2015 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster Dries Hair and Blows Minds [w/ Video]

The late Carroll Shelby’s recipe for one of the most iconic (and most copied) cars in history – the Cobra – was elegant in its simplicity: Take a nimble British roadster chassis and body and stuff a big brute of an engine under the bonnet. Well, it’s taken the better part of a half-century, but Old Blighty’s motor industry has really started taking that formula to heart. Witness the Jaguar F-Type V8 S Roadster, with its snarling 495 horsepower supercharged V8 or, better yet, the limited production Project 7 that’s based upon it.

However, Aston Martin – Jaguar’s former bunkmate in Ford’s deceased Premier Automotive Group – has just revealed an even more ridonk-u-cray (or whatever the kids are saying these days) roadster. The 2015 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster is, as its name implies, the open version of the V12 Vantage S coupe, itself a stronger, sharper evolution of the original V12 Vantage. Like the coupe, the roadster is flung forward by a 6.0L (5.9L if you want to round properly) V12 generating 565 horsepower and 457 lb.-ft of torque, which gets shoved to the rear wheels through Aston Martin’s Sportshift III 7-speed single-clutch paddle-shifted ‘box.

The company says 0-60 mph jaunts should take 3.9 seconds, or just long enough to let your fellow motorists catch a fleeting glimpse of the three-slot grille insert, blacked-out wheels and trim and V12 Vantage S badges shared with its enclosed counterpart. The claimed top speed is 201 mph, which is four less than the coupe but still lofty enough to make this puppy the fastest production droptop Aston ever. Price? Some number higher (but not drastically higher) than that of the coupe, we’re betting.

Source: Aston Martin