The new Aston Martin Vantage Roadster is drop-top perfection

We’re only half-way through January, but I think Aston Martin has just revealed what might be the most beautiful car of 2025.

It’s called the Vantage Roadster and its launch will be a surprise to precisely no one. Of course Aston was going to follow the new Vantage up with a convertible version. But even with that knowledge safely banked in my brain – and having also spent a whole day driving the hard-topped Vantage – I wasn’t quite ready for how good the Roadster looks.

Perhaps it’s the colour of the car featured in Aston’s press images, with its Satin Iridescent Sapphire paintwork perfectly accompanying the snowy scenery. Or maybe I’m salivating at the thought of the Vantage’s snarling V8 soundtrack gaining direct access to my ears. I might even be lusting after the old-school simplicity of a folding fabric hood instead of an elaborate metal roof. Either way, the Vantage Roadster won me over the second I set my eyes on it.

And it’s not just a looker. Aston Martin says the rear-drive Roadster weighs just 60 kg more than the hard-topped Vantage coupe, despite the extra strengthening used to keep the chassis stiff without its roof. The top speed remains unchanged, at a supercar-like 202 mph, while the 0-60 mph time has increased imperceptibly from 3.4 to 3.5 seconds.

Also speedy is the roof mechanism itself, which raises and lowers electronically in just 6.8 seconds. Aston claims that makes it the quickest-folding electric roof of any car on sale today. Although, if you will allow me to split just one (mo)hair, the previous-generation Vantage Roadster could reveal its driver in 6.7 seconds, and hide them again in 6.8. The new car’s fabric roof can be operated while parked and standing up to two metres away or – for extra showboating – while driving at up to 31 mph.

Under that huge bonnet is the same twin-turbocharged, 4.0-litre V8 engine as the Vantage coupe. It produces 665 PS (656 horsepower) and 800 Nm of torque, marking a significant step up in performance compared to the previous-generation Vantage Roadster. Revealed in 2020, that car produced 510 PS and 685 Nm.

Inside, the new Roadster shares the same interior as the coupe, including a 10.25in touchscreen running the same operating system as Aston Martin’s DB12 and Vanquish. It’s a system that represents a huge upgrade over the previous-gen Vantage Roadster. As well as running the car’s own OS, plus support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the system drives an optional Bowers & Wilkins sound system with 11 speakers and 390 watts of power.

Like the Vantage coupe, the new Roadster has Aston’s new Advanced Traction Control system. This system lets the driver choose from eight levels of computer intervention or switch it off entirely and, as the manufacturer says, “experience the car free of any electronic influence.”

Lastly, Aston has subtly recalibrated the suspension software and tuned the gearbox mountings to compensate for a slight shift in weight distribution from front to rear.

Aston Martin hasn’t revealed a price for the new Vantage Roadster, but you can expect to land slightly north of the £165,000 coupe, so with just a few optional extras this is a £200,000 car. Delivers are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2025.