2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster - Car and Driver
Don’t try to make sense of the Aston Martin V-8 Vantage roadster. 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. 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... 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. Source: www.caranddriver.com
