Paul Banham and his company, Banham Conversions (Banmoco) became well known for his cabriolet conversions on Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Daimler and Jaguar cars. The company also went on to offer interior kits, styling kits and kit-cars and were perhaps most noted for their stylish XJSS conversion on the Jaguar XJ-S. Sadly the company went out of buisness in 2004.

The car above was sold during the Brooks/AML auction, May 2000, for a fraction of the cost of a real Volante at £12765 including commission. At that time, the congnisenti would look down disapprovingly at such a car although the Banham conversions might be gaining some acceptance over time.

Below is a later car based on a series 3 V8. Don’t be fooled by the Vantage bonnet and front air dam, the boot lid shows the cars origin as no real Volante had a boot lid quite like this.

I’m afraid that I have no idea as to the number of V8’s converted, but somewhere between 10 and 20 is my best estimate. Oddly, I did see a series 4 Oscar India based convertible by Banham for sale on the web which is odd as the Volante was already on sale when that particular car was converted.

Below there is a particular image from an advertisement for Specialised Engineering Ltd, London, in an issue of the AMOC magazine, Aston Martin Quarterly, Autumn 1973. The add states that a very limited number of these cars were scheduled to be built in 1973/4 but I don’t know if any were actually built, I suspect not. From this artists impression, it looks like perhaps it was intended to be a targa – something similar to the Triumph TR4A. Interesting concept nonetheless.

What is most fascinating is that the overall weight of the V12 Vantage was a mere 50kg greater than the V8 due to significant weight reduction throughout the car. Fitted with the 510 bhp version of the V12 (equivalent output to DBS spec), the Vantage was claimed able to reach 190mph and 0-60 in 4.2 seconds. The deeper front carbon-fibre airdam, extensive carbon-fibre bonnet louvers, extended sill covers, carbonfibre rear diffuser and larger tail spoiler make it easy to identify the V12 over the regular V8, but I anticipate all that you will need is to hear the exhaust note. The pop-up boot spoiler from the RS Concept didn’t make it into production although subsequently it did feature on the One-77.

The V12 Vantage became available in the third quarter of 2009 with a basic price in the UK of £135,000 and only with the conventional six speed manual gearbox as it wasn’t possible at the time to fit the Touchtronic 2. At launch, the V12 Vantage was  not available in the North America but following a redesign of the crash structure to meet US requirements, deliveries of the 2011MY V12 Vantage began in October 2010.

The final examples of the V12 Vantage coupe were completed in June 2013 by which time only 1199 examples had been built including the Carbon Black, Carbon Black ‘2’ and even a tiny number of Centenary Special Editions. 

The V12 Vantage was replaced by the more powerful V12 Vantage S model which initially came only with the Sportshift III paddle shift gearbox. The V12 Vantage was expected to be the last manual stick shift V12 and as such was seen as very desirable by traditional enthusiasts.  

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 :-

• Coachwork in bespoke Carbon Black metallic paint (one car in Montana Orange)
• Manual gearbox
• Obsidian Black leather with a contrast silver coarse stitch
• Obsidian Black alcantara headlining
• Obsidian Black carpet
• Anodised black steering wheel airbag trim
• 10 spoke diamond turned wheels with gloss black finish
• Bright finish grille
• Front parking sensors
• Carbon Fibre side strakes with black meshes
• Lightweight seats (Sports seats optional, standard in North America)
• Piano Black facia trim
• Anodised sill tread plates with unique sill plaques
• Aston Martin 700W Premium Audio System (B&O Beosound optional on later examples)

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.

• Carbon Fibre mirror caps and side strakes
• Carbon Fibre rear light infills with dark surrounds
• Boot lid with re-profiled larger ‘flip’
• New and exclusive lightweight forged 10-spoke 19” diamond turned alloy wheel
• Optional black grille, side strake meshes and black Zircotec tail pipes
• Optional reversing camera
• Glass switches
• Limited edition sill plaque
• Piano Black facia and centre stack (although this becomes standard on the 2013MY V12 Vantage Coupe), black leather steering wheel
• Optional Carbon Fibre interior pack (facia and gearstick surround), optional B&O speaker grilles and ALT’s in black
• Modified rear damper tube length and tube cap (unique to V12 Vantage Roadster)
• Modified rear spring (unique to V12 Vantage Roadster)
• Wider rear tyres, Pirelli P Zero Corsa 295/30 ZR19

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.