No sports car manufacturer has a greater design heritage than Aston Martin. Responsible for some of the most beautiful sports cars ever made, Aston Martin imbues every model with understated elegance and graceful styling, achieved through harmonious proportions, taut surfacing, a ground-hugging stance and thorough attention to detail.
An Aston Martin is subtle, not attention-seeking. The coupe’s side profile is clean and distinctive, with a single-sweep roofline that flows through to a distinctive tail. Key Aston Martin design elements include the distinctive grille, metal side strakes, signature rear window shape and wide, curvaceous haunches.
Good design, however, is not just about form; it is also about function.
An Aston Martin is by definition very fast, so it needs to be aerodynamically efficient. It must be superbly stable at high speed – even the exhaust silencer is aerodynamically shaped to help achieve this. The result is that the DB9 drives arrow-straight at high speed yet, like all great Aston Martins, it does so with supreme elegance and grace.
The DB9 was designed from the outset as both a coupé and a convertible, an uncompromising approach that epitomises the engineering philosophy behind the car. The DB9 Volante is therefore one of the most structurally rigid and best-handling convertibles in the world. It is also one of the fastest and quietest.
As with all Aston Martins, beauty and balance are critical. The DB9 Volante is perfectly proportioned from every angle, roof up or down. The convertible top retracts at the single push of a button and swiftly stows beneath a hard tonneau cover that closes flush with the rear bodywork, leaving the lines of the car flowing and unbroken.
The Volante’s elegant folding fabric roof is light and durable. A layer of Thinsulate® material insulates the cabin from both noise and the elements when the roof is up, and optimises headroom for the driver and front passenger. There is also no loss of practicality – the folding fabric roof is compact when stowed, allowing the DB9 Volante to retain its rear seats and ample boot space.
Safety is a major consideration in a convertible. Special tilt sensors detect the possibility of a roll-over and deploy two strengthened hoops from the rear seat headrests. Further protection is offered by the windscreen A-pillars, which have been rig tested to withstand more than twice the total weight of the car.