Aston Martin GT12 Roadster Is a One-Off Made to Be Heard
One particular customer decided the GT12 needed less roof, more loudness.
Is this one-off Aston Martin GT12 Roadster the brand's most extreme car ever? Heavens no, not when theOne-77 and Vulcan are kicking. Still, it's a pretty severe beast. Upon learning of the limited run of 100 Aston Martin Vantage GT12 models—a raucous celebration of the soon-to-depart Aston Martin Vantage with a 600-horsepower V12 and GT3-ready wings, scoops and wheels—one customer requested the company build a GT12 roadster, so he could hear the V12's song without any intermediating steel or carbon fiber.
In making the Vantage GT12 Roadster, Aston Martin prioritized noise above all. This 101st Vantage GT12 carries the same aerodynamic optimization and carbon fiber body as the roofed car, so it should go almost as fast. Pricing is unannounced (and irrelevant), but figure something akin to a 20% surcharge on top of the regular Vantage GT12's sticker price of £250,000—around $340,000, after yesterday's stunning and market-piercing Brexit vote. Though, again, we'd be surprised if the GT12's new owner let his car go for any price.
So how did the engineers do when they tried to play maestro? Pretty damn well. Thanks to the wonder of Instagram video, you can hear the GT12 revving at its Goodwood Festival of Speed debut in advance of its barnstorming run up the hill at the event this weekend. They say money can't buy happiness, but if your definition of happiness is an Aston Martin's soundtrack being enjoyed in the open air, this GT12 is out to prove the axiom very, very wrong.
