Volcano Red Eruption

Volcano Red, V12 and a Volante, have I tickled your interests yet? I have always had a soft spot for soft tops, ever since I bought the wife (myself) a Honda S2000 in 2007 as a going away present when I disappeared off on a military holiday.

I don’t think I have ever gotten over how quiet it all seems in a drop top car with the roof down. You still feel isolated from the world while all sounds from outside the car flood into the cabin. But once the speeds pick up and you start to drive the car more vigorously you feel so much more involved. You hear the engine, the brakes and you sense speed so much more than in the closed cockpit of fixed head cars. For me everything is better in a drop top. When the weather sets in you put the roof up and you feel like you are in a saloon car with these modern convertibles. It was not quite like that in the S2000 though.

Now I have always been an admirer of the Vantage. But when the V12 dropped into the scene I was truly smitten. I have always been a lover of Volcano red also. So to see this little beauty pop into the classifieds has really made my palms sweaty. I have even put an extra lottery ticket on. If the numbers come up Mr Mee will be getting a call this weekend.

So just why does this car tickle my fancy so much? Just look at it, not too big, not too small (don’t mention the boot) glorious colour. Carbon fibre in all the right places. Proper Michelin PS4 tyres and vehicle history as thick a cylinder head. And it is manual, with a gear stick that reminds me of Optimus Prime. I’ve always wondered what that thing feels like in your hands.

Now this is the older car with the first generation of the Gaydon dash, which is well known for the terrible Volvo sat nav. But Aston Installations can sort that for me. It is not an S so missies out on the three stage electronic dampers. But am I really going to drive it that hard that I will miss them?

Depreciation? I think it might have bottomed out already. Only 101 of these cars were made and possibly only 30 were sold into the UK. So it is a pretty rare car already. V12, convertible, manual and in a desirable colour with great a great specification it will always be more desirable than a Sportshift car, especially for me.

I just love the double bubble headrests that swoop into the rear. The perfectly specced carbon fibre and the wheels all go together so well. But is the car perfect for me? Well I’m a bit worried about all that black leather. Might be a bit toasty in there when touring the Corniche. Could I have a bit of oxblood thrown in to mix it up a bit? Or better still could we go to Ivory? That might work quite well.

Now I’m not particularly tall so I could see myself having some custom-made bags to hang behind the seats. At least then I could fit in two weeks’ worth of clothes for touring. I mean I have been known to camp at Le Mans Classic and then go touring to the south coast straight afterwards. I wonder if it could take the boot rack from the S2000 and a waterproof bag? Or would that be sacrilege?