ASTON Martin has developed a roadster version of its V12 Vantage which is being released in a limited run of only 249 models.

With a price believed to be in the region of £300,000, the Vantage Roadster is the first to use Aston Martin's 5.2-litre V12 twin turbo powertrain which develops 700ps and gives the car a 0 to 62 acceleration time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 200mph.

All examples have already been sold and Aston's chief technical officer Roberto Fedell said: "We have worked extremely hard to ensure the V12 Vantage Roadster possesses the same potency and dynamism that characterises the V12 Vantage, while surpassing it in terms of raw sensory excitement that you only achieve with roof down driving.

"With more power and torque than any Vantage Roadster before it, a wide-track chassis with precisely tuned suspension calibration, and up to ten times the downforce of the series production Vantage Roadster, this is a breathtaking machine created for our most enthusiastic customers."

With a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission and mechanical limited-slip differential mounted at the rear, Aston Martin says the car possesses the balance of a front-mid-engined rear-wheel drive layout.

An uprated braking system means that the roadster is wider than the V12 Vantage - of which 300 are due to be produced at a cost of £260,000 each.

As the flagship of the Vantage range, the V12 Roadster is fitted with Sports Plus seats trimmed in full semi-aniline leather and featuring ‘Wings' quilt and perforation pattern as standard.

A carbon fibre performance seat with exposed twill carbon fibre shell and manual six-way adjustment can be had as an option.

Production of the V12 Vantage Roadster is due to commence in the autumn with first deliveries scheduled to begin before the end of 2022.