[DeTomaso] NPC: Dan Neil review of the Aston Martin DB11 Volante

[Charles Engles]

It is a quiet evening for those of us not in Vegas, so now for something
completely different, but it is about cars and he does write well..

 

                                                  NPC:   "Aston Martin DB11
Volante: A Beautiful Beast"  by Dan Neil

 

 
28 April Wall Street Journal excerpts:

 

"I too am deeply skeptical of the so-called luxury lifestyle but, like
Seneca, I do not consider it beneath me.  So I was pleased to be received at
Aston Martin's headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, and handed the key-fob
to a new DB11 Volante ($233,071, as tested), the drop-top version of the
company's grand touring scimitar.

 

Readers sometimes express common-sense exasperation at a six-figure price
tag.  "It's just a car!" goes this refrain, "It gets you from A to B."  I
agree, especially when it comes to exotic cars whose performance is utterly
inaccessible on the street.  In these cases dollars are inches in a sad game
of "mine's bigger."

 

But truly beautiful street-legal cars are rare.  As evidence I give you the
Aston's competitive set, including the Mercedes-AMG S63 Cabriolet, Ferrari
California T, Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and Bentley Continental GT Speed.
These are all highly accomplished, desirable automobiles, and I reckon each
would be a step quicker than the Aston as getaway car in any theoretical
heist of the Crown Jewels.  

But parked next to the Aston, they look like Soviet farm equipment.  You
want to impress friends and neighbors?  Beauty is performance you can use.

 

Not wanting to collect cycling pensioners in the car's catfish grille, I
drove pretty responsibly withal.  The Volante's driving character is much
the same as the coupe:  big and broad-as in broadsword-authoritative,
effortless, unstressed, even a bit lazy at low speed, like Achilles in his
tent.  Around town the exhaust note is a thick drumming like an old boat.
But the sound hardens and sharpens with rpm to a bright, full-throated wail.

 

The DB11 is a stunner, a slayer, an aluminized drop of British masculinity.
Making it into a convertible didn't hurt the looks one little bit.  But
driving the Volante in the open air is not for the shy, because rest
assured, everybody is looking."

 

 

                               Warmest regards, Chuck Engles

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
   It is a quiet evening for those of us not in Vegas, so now for
   something completely different, but it is about cars and he does write
   well....


                                                     NPC:   "Aston Martin
   DB11 Volante: A Beautiful Beast"  by Dan Neil



       28 April Wall Street Journal excerpts:


   "I too am deeply skeptical of the so-called luxury lifestyle but, like
   Seneca, I do not consider it beneath me.  So I was pleased to be
   received at Aston Martin's headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, and
   handed the key-fob to a new DB11 Volante ($233,071, as tested), the
   drop-top version of the company's grand touring scimitar.


   Readers sometimes express common-sense exasperation at a six-figure
   price tag.  "It's just a car!" goes this refrain, "It gets you from A
   to B."  I agree, especially when it comes to exotic cars whose
   performance is utterly inaccessible on the street.  In these cases
   dollars are inches in a sad game of "mine's bigger."


   But truly beautiful street-legal cars are rare.  As evidence I give you
   the Aston's competitive set, including the Mercedes-AMG S63 Cabriolet,
   Ferrari California T, Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and Bentley
   Continental GT Speed.  These are all highly accomplished, desirable
   automobiles, and I reckon each would be a step quicker than the Aston
   as getaway car in any theoretical heist of the Crown Jewels.

   But parked next to the Aston, they look like Soviet farm equipment.
   You want to impress friends and neighbors?  Beauty is performance you
   can use.


   Not wanting to collect cycling pensioners in the car's catfish grille,
   I drove pretty responsibly withal.  The Volante's driving character is
   much the same as the coupe:  big and broad--as in
   broadsword--authoritative, effortless, unstressed, even a bit lazy at
   low speed, like Achilles in his tent.  Around town the exhaust note is
   a thick drumming like an old boat.  But the sound hardens and sharpens
   with rpm to a bright, full-throated wail.


   The DB11 is a stunner, a slayer, an aluminized drop of British
   masculinity.  Making it into a convertible didn't hurt the looks one
   little bit.  But driving the Volante in the open air is not for the
   shy, because rest assured, everybody is looking."



                                  Warmest regards, Chuck Engles