Aston Martin Vantage Roadster 'Is Ready and Waiting,' Claims Brand Executive

Those enamored by the Aston Martin Vantage and wish it came as a convertible apparently won't have to wait very much longer, according to Australia's CarAdvice. There's a reason to believe that a new Vantage Roadster will be out before 2019 ends. 

Speaking to the publication at a Melbourne press event, Aston chief creative officer Marek Reichman confirmed that the drop-top Vantage is pretty much finished. "It's ready and waiting," Reichman said, "we'll show it towards the end of this year. They're going through some of the final testing, [but] the car's all done."

When probed over when or whether a V-12 version—as seen with the last-generation car—would be joining the party, the Aston Martin exec replied with a laugh, "That's too much, but it would be a good idea."

The upcoming Vantage Roadster will presumably use the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter, AMG V-8 found in the coupe coupled to a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission. From a previous report, a manual gearbox will be coming to the British sports car approximately sometime this summer. What the Vantage won't get, however, is an AMG straight-six as other rumors have predicted. 

The last-gen Vantage received many variants throughout its 13-year lifecycle including Roadsters, V-12 variants, slightly racier S models, as well as limited-run, track-focused versions in the GT8 and GT12, among others. 

The 2019 Aston Martin Vantage coupe starts at a fiver under $150,000. Expect the Roadster to go for a few thousand bucks more. The exquisite coupe makes 503 horsepower and gets from zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds.