The thing is that yes, you will get wet if you drive it in the rain. Yes, you will get buffeted by the wind, and scorched in the hot sun, and frozen in the bitter cold. We want you to experience those things, and you want it, too.
It’s important to note two things about the new Aston Martin V12 Speedster. The first is that while this is a new car, it’s not a new concept, particularly for Aston Martin. The first great Astons were almost exclusively open cars. By that I mean they were bathtubs with engines in them, raw and exposed. You barely got a windshield on models like the all-conquering Ulster because windshields were heavy and you weren’t going to whup ass at your local hillclimb with a heavy windshield keeping wind out of your hair. What was so special about your hair anyway?
The second is that yes, it is completely unnecessary. Are you actually racing in this car? Not really. Aston Martin made space for helmets glassed-in behind the seats in the fairings (Aston calls them humps), but that seems slightly pointless without a roll cage.
Do you need to leave the roof behind in an effort to save weight and increase performance? Why would you? An Aston Martin Vantage Roadster, complete with electric-folding fabric roof, would certainly be a fast enough, fun enough car that also would keep you from getting wet when it’s raining and freezing when it’s snowing. You’d be just fine.
. It is burdened with 21-inch wheels, but they’re center locks, which is neat.
Only 88 examples will be made, and Aston wants £765,000 (about $981,000 at the moment) for them. They’ll presumably bought by people who will be stoked in the case Aston makes a regular production V12 Vantage again. Importantly, the interior has no screens.