Aston Martin's 700hp V12 Speedster is a $1m, Roofless Collectors' Item

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on March 4th, 2020 in the Automotive News category.

 

This just makes me wish Aston Martin would drop their V12 back into the Vantage more than anything.

 

So £67m in the Aston coffers from this project and £12.5m from the AMR 59 project. That's £80m towards Stroll's £180m IOU.

 

Nice to see this finally hit production, though I do slightly prefer the C100’s design.

 

It will help out no doubt, there seems to be a increased demand for these mega expensive collecible car penis extensions these days. Although they won't make £67m from it, at least not unless they've found a way to cut every cost involved in the development, produciton and sale of the units.

 

Will that new Batman be driving one of these in the Part deux of the Batman reboot of the reboot of the reboot of the reboot of the reboot(not that reboot, the other reboot)?

 

Roadsters aren't my thing, but I can't help but admire this thing, anyhow. With that said, Aston's been on a roll lately.

 

Oh, no, you would not want to roll this. That would be a nasty way to go.

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I like the way the leading edge of the hood (bonnet) seems to float, but that's about it. The wheels would be okay if they were a little smaller and were enveloped by a bit more rubber.

The F/A-18 theme is too gimmicky for me and I'm not sure why you'd need transparent humps to show off a couple of helmets. The rear--particularly the manner in which the spoiler emerges from the surrounding bodywork--is unpleasant.

I think Ferrari pulled it off much better with the Monza SPs, and even the McLaren Elva, of which I'm not really a fan, was better executed.

 

In the last few days we’ve had cars with 1700hp, 650hp and 700hp. It’s just a ludicrous amount of power that can only be used day to day with a tonne of nannying electronics that take away the feel of the car.

It could get even worse when electric goes fully mainstream.

 

...would you rather have people dying or wrecking trying to smash down the pedal in these cars with no driver's aids and electronics?

 

He's saying much less power, where all these aids aren't necessary, would make for a much better driving experience and I agree.
~1000 hp roadcars are complete nonsense.

 

What about a 5000lb luxo barge with just 650?

I've said this before, but a key aspect of a luxury car, for me, is that its powertrain feel completely unstressed. If that engine is straining and wheezing as I'm pulling away from an onramp and making my way over to the fast lane, it's insufficient. What's more, that powertrain can feel completely unstressed while not being in violation of traffic laws.

Admittedly one probably doesn't need all of 650hp to accomplish this, but Bentley has long sought to position itself as a luxury marque with a performance edge, so it stands to reason that they'd offer more than what's "necessary".

 

Precisely. The numbers game has gone too far and made these cars not only utterly impractical for keeping anywhere near public speed limits. But also ‘slaves’ to a load of electronic aids that are almost a necessity to make the cars somewhat drivable by an average driver and therefore also diluting the driving experience.

 

This engine won't mind lazily plugging along too much I would bet. Even without all the assists it should be plenty tractable, being a big V12 with modern variable valve timing. I am just saying 700 HP won't have to be dialed up every time the throttle gets prodded. I do agree cars are getting a little power crazy in many cases however.

 

Speedster is always a good thing.