Now you may need to sit down as the result is possibly the most powerful road going Aston Martin ever. Would you believe with the boost turned up to maximum 14 psi, this Aston Martin produces 720 bhp. What is more, the peak tourque figure is 1090 lb ft @ 3500 rpm – compare this to the Vantage V600’s figure of 600lb ft @ 4000 rpm.
Inside, owners were be greeted to swathes of Obsidian Black leather highlighted with a contrast silver coarse stitch. Lightweight seats formed from Carbon Fibre and Kevlar saving 17 kg over the standard seat were available (certain markets only) together with Piano black facia trim, centre stack and centre console, anodised black tread plates and unique sill plaques built on the carbon theme. The Aston Martin 700W Premium Audio System was delivered as standard in the V12 Vantage Carbon Black.
Customers who ordered a Carbon Black Edition V12 Vantage had the opportunity to experience Aston Martin’s renowned Performance Driving Course free of charge which offered a memorable day helping customers to equip themselves with the skill sets to enhance the enjoyment of their Aston Martin on the track. The price for the V12 Vantage Carbon Black attracted a 5% premium over base V12 Vantage.
Specification of the V12 Vantage Carbon Black :-
Although it was not a numbered limited edition, the Carbon Black was limited to just a single car per dealer, so they are quite scarce. A second numbered edition of the Carbon Black V12 Vantage was offered in some markets during 2012.
The above images are actually the correct ones for this page. Only one example of the V12 Vantage Carbon Black was not finished in black. The car was commissioned as a press demonstrator and was painted in distinctive Montana Orange. It was photographed at the 2013 Aston Martin Heritage Trust Festival.
One thing lead to another and the result is the unusual QV8 – reputed to have cost around a million pounds sterling. Despite the substantial modifications, the car still retains the integrity of the original Aston Martin. To begin with, the wish list was modest, ranging from new audio equipment to upgrades of switchgear and door handles. Design Q compiled a series of photo-realistic visuals freshening the character of the car with changes to lamps, shut lines, external fittings and more significantly a revised glass area and subtly modified body shape. This has been complemented with a completely new interior incorporating an innovative storage system in place of the redundant rear seats. The car was completed with a luxurious metallic paint finish of green / blue flip that truly sets off the stainless steel finishers and is proudly held on the road by new 19 inch Aston Martin DB7 Vantage alloy wheels.
The attention to detail is incredible – right down to the battery terminals which are made of solid gold. Is this the most expensive Aston Martin of all time? If not, it must be close. I am most indebted to Howard Guy of Design Q for his kind assistance in the preparation of this page.
Many of the photographs have been provided courtesy of Design Q
The V12 Vantage Roadster instantly became the most desirable Aston, not the dearest and arguably not the quickest, but with production limited to just 101 cars, the Roadster was hot property. What is quite incredible is that although the V12 engine weighs 100kg more than the V8, the weight of the V12 Vantage Roadster is only 70kg more than the V8S Roadster due to a number of weight saving measures including carbon ceramic brakes and lighter forged wheels. Performance for the V12 Roadster was quoted as 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds and a maximum speed of 190mph.
In simple terms, the V12 Vantage Roadster combined the well known V12 5.9 litre engine with peak output of 510bhp as already in service in the DBS, DBS Volante and V12 Vantage coupe within the V8 Vantage Roadster compact body to make Aston Martin’s most exhilarating open-top sports car. That said, there are a number of detail differences from the coupe (and indeed the V8 Roadster) that are unique to this car.
Production begin in the autumn of 2012 and was completed by Easter 2013. The UK price of the basic car was £150,000 although some cars would have been far more expensive with personalisation by ‘Q by Aston Martin’. Available in many of the important world markets, sadly customers in North America, China and much of the Middle East were not be able to buy the V12 Roadster.
In 2014, the V12 Vantage Roadster was eclipsed to a certain extent by the new ‘S’ version boasting 565 bhp and the Sportshift III transmission. Yet owners of the desirable manual only regular car will not necessarily be tempted by the new car which will not be a numbered limited edition. Also of note is that the new ‘S’ will be offered for sale in most if not all the markets worldwide.
I’m not aware of any claims for the power output of the 4 valve 7.0 litre Virage but it must be well in excess of 500bhp, all through a manual gear box. What I do know however that the fuel consumption can drop to only 8 mph around town which makes this one of the most thirsty road going Aston Martins ever.
From studying these pictures, externally the car is little changed from standard except for the aerodynamic wing mirrors and the fitting of the later style 17 inch diameter wheels. But the picture of the interior shows a quite serious attempt at shedding weight. The trim is very minimal, no wood can be seen on the dash being totally covered by Alcantara. The centre console is absent and the transmission tunnel is covered in quilted leather. To cool the occupants, a smaller air-con from an Opel was fitted. The door trim is sparse, also in Alcantara; one can even see a simple Ferrari F40 style pull cord to open the doors from the inside. There are sports seats with generous side bolsters, three point harness and the back seats have also been removed. The car was even given thinner glass in an attempt to shed weight. Initially, the car had a 500bhp 6.3 engine but this has more recently been removed and replaced with a standard 5.3 litre unit. The weight loss is claimed to be in the region of 200 to 250kg. With a 5 speed manual gearbox, Harvey Bailey sports suspension, uprated front and rear axles and sports exhaust, this left hand drive car remains unique as further cars were never converted. In a track test during 1993 against the factory supercharged Vantage, the lightweight was not only better handling, but quicker too.
The car was initially painted in Middlesex Green and was trimmed with red leather. This was later changed to Silver and the interior a more sobor black with green Alcantara
Thanks to Alexander Knapp Voith of classicdriver.com for providing further information. Also thanks to a kind Aston Martin friend for the period photos and Aston Martin Salzburg Wien in Austria for the more recent photographs.
During May 2016, the car is to be offered for sale at the RM Auctions in Monaco, now with V8 Coupe wheels.
Indeed, it has been said that one customer in particular bought so many cars, that AML would not have survived without his patronage. I won’t be so rude as to say who the customers were but I’m sure you can guess. The first indication that anything was built was in an article in the the Autocar magazine, 2nd September 1998 where someone undercover took pictures in a warehouse full of exotics in South East Asia – you must get a copy, trust me. More recently, small pictures have appeared in ‘Works Tourque’, the magazine sent out to customers of Works Service. But effectively, the specially commissioned Works Service cars have remained hidden and an almost total secret…………until quite recently.
The cars were first seen in a 2007 book, Aston Martin, Power, Beauty and Soul, written by a friend of mine called David Dowsey. Those pictures first seen in the book have now been made available to me by Aston Martin and I’m very happy to be able to share these with you over the next few weeks.
The dark red Shooting Brake, the second prototype, DP2099/2, was photographed at Coys Festival, Silverstone in 1993. Notice on this car, that the side vent is the same as that of the previous V8 model. It is also the only Virage Shooting Brake finished in Dubonnet Rosso, all others are believed to have been painted British Racing Green. The numbers of cars built (or converted) are very small; an estimate in 2002 was only five or maybe six, all initially right hand drive. The first two prototypes, DP2099/1 & DP2099/2 were the only cars built in production, the others were all conversions based on completed Virage coupes.
All seven examples were built as right hand drive, automatic specification and received the 6.3 engine from new. A later seventh car was built left hand drive especially at the request of another overseas customer.
