Aston Martin’s Q division has made a bespoke convertible version of their Vantage GT12 race-spec road car commissioned by a single private customer.
Some while back, Aston Martin had launched their new customising division which they christened ‘Q by Aston Martin’ (in reference to Agent Q from the James bond series). They had said that Aston customers can modify their cars in which ever form or shape they like with no restrictions or boundaries. You all must have thought that it would probably be on things like upholstery, and colours and embroidery on the head rests, some body kits and exterior pain jobs. Little did we know, that how serious Aston was about it that you can ask for a special car all together.
In late 2015, Aston Martin gave us a jaw dropping, mouth drooling, eye wateringly gorgeous road going version of a race car based on the V12 Vantage. The car was called the Aston Martin Vantage GT12.
One customer probably decided to call up their closest Aston Martin dealership to buy one now and this is how we reckon the conversation went:
Customer: Hello, is this Aston Martin?
Salesman: Yes.
Customer: I fancy one of your Vantage GT12 road-going, racecars. Can you please assist me with my purchase?
Salesman: I’m sorry to inform you, but the Vantage GT12 is all sold out.
Customer: Ok, but can you still make me a new one? But only this time with no roof?
Salesman: Why sure we can, let me go talk to Q.
This hypothetical conversation led to one of the prettiest production racing cars ever built in history of humanity. A bespoke car from the Q division - the Aston Martin GT12 … Roadster, a beautiful, lightened, focused, angry, hardcore and ‘R’ rated race car that is road legal. Under the bonnet is a 600hp naturally aspirated 6-litre, V12 engine mated to a 7-speed Sportshift III paddle-shift double-clutch gearbox. At the back of the car is a circular pipe that delivers an unfiltered, adulterated fury of the engine’s vocal chords which is the title track of Aston Martin’s V12 greatest hits. For this bespoke convertible version, Aston has given it a full titanium exhaust system, so with the roof now chopped off, that pure, sublime sound from the exhaust reaches the driver’s ears unhindered. Aston Martin have also gone through the trouble of giving the Vantage GT12 Roadster a magnesium inlet manifolds with revised geometry and a lightweight magnesium torque tube for added performance, making this the most extreme road going roadster Aston Martin has ever produced.
Aston Martin delivered this private customer commissioned GT12 Roadster in a matter of 9 months and will make no more examples of it. The engineering and design team at Aston Martin and help from the Q division created the bespoke car for that one particular customer. In-house experts have given the car a unique suspension set-up to maintain the handling characteristics of the original Vantage GT12 coupe. Q stepped up to give the car its bespoke interior trim and paint.
The original Vantage GT12 coupe was a creation of the Aston Martin Advanced Operations team, responsible for all the low volume in-house projects like the Aston Martin Vulcan, Lagonda Taraf, and One-77. The same team was responsible of creating the Roadster aswell.
Here is what Andy Palmer, President and CEO of Aston Martin had to say: “The Vantage GT12 Roadster is a hugely exciting project. Not just because it’s sensational to look at, but because it vividly demonstrates the expanded capabilities of Q by Aston Martin. By incorporating the exceptional engineering capabilities of Aston Martin Advanced Operations within the Q by Aston Martin bespoke commissioning service we have a truly formidable creative team.”
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