Aston Martin Builds the Stunning V12 Vantage Roadster It Said It Wouldn't

• Aston Martin has shown a V-12–powered, open-topped Vantage at Pebble Beach.

• The V12 Vantage roadster has 690 horsepower and a claimed 200 mph top speed.

• It will be limited to 249 examples worldwide, and all have already been sold.

Aston Martin seems to have taken the advice of its most famous fictional brand ambassador—Britain’s leading not-very-secret agent, James Bond—and decided to never say never again. Although we were told when the V12 Vantage coupe was released that there were no plans to build a roadster version, this is very much a roadster version of the same car—one that has just been unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California.

Anybody who bought a V12 Vantage coupe on the grounds of the exclusivity guaranteed by its 333-unit production run likely won't be pleased by the arrival of the ragtop. But the rest of us should be able to forgive Aston Martin for having introduced something so good-looking. The regular V8 Vantage roadster is already an exceptionally handsome beast, and the V12 has turned up the muscularity of the design without losing any of the grace of the basic car.

As with the coupe, fitting the sizable 12-cylinder engine has been a challenge. Aston insiders say it has been necessary to combine much of the underbody structure of the larger DBS with the Vantage bodyshell. The body of the V12 Roadster has been widened and incorporates heat vents in the fenders behind the front wheel arches, plus a reworked hood necessary to find packaging space for the motor. The hood, fenders, and sill extensions are all made from carbon fiber.