Few things in life are more exhilarating than driving a convertible with a roaring V12 engine under the hood. And few convertibles are more capable of delivering that thrill than the Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate Volante, the latest and last evolution of the British marque's flagship roadster.
The Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate Volante is a limited-edition model that marks the end of production for the DBS line, which debuted in 2007 as a successor to the Vanquish. Only 199 units of the open-top supercar will be produced, and they are all sold out. The same goes for the coupe version, which was revealed in January and is limited to 300 units.
So what makes the Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate Volante so special? For starters, it has the most powerful production engine ever made by Aston Martin: a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 that delivers a whopping 759 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque. That's an increase of 44 hp and 37 lb-ft over the regular DBS Superleggera Volante, thanks to tweaks to the air and ignition pathways and more boost from the turbos.
The result is a convertible luxury sports car that can sprint from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 211 mph. The coupe version is slightly quicker, with a 0-62 mph time of 3.2 seconds, but both share the same top speed. The power is transmitted to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox with a quicker calibration and a limited-slip differential.
But the Aston Martin DBS 770 Ultimate Volante luxury sports car is not just about raw speed. It's also about handling, refinement, and style. The chassis has been tuned for a sharper focus, with changes to the steering, front-end stiffness, and adaptive dampers. The brakes are carbon-ceramic discs with six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston calipers at the rear.