The hand-built engine has an increase in output of 34 per cent compared with the previous DB11. More is more, right?
But what I really enjoyed was the chance to chill: just because the power may be there in spades, it doesn't mean you to use it all the time.
This is a super-hot, super cruiser in which to be super cool.
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It rumbles and roars smoothly on like the last of a proud and historic bloodline, which it is.
It combines elegant looks, engaging driving, controlled power, luxurious interior, and sporting performance and has the aromatic charm and ease of a hand-rolled Cuban cigar smoked alongside a vintage Armagnac brandy. And I don't smoke.
Powered by a 680 horsepower 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo petrol engine, the DB12 Volante accelerates from 0 to 60mph in 3.6secs +18
Powered by a 680 horsepower 4.0-litre V8 twin turbo petrol engine, the DB12 Volante accelerates from 0 to 60mph in 3.6secs