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Late last month, VIPs got a sneak peek, and today Aston Martin officially pulled the wraps off its new V8 Vantage Roadster for the rest of us to enjoy. The subject of innumerable spy photos and fanboy drooling, the beautiful baby Aston's looks are made even better when its triple-layer top is neatly stowed under its hard tonneau. Should the weather should become less than perfect, raising it back up is an 18-second operation that can be done on the fly as long as you don't exceed 30 mph.

And when the roof's closed, there's no need to worry about the car's looks. The AM designers and engineers have worked it so that the soft top's roofline apes that of the Vantage coupe. When it's dropped, a pair of leather "speed humps" that match the car's interior color add visual interest to the rear deck. The rest of what you see is pure V8 Vantage -- the muscular stance, the slick taillamps, the wheels -- they're all here, blessedly unchanged. Some things shouldn't be messed with, and the car's appearance didn't need to be doctored up to give the roadster some additional presence. The simple act of lowering the roof achieves that goal.

The convertible was developed at the same time as the coupe, and as such it shares the fixed-roof car's rigid structure. The 380-horsepower all-alloy V8 pulls the 3769 lb. roadster to 60mph in 4.9 seconds and tops out at 175. Buyers get to choose between a traditional 6-speed manual or Aston Martin's paddle-operated Sportshift transmission. Want one? You've got to wait until Q2 2007, and be prepared to pay a substantial premium over the coupe's $110,000 starting price.

Beauty, competent performance, and the cachet that comes with the Aston Martin name align once again in the form of the V8 Vantage Roadster, an object of desire that will quickly find its way into the sun-drenched fantasies of dreamers ... and the garages of the ones with the means to make them come true.

(Press release, technical specifications, photo gallery all after the jump)

[Source: Aston Martin]