Topless Aston Martin DBS Volante

Here are the first official images of the latest Aston Martin, the convertible DBS Volante. Following on from the success of the coupe, the convertible follows those same lines with a retractable fabric hood that, at the touch of a button, can be lowered in 14 seconds at any speed below 30mph.

As with the majority of soft tops, it weighs slightly more than its hard top version due to extra stiffening of the chassis. We are told that this will not affect the performance — with a few tweaks to the 6.0-litre V12, power comes out at 510bhp and torque to 570Nm. A six-speed manual is standard, but you can upgrade to Aston Martin’s semi-automatic Touchtronic, which takes her to 62mph in 4.2 seconds and on to 191mph.

Carbon-ceramic brakes bring the Volante back to a halt, while new adaptive dampers, double wishbone suspension, 20-inch alloy wheels and sticky Pirelli P-Zero rubber mean the DBS keeps nimble and stuck through the corners. As you would expect, the inside is a lap of luxury and includes the latest B&O sound system as standard.

Making its debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month, the cost is rumoured to be around £170,000 — about £11,000 more than the coupe.