The Aston Martin DB12 Volante: 671 horsepower wrapped in a smoking jacket

There are ugly cars, there are pretty cars, there are very pretty cars and then there is the Aston Martin DB12 Volante. I heard it before I saw it, grumbling away down a side street as it approached my home in Bermondsey. And then it turned the corner. My goodness. That massive grill. Those arrow-like headlights. That juicy splitter. The big wheels and the muscular bonnet. I was in love.

It’s hard not to love Aston Martins. They have for so long been the very best of us, like Paddington and cynicism. The first one I ever saw was a DB7 and I adored its very British look. You knew there was nonsense under the bonnet, but it looked as elegant and refined as an Oxford shoe. The DB9 was one of the great grand tourers, and the DBS was a wink and a nod to a more muscular future, one that seems to have arrived with the DB12. It seems to be that Aston Martins no longer have to be fast, they have to look fast as well.

But there’s a way to be a muscle man with elegance. Daniel Craig is as good an example as any; refined but brutal when necessary. This is a twin-turbo V8 wrapped in a smoking jacket, but one that’s perhaps a size too small.

So it looks good (with the roof down). Thankfully, it also drives good too. The stats are more than impressive for a car with this much leather. That 4-litre twin-turbo V8 chucks out 671hp, which will yank you to 62mph in 3.7 seconds and all the way up to 202mph if you really need to be somewhere in a hurry. All of that is kept together with a deliciously slick 8-speed automatic gearbox that pumps that power to the rear wheels. All of the great ingredients of grand touring, baked to perfection and served with a side of cream.

That V8 comes from a Mercedes and has been around for the best part of a decade. That experience and refinement works in spades. It carries itself a bit like an older gentleman, taking a while to get its glasses on its nose at low revs, but once it gets going, puts its power down like thunder. What this translates to in the real world is a very comfortable car that pootles and rumbles around when you have the time to take in the sights and enjoy a drive, and can teleport you from A to B when required. The automatic gearbox plays along nicely too, with no intervention required. It’s also smart enough to know that once you have shifted down to make a lot of noise in a tunnel on the A3, it's time to gently push you back into a cruising mode after you’ve had your fun.

The handling is sharp too, which is a relief, as the usual downfall of a soft-top tourer (especially ones without a carbon fibre tub such as the DB12 Volante) reveals itself when gravity gets involved. The car is heavier than its hard-top cousin, by about 100kg, but you would struggle to notice. Those monster Michelin tires bite at every piece of tarmac, the steering is ultra responsive and the Volante keeps its balance with aplomb, almost daring you to try to scare it. Either I am too pathetic to find its limit, or it doesn’t have one. The pre-set driving modes are also spot on: drinks party chic in GT mode, slamming a hired goon’s head through a window in Super Sport. Fun for all the family, whatever the conditions.

Aston Martin must also take plaudits for the interior of the DB12, which is absolutely befitting of a top-class GT or 'super tourer'. Leather so comfortable you can swim in it. An infotainment system that does everything you want, but isn’t so complex it’ll make you cry. Bowers & Wilkins sound system. A normal-sized screen, surrounded by lots of buttons that feel good to press. It is a GT after all, you are supposed to be sitting in it for a while. So thank goodness it’s that comfortable.

Not everything is perfect. The styling with the canvas roof on doesn’t quite work. And the auto-safety features, mandated on all new cars these days, are relentlessly annoying and if there was a way to turn them off, I couldn’t find them. The boot is very very small, and the back seats only really work if you don’t have legs.

The Volante is that most impressive of cars: one that has everyday driveability with the power to do exceptional things. It drives well and it looks even better. It makes you proud to be English. And, unlike so many convertibles of the past, you aren’t losing any of the performance of the hardtop version. Its place could be anywhere: parked out the front of a stately home, or snarling in a garage on the rough side of town. In a perfect world, it would be parked in front of my house right now, but sadly I had to give it back. 

Aston Martin DB12 Volante: On the road

Price: £200,000

Top speed: 202mph

Acceleration: 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds

Power: 671hp

James Fisher is the deputy digital editor of countrylife.co.uk. He lives in London.

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