Beautiful, dynamic and prestigious, the Virage Volante combines outright sports car performance with luxury, comfort, refinement and open-top experience. (continued below)
2012 Virage Volante Photo Gallery
The New Virage Volante Offers the Highest Levels of Refinement and Dynamic Control in a Convertible Setting
Source: Aston Martin | Published: Sat Mar 26, 2011
(continued from above)
Virage will be built in the same production facility as the DBS and DB9 and
will be Aston Martin's tenth major new model to go into production at the UK
site since Gaydon was opened.
Marek Reichman, Design Director at Aston
Martin said: "The new Virage moves Aston Martin's design language evolution into
a new contemporary phase. We have sculpted a new face which sharpens and refines
the Virage whilst still being instantly recognizable as a pure Aston Martin
sports car. The whole car looks as if it was precision machined from a single
billet of aluminum emphasizing the attention to detail and exquisite surface
language. At Aston Martin we pride ourselves on beautifully honed surfaces
created by skilled craftsmen."
Reichman continues: "The Virage will
always delight, from picking up the glass and polished aluminum ECU key, walking
up and admiring its stunning form, and tacitly appreciating the treatment of all
the other senses through the finish of the materials. It makes every journey an
event.
"The Virage doesn't wear its identity on its sleeve, it doesn't
shout 'look at me', rather calmly hints at its potential, through pure lines and
a low elegant stance."
Design, Refinement and Comfort
New
single lens bi-xenon lights lie beneath a new front headlamp which houses a side
light 'bar' dissipating LED light giving the Virage an individual yet subtle
visual on the road.
New 20" wheels add to the sense of proportion with a
five spoke twin-prong design as standard and a 10-spoke forged diamond turned
wheel as an option. Customers are also afforded the option of coordinating their
brake calipers with their exterior paint color with black, grey, red and yellow
now being offered.
The Aston Martin engineering team sought to create a
sports car that offers customers the highest levels of refinement yet combined
with the increased power and control desired by customers. To this ends extra
sound insulation has been applied to the front and rear bulkheads to create a
relaxed ambiance when cruising. The Virage Volante features an extra layer of
Thinsulate material in the fabric hood making the Volante feel like a coupe when
the hood is up. Each Virage features seven hides of the finest leather sourced
from Scandinavia with each interior taking in excess of 70 man hours to hand
craft. It is this attention to detail which creates one of the finest and
opulent moving interiors in existence today. As the driver or passenger opens
the swan wing doors - which open up and out at 12 degrees to prevent any scrapes
on nearby kerbs - they are greeted to pinstriped leather seams which are hand
stitched by one seamstress just to be sure of a consistency throughout the car.
The 10-way adjustable sports seats are sculpted to provide maximum support and
comfort while the two-stage heated seats instantly shake the chill on a frosty
morning.
Contributing to the feeling of luxury,
finely polished glass buttons adorn the facia inviting the driver to select
their desired setup or control. Aston Martin's design team have stayed true to
the ethos of using material honestly where facias are real hand finished and
polished woods, dials are milled aluminum, and leathers retain their patina and
aroma years into their life.