2021 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster arrives with the world's quickest folding roof

The Vantage Roadster's fabric roof can be lowered in 6.7 seconds (or raised in 6.8 seconds), making it the world's fastest folding roof (on an automatic convertible) in the market currently.

The much-revered Aston Martin Vantage, which made its debut in November 2017, has gained a new family member today in the form of the 2021 Vantage Roadster. The new convertible roadster adds touring capabilities and enhanced everyday usability to Aston's Vantage model line-up.

The basics, as expected, remain the same as they've been borrowed directly from the Coupé. The Vantage Roadster draws its power from the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that puts out 503bhp & 685Nm of torque (same as the Coupé). The power is sent to the rear wheels via the same 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox, giving the Vantage Roadster a 0-100km/h time of just 3.7 seconds (0.2 of a second slower than the automatic Coupé).

However, what makes the Vantage Roadster unique is the fact that it's lighter Z-fold roof mechanism gives the fabric soft-top an operating cycle of just 13.5 seconds (lowered in 6.7 seconds & raised in 6.8 seconds). Aston claims this is the quickest folding roof of any automatic convertible on sale today (that can be operated up to speeds of 50km/h). Also, thanks to clever weight-saving measures, the new Z-fold mechanism has only added 60kg to the convertible's overall weight (over the Coupé).

The electronic driver aids, like the Dynamic Stability Control, Dynamic Torque Vectoring, Adaptive Damping & three drive modes (Sport, Sport+ & Track), also remain shared with the Coupé, albeit with Roadster-specific tuning. The rear dampers also get a bespoke tune to manage the additional weight of the folding roof mechanism.

Alongside the Vantage Roadster, Aston Martin has announced a few updates for the entire Vantage range. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Vantage nameplate, the Vantage models (Coupé & Roadster) get the option of a new 'vane' grille and some additional alloy wheel designs & finishes. The Vantage Coupé, additionally, gets the option of a new Graziano-developed 7-speed manual gearbox (that made its debut on the Vantage AMR) as an alternative to the current ZF 8-speed auto unit. This addition, however, was announced at the time of the Vantage AMR's debut last year.

Order books for the 2021 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster are officially open, with deliveries set to begin in the second quarter of 2020.