Aston Martin DB12 | Cars to be thankful for

The seductiveness of a soft-top Aston Martin never required very much explanation. There was the glamour and the prestige of the badge, the promise of a stonking powertrain, and a sense of occasion akin to being actual royalty. Nobody else ever sold you a Prince of Wales Volante, after all…

But even well into the 21st century, there was a price to pay for the wind in your hair and an Aston Martin badge on the bonnet that wasn’t just measured in thousands of pounds. The convertibles never looked as good, went as ferociously, or handled as neatly as their coupe counterparts. Hardly a uniquely Aston problem, of course, it just seemed that their affliction lasted longer and had a more noticeable impact. When they were all the rage, going without a folding hardtop seemed like an omission, though that would have added more weight and potentially complicated the design further. 

Then there was the Porsche problem. (There’s always a Porsche problem.) When the V8 Vantage Roadster arrived 20 years ago, it was almost everything that could have been hoped for: gorgeous, sonorous, exciting – yet there was no escaping the fact the 911 was better in key areas. Take the ‘character’ argument out of it – the ‘Power, Beauty, Soul’ nonsense, in fact – and the Porsche could claim key advantages, as it so often does. Every fibre of your soul would want to recommend the Aston Martin, but it was the predictable old 911 that would earn the recommendation. Even the extreme convertibles, cars like the recent V12 Speedster, are overshadowed by alternatives like the Ferrari Monza. 

Most simply, it was difficult to imagine a dream Aston Martin, unlike other brands, being a convertible. Whether Volante, Roadster, Speedster or whatever else, they always required more qualification and justification than they should have. That emphatically stopped with the DB12 Volante. Here was an Aston Martin damn near as brilliant to drive as the Coupe, even more stylish, with an interior that actually worked. And didn’t need lovely leather to distract you otherwise. You wouldn’t bet against it getting even better in due course, either, with the arrival of the DB12 S. Because that’s really the Aston Martin way right now: launch something fantastic, then make it even better a couple of years later. It’s an easy pattern to get used to, for sure…

There’s a wider significance attached to this car, too, as nothing less than the beginning of a new convertible era for Aston Martin. The comparable cars before the DB12 were announced, the old Vantage Roadster, DB11 and DBS Volantes, were certainly not without appeal. But they weren’t without flaws, either. Yet after this Volante came a new pair of Vantage and Vanquish drop tops, and it really wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there aren’t better V8 and V12 two-seaters around. Similar names belie a marked uptick in ability. 

The renaissance begins here. The DB12 Coupe represented a hugely auspicious start for the latest generation; where the DB11 needed time to evolve into something great, its successor was there from the get-go. It was handsome, athletic, evocative, everything you’d want from a modern Aston super GT. When the Volante was announced almost three years ago, there were certainly some concerns, with minimal chassis tweaks – a retune of the rear springs and dampers with a folding roof to think about – and a not-insignificant 100kg weight gain. If not exactly the bad old days, the DB12 Volante didn’t exactly sound like a new beginning for Gaydon soft tops. 

We should have known better, of course. The architecture wasn’t significantly altered because it was so well sorted in the first instance, the Bilstein DTX dampers now found throughout the Aston range (including the Valhalla) a real highlight of the package. The Volante was immediately absorbent, compliant and controlled in an unfamiliar (and welcome) fashion. There was some serious integrity to the structure, towering potency to the powertrain, and undeniable polish to the chassis. Recent Aston cabrios weren’t bad, of course; they were just never this undeniably good. 

It doesn’t take long to be enchanted all over again. It’s become second nature to say a lot of convertibles look pretty good these days as hoods have become more compact and better packaged, yet even so the DB12 really is a stunner. It isn’t a small car, obviously, though it’s taut and well proportioned; using this front end less successfully on the longer Vanquish demonstrates how right it was for the DB’s dimensions. Roof down, it’s a rakish roadster, muscular hips over the driven axles lending just the right amount of drama, and silhouette unsullied by any unsightly roof stowage. Roof up, it’s sleek and sophisticated; a narrow glasshouse may not be the most practical, but it works a treat in terms of design. 

It’s the drive that really secures the DB12 its special status, however. Like the good old days, there’s little to rival a storming Aston V8 cabrio in the sunshine for feelgood factor – but there’s so much more depth to the dynamic repertoire now. It can be driven (and enjoyed) like a proper sports car, with abundant traction, keen responses and satisfying controls. Performance is never in question, of course, the AMG V8 as content riding a surfeit of torque as it is rampaging to 7,000rpm. Previously, the notion of an Aston Martin soft-top with the best part of 700hp would have been unsettling to say the least; that it’s now merely part of a cohesive, compelling convertible package demonstrates what’s been achieved. 

While the Volante is not totally impervious to the disastrous condition of our roads, no convertible that isn’t carbon tubbed really can be. The sensory gratification of wind-in-the-hair motoring is a more than adequate trade-off. We’d argue it really is as good as the soft-top supercar gets in 2026, and the reality is even more captivating than that prospect sounds. The DB12 is exactly the Aston that you’d hope it to be and more so, requiring no qualification, justification or deliberation. Perhaps the biggest issue it faces is simply the quality of its direct rivals, from Ferrari Amalfi to Bentley Continental GT. There’s never been a better time for such machines, or to be a buyer of them. 

It is a shame, of course, that building exceptional cars does not always translate into financial well-being for its manufacturer, and too much of the news surrounding Aston is less focused on its output than the status of its bottom line. But the fact remains: the DB12, less glamorous than the Vanquish and without the cutting-edge of the new Valhalla, provides an excellent bellwether for the overall calibre of the lineup. And while we gravitate toward 1,000hp special editions and V12 muscle cars as quickly as the next person, you need not spend seven figures to unlock all the things that make a modern Aston Martin compelling. You needn’t spend £200k either. Both are reasons to be cheerful. 

Engine: 3,982cc, twin-turbo, V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 680@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 590@2,750-6,000rpm
0-62mph: 3.7 secs
Top speed: 202mph
Weight: 1,796kg (dry)
MPG: 23.2
CO2: 276g/km
Price: from £200,000