Aston Martin has shown us some official 'spy' shots of next year's new Vantage Roadster. Emblazoned with the amusing logo 'Opening Spring 2020', the new convertible Vantage looks pretty much as you'd expect - heart-stopping-ly gorgeous, just like the coupe, only without a roof this time.
Same engine as the coupe
Underneath, it will use the same mixture of aluminium and carbon-fibre chassis components as the Vantage coupe, and it will also borrow the coupe's 510hp twin-turbo V8 engine. That engine itself is borrowed (if that is quite the right term) from Aston Martin's technical partner, Mercedes-AMG. Neither the power nor the 685Nm torque output are likely to change, but the Roadster will probably be a little heavier than the coupe, thanks to the electric roof mechanism, so the 0-100km/h dash will probably be a little blunted. The top speed will still be on the licence-losing side of 300km/h, though, so there's that.
No V12 this time?
Sadly, it seems as if a V12 engine won't be offered in the Vantage this time around. Marek Reichmann, Aston's head of design, was recently asked by Australian magazine Car Advice if the twin-turbo V12 from the DB11 and DBS will fit into the Vantage, but unfortunately Reichmann said that's not in Aston Martin's plans right now.
Aston's hectic schedule
Then again, you could possibly forgive Aston for not adding a V12 Vantage to its to-do list right now - it's kind of busy gearing up to launch the all-electric Rapide E, the DBX SUV (the company's first 4x4 of any kind), and a new mid-engined sports, super, and hypercar family of Vanquish Vision, AM-RB-003 and Valkyrie. Plus a return to Le Mans. Plus whatever other plans Aston's ever-busy boss Andy Palmer can come up with.