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Aston Martin Vantage Roadster goes fast, and so does its roof

Two years after the hardtop Aston Martin Vantage redefined the Vantage nameplate yet again, the coupe has dropped its top. Below the shoulder the Vantage Roadster holds true to nearly everything that compelled us to label the coupe "a significant milestone." Above the shoulder, a fabric top envelops an "ultra-compact" Z-frame that drops in 6.7 seconds and unfurls in 6.8. The carmaker says it's the fastest fully electronic mechanism out there, and operates at speeds of up to 31 miles per hour. Thanks to the frame's compact design, the car's lines don't differ much from the hardtop. Nor do the performance specs: The convertible gains 132 pounds over the fixed-roof, needs 3.5 seconds to hit 60 mph instead of 3.5, and maxes out at 190 mph, five miles per hour less than the coupe. Losing the rear hatch takes a bit out of luggage space, though, which declines from 12.4 cubic feet to seven. Aston Martin says the cubby will still swallow a full-sized golf bag and related paraphernalia. The Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 delivers the full 503 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque. Engineers tuned the suspension, differential, driving aids, and driving modes specifically for the convertible. The carmaker has made its seven-speed manual transmission newly available on the coupe this year — it was offered previously only on the Vantage AMR — but the droptop is barred from the row-your-own party. The Vantage Roadster sticks with the ZF eight-speed automatic. Convertible buyers can avail themselves of other additional kit introduced this year to celebrate 70 years of the Vantage name, said first applied to a more powerful version of the 1951 DB2 called the DB2 Vantage. The potential extras include Aston Martin's historic vane grille as well as new wheel designs. Deliveries begin in Europe during Q2, U.S. shoppers can expect summer delivery. Pricing starts at $161,000, an $8,000 premium over the coupe. Related Video:    

1980 Aston Martin Bulldog concept will reattempt to break the 200-mph barrier

Aston Martin's 1980 Bulldog concept will receive a second chance to break the 200-mph barrier after it emerges from a complete, 18-month restoration. It was developed with all-out speed in mind — the British company had hoped the coupe would become the fastest car in the world, but it missed its target before getting shelved. Had things gone as planned, car-crazed kids in the 1980s would have grown up with a picture of the Bulldog on their bedroom wall. Aston Martin wanted to hoist itself up the exotic car pecking order by building the fastest car in the world, though it didn't envision more than a limited production run of 15 to 25 cars. Penned by William Towns, who also drew the Lagonda, the Bulldog looked like nothing else on the road (let alone in the Aston Range) due in part to its five center-mounted lights, and it broke with tradition by adopting a mid-mounted engine. Engineers floated a top speed of 237 mph, according to The Drive, but the Bulldog ran out of breath at 191 mph. Victor Gauntlett axed the project shortly after taking the top job at Aston Martin in 1981 because the numbers didn't add up; the firm wasn't in a position to chase speed records. Now, 40 years later, it's almost time to try again. Classic Motor Cars began the lengthy process of restoring the Bulldog on behalf of a private owner in 2020, and it enlisted the help of Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner to see if it can break the 200-mph barrier once it's back in one piece. Richard Gauntlett, the son of the company's former boss, is overseeing the project. We don't know precisely when or where the speed run will take place, but Classic Motor Cars aims to have the Bulldog running by the end of 2021. In a statement, it said that the car is "well on the way to being restored." Restoring any exotic car from the early 1980s is a meticulous, expensive, and time-consuming process, and bringing a one-off concept car back to life increases the number of challenges exponentially. Classic Motor Cars can't order parts from Aston Martin, for example, and it's not able to study another example to find out how a specific panel is welded. It helps that the Bulldog hasn't been significantly modified over the past four decades, though some parts (like the door mirrors) were added later, and that it was complete when it arrived at the shop. Power for the Bulldog comes from a 5.3-liter V8 that's twin-turbocharged to 600 horsepower, figures that are still respectable in 2021.

Aston Martin values electric propulsion over downsizing

Not even small-volume manufacturers are being exempt from the automotive industry's pursuit of higher efficiency and lower emissions. At present, that means either electric propulsion (whether in part or in whole) or downsizing conventional engines, and for Aston Martin, the future apparently lines in the former. "I see in our future obviously V12s, V8s and probably battery-electric cars," Aston's CEO Palmer revealed to Autocar. "As time evolves, there's probably an inevitability to hybridisation, simply because, car by car, you can only downsize so much. I'd rather put a hybrid in there than an in-line four-cylinder." So just how does the company envision implementing electric or hybrid propulsion? "Imagine something like a 4x4, 1,000-bhp silent Rapide. I think 'Power, Beauty, Soul' doesn't say it has to be a gasoline engine. It just needs to be really powerful, really beautiful and set your heart on fire," Palmer explained. "I'd argue that 1,000 bhp on the ground would probably do that for you. So that's the route we could go." The British automaker demonstrated the DBX concept with an all-wheel-drive electric powertrain at the Geneva Motor Show a few months ago, and is currently in the process of revitalizing and expanding its current product range. Of course Aston isn't the only high-end niche automaker faced with the decision to either downsize or add hybrid propulsion. Ferrari is taking both approaches, using smaller turbocharged engines in its V8 models and moving towards hybrids with its V12s. Porsche offers an array of plug-in hybrids and is in the process of downsizing and turbocharging its naturally aspirated engines. Pagani switched from a big V12 in the Zonda to a smaller turbo V8 in the Huayra. Bugatti is expected to use electric turbochargers in its Veyron successor. And Lamborghini was recently reported to be considering a turbo five for the Huracan.