The previous model V12 Vanquish was never offered in open form so the new Vanquish Volante will be a very welcome addition to the range.

 A small number of pre-production cars have been shown at events during the Summer of 2013, press cars were seen on the main production line during Centenary week during July 2013. Production of customer cars began in the Autumn of 2013 and ended early in 2017 when the standard car was replaced by the Vanquish S Volante. It is believed that only 1001 of this model were actually built.

The car has retained the clear rear light lenses and has gained a silver finish grille not seen on the regular production cars. 

The first public display of the Rapide S was at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show where AML displayed two cars, on in Volcano Red, the other in Selene Bronze.

The most noticeable update on the ‘S’ is the adoption of a new full height metal grille which is the largest fitted to a car that meets current pedestrian protection requirements. Underneath the new front grille is the front splitter, very important in getting air drawn in to cool the brakes and the lower end of the car. As standard, the front splitter is body coloured but if the car is specified with the optional Carbon Exterior Pack, the centre section will be Carbon Fibre. Also the boot lid has been given a pronounced additional lip so the ‘S’ can be recognised from the previous regular car from both the front and back.

Rapide S is the first Rapide to include the hi-tech Gen4 Adaptive Damping, allowing the driver to choose between three modes; ‘Normal’ ‘Sport’ and ‘Track’. New optional 20 inch diameter 10 spoke forged alloy wheels, 11% lighter than the standard wheel, are unique to the Rapide S. These are available in either silver or black diamond turned finish. Another option are the 20 spoke wheels from the DBS and the original 24 spoke or ‘multispoke’ wheels remain the standard fitting.

At the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, the Rapide S was finished in Teal Blue.

Whereas a vast majority of the regular Rapide were built by Magna Steyr in Austria, the Rapide S is built exclusively on the DB9/Vanquish/Rapide line at the company HQ at Gaydon.

Announced in August 2014, the 2015MY Rapide S may look virtually the same as the previous model year but under the coachwork the changes are most significant. The most significant update has been the adoption of a new 8 speed gearbox by ZF, the Touchtronic III which allows for gearchanges in as little as 130 m/s. Also the engine, now to AM29 spec has been revised with a little more power and torque but incredibly less emissions and better fuel economy due to the new Bosch engine management system. Quoted top speed has now risen to 203 mph and the 0 to 60 acceleration times dropped to just 4.2 seconds.

Below is what is believed to be the very first production Rapide S, retained by the factory. It was photographed in 2017 at Gaydon during the AML Employee Weekend; visitors were encouraged to use the Sharpies to write messages on the Stratus White coachwork. This is not the first time visitors to AML have had this opportunity. Back in 2013, during Centenary week, a prototype DBS Coupe was also covered in graffiti by visitors to Gaydon.

Photographs courtesy of Aston Martin of Chicago where this particular car was on sale in 2014.

At the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, a ‘Q by Aston Martin’ Vanquish Volante again took centre stage. With coachwork finished in Cerulean Blue and interior in White Essence semi-aniline leather and rich Aurora Blue detailing, the centre console is finished in satin finish walnut veneer. The car was also given a unique exposed carbon fibre tonneau cover – finished in a deep gloss.

The AMV8 Vantage was the first view of what would become a completely new line of Aston Martins based around a bonded-alloy platform, known as VH (vertical/horizontal) architecture. This mixture of pressed alloy parts, castings and extrusions bonded together into a stiff but lightweight structure was intended to underpin Astons for some time to come including the DB9, Rapide, and future race cars. The VH platform was also especially designed to allow for a convertible to be introduced very soon after the coupe without significant loss of rigidity.

The proposed engine for the concept was a new, Jaguar derived 4.3 litre V8 unit, described as being ‘front-mid’ mounted so as to give perfect 50:50 weight distribution. With an anticipated power output of around 370 bhp, the AMV8 Vantage should have been well capable of exceeding 170 mph and a 0-60 acceleration time of around 5.0 seconds. This concept had the V12 Vanquish style paddle shift but of course, the production V8 Vantage came with a six speed manual gearbox. The Prodrive developed Sportshift with paddles was introduced a year or so after the introduction of the production car.

The luxury interior of the AMV8 Vantage was fresh and modern with extensive use of leather and aluminium facias instead of the wood which was a feature of the old ‘V-range’ and DB7.  The instruments and switchgear were bespoke and had been influenced by exclusive watches and upmarket hi-fi equipment.

The car was first shown in January 2003 at the Detroit Motor Show. At this time, it was finished in an attractive metallic grey finish which contrasted well with the terracotta hide interior. For some reason that I am still unaware of, by the European debut at Geneva less than 8 weeks later, the concept had been resprayed a dark metallic blue colour.

The production V8 Vantage, which initially many believed could be known as the DB8, did indeed follow the concept very closely. Anticipated starting price had initially been estimated by the excited auto press at around £60,000 to compete with the Porsche 911. As we now know, this was wildly optimistic and the production V8 Vantage started with a launch price a little over £82,000. Whatever the price, many potential customers were placing orders with AM dealers during 2002 in response to accurate rumours, long before the concept was even unveiled consequently creating a substantial waiting list.

