First Drive Review
Don’t try to make sense of the Aston Martin V-8 Vantage roadster. It’s impractical, a joke of a value, no more powerful than at least a dozen less-expensive sports cars, and the same ergonomic disaster it was before its 2012 (make that 2012.25, according to Aston) refresh. And yet we yearn for it.
Timeless Beauty
Go ahead and stare—everybody else does. Driving this car around Hollywood, where Bentleys and Jaguars and Ferraris are as common as Subarus in Seattle, onlookers gasp, point, fumble for their cameras, and probably commit at least two of the seven deadly sins by the time we pass. The flawless sheen of our test car’s Tungsten Silver metallic paint was a perfect match for the $6380 carbon-fiber body kit and $750 clear-lens taillamps that effectively turn the car into a Vantage S look-alike. Never mind that several of the V-8 Vantage’s competitors have gone through entire model generations during the seven years since the car first debuted at the 2005 Geneva auto show; the smallest Aston ragtop still flatters its occupants as only an Aston Martin can, especially with the slinky fabric top stowed beneath its faired tonneau.
Thank God She’s Pretty
If we didn’t get so drunk on its good looks every time we walked up to the car, opened the up-sweeping doors, and sank into its splendidly comfortable seats, we might have found its style-be-damned steering wheel, logic-be-damned radio and climate controls, and cups-be-damned cup holders unforgivable. And if its previous pop-up navigation system hadn’t been so awful, we might have taken issue with the rather plebeian Garmin system that has taken its place, however Aston-ized it has been with white-on-black screens.
Seven years ago, we’d have bet the price of the Vantage’s optional crystal-topped key ($750) that the car’s other minor design faults—and there are many—would be fixed by now. But, no, most of the Vantage’s eccentricities remain, including economy-class air vents and window switches, Lilliputian button script, single-zone climate control, a persnickety left-side parking brake, an envelope-sized glove box, and right next to the exterior door handles, raised, poorly integrated key slots that could have been recycled from a ’77 Mercury Cougar.
But the important stuff has been right all along, including the perfect seating position, the column-mounted paddle shifters on two-pedal models, and a mix of gorgeous interior materials. Hand-stitched leather, aluminum, and piano black trim impart the sense of occasion you expect of a six-figure automobile.
Marvelous Motor
Something else the 2012.25 V-8 Vantage gets right resides under the vented bonnet: a spectacular 4.7-liter V-8 engine that produces 420 hp at 7300 rpm and 346 lb-ft of torque at 5000 rpm. Yes, a base Chevrolet Corvette spanks the Aston with 10 more hp and 78 more lb-ft, but it doesn’t sound quite like this. If on mashing the gas pedal your head doesn’t become completely fused with the headrest, your ears will lap up the V-8’s symphonic exhaust note. So much for thinking clearly.