Although the AMV8 has been designed in the UK and unveiled in the USA, you may be surprised to learn that the AMV8 Vantage concept car was constructed by DC Design of Mumbai, India. The AMV8 Vantage was actually based on an early DB7 Vantage Volante with a shortened wheelbase but it retained the V12 engine.   The bonnet was never opened to the public in period but if it were, the engine was disguised to look like a V8. Most of these images were taken at the 2003 Geneva Salon, in March during the European debut of the car.

Below is a wind tunnel model of the car, recently spotted at Aston Martin Works.

The AMV8 Vantage is still owned by Aston Martin Lagonda but is under the care of the Aston Martin Heritage Trust. It is sometimes on display in the museum near Wallingford in Oxfordshire.

Some estimate by the time the car was first shown, some dealers had as much as a three year waiting list for the Vantage such has been the interest. Series production of the Vantage began in the Autumn of 2005 at a rate of approaching 3000 annually on a second assembly line within the Gaydon factory, with approximately 70% going outside of the UK. Deliveries of the V8 Vantage to customers in the UK and Europe began in October 2005 with customers in North America and the rest of the world started waiting until early 2006.

The V8 Vantage was the second Aston Martin production car based on the VH architecture as already seen on the DB9, but it is the first to use a new 4.3 litre quad cam 32 valve dry sumped V8 engine. Power was quoted at 380bhp @ 7000rpm and torque of 302 lb/ft @ 5000rpm. This would allow the 1570kg machine a 0-60 mph time of 4.9 and 0-100 mph in 10.7 with the standard 6 speed Graziano manual gearbox. The engine was unique to Aston Martin but used a Jaguar sourced block with unique internal dimensions. It was handbuilt alongside the V12 at the Aston Martin Engine Plant in Cologne, Germany.

The Vantage was strictly a 2 seater but does have a decent boot and plenty of space behind the seats.

The show car was finished in a non-standard colour called Cool Yellow which I have never actually seen on a production car. You will no doubt notice that the colour appears differently in each picture. Indeed, when seen in the flesh, the colour did appear to change between a lemon yellow and full on custard. I can only put this down to the fact that the paint was pearlescent and not solid as it appears. The car was for many years ‘on display’ floating above the moat around the Gaydon production facility. It was removed in early 2016 and replaced by a AM310 Vanquish.

In early 2006, the first noticeable changes were made to the Vantage. Known as the 2006.5MY, these cars can be identified by a white LED instrument display replacing the previous yellow. The photos below show a Morning Frost 2006.5MY V8 Vantage at the 2006 Geneva Salon. A little later, 2007MY cars received redesigned seats with additional width.

At the 2006 Paris Salon, AM announced the option of a two pedal paddle shift gearbox option developed by Prodrive and known as ‘Sportshift’, made available in the second quarter of 2007, AM were so confident of this option that they claimed that gear changes can occur in just 0.2 seconds.

Midway through 2008, the 4.3 litre car was replaced with an improved 2009MY version a revised and more powerful 4.7 litre V8 engine

In 1969, the PoW DB6 Mark 2 Volante featured the prized combination of the open coachwork together with the most powerful Vantage spec engine. The 2014 Vanquish Volante closely follows the 1969 car as it features both convertible coachwork matched to the most powerful engine that Aston Martin then offered in their road cars, the AM11 565 bhp V12. Each Nieman Marcus Vanquish Volante was be finished in Seychelles Blue with Obsidian Black interior.

Detailed specification for the Nieman Marcus Vanquish Volante is :-

• 2014.5MY Vanquish Volante North American specification
• Seychelles Blue coachwork
• Multi‑layer fabric convertible roof in Atlantic Blue
• 20‑spoke diamond‑turned alloy wheels with Liquid Silver finish
• Bright finish front grille and rear tailpipes
• Magnum meshes
• Sterling Silver and Flux Enamel wing badges, as previously used on the Centenary editions
• Blue brake callipers
• Black deep soft semi‑aniline leather with Aurora Blue contrast stitching and welt
• Walnut veneer facia
• Hourglass quilted seats accent
• Quilted door insert with Aurora Blue welt
• Obsidian Black carpet with Aurora Blue binding
• Ivory Roekona and Ivory alcantara headlining
• Black hardware pack
• Satin Chrome instrument dials and controls
• Black gearshift paddles with Aurora Blue leather tips
• Unique Neiman Marcus Q sill plaques
• Matching four‑piece bespoke leather luggage set

The Neiman Marcus Vanquish Volante were created by ‘Q by Aston Martin’ and were limited to just 10 individually numbered examples priced at $344,500 each. All sales were actually conducted by Aston Martin dealers in the US rather that Neiman Marcus and was limited to just one vehicle per customer. Orders for this very exclusive edition began on the 23th October 2013 with delivery of each car is scheduled to be before February 2014. In addition, with every purchase of the Neiman Marcus 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, Neiman Marcus donated $3,000 to The Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation.

The last time Nieman Marcus featured an Aston Martin in their Christmas book was back in 1998 with the DB7 i6 Neiman Marcus Volante LE. Also of note is that it was 25 years ago when Aston Martin also offered for sale ‘replicas’ of another car supplied to HRH the Prince of Wales, the legendary V8 Vantage Volante PoW.