|
By the
time that the Volante was available for sale in January 1992 at a not
insignificant price of £145,500, the 2 seater was
dropped in favour of a 2+2. Obviously, the Volante version of the Virage is easy to identify from
the coupe with the lack of solid roof. The finely fitted convertible roof
with a glass rear window was fully electrically operated, but was unable to fold
fully into the body. But there are also some detail
differences that must be pointed out - such as the chrome bright work along
the top of the front bumper, along the top edge of the doors and along the
boot edge. The Volante also featured chrome door handles and a chrome
grille.
Initially, the Virage Volante was fitted with the standard Virage V8
engine producing power of 330bhp and 350lb/ft of torque togethger with a 5
speed ZF manual gearbox (rare!) or 3 speed (later 4 speed + overdrive)
Torqueflite automatic. Production of the
Volante overlapped the introduction of the V8 coupe - so the last 11 examples
received the more powerful, 95 spec V8 coupe engine - with maximum power upto
349bhp @ 6000rpm
and torque of 369lb/ft @ 4300rpm.
Comparison of this later Volante dash shows many
detail differences from that of the coupe. The walnut veneer extends to the redesigned
centre console and the instrument surrounds. The computerised fault finder is
replaced by three conventional instrument dials. Apart from very early cars, the steering wheel now
houses an air bag; this was a standard feature on all US cars and eventually
became standard on all cars. The car also features cruise control. Initially, the Volante was fitted with the 16 inch wheels of
the coupe but these were soon replaced by a slimmer spoke 17 inch wheel. At
about the same time the stylish wing air vents, initially seen on the design
sketches of the Virage were seen on the cars. During 1992 and 1993, demand for
the Virage Coupe had dropped off considerably and the Vantage had not yet
entered production. Without the Virage Volante, the
Newport Pagnell factory would have been almost silent - during those
two years, 125
examples were produced
from a total production of 134 cars. Total production of the Virage
Volante ended in 1996 with just 235 examples completed and a mere 20
imported into the US.
As the time, the motoring press gave the Volante a bit of a pasting. It
was a very heavy car (1960kg), and even with in excess of 300bhp,
performance in the hands of the testers (148.5mph, 0-60mph in 7.6 seconds
- Fast Lane) seldom achieved the figures claimed by AML (155mph,
0-60mph in 6.5 seconds - but as little as 6.0 with the 349bhp engine and 5
speed manual gearbox). Testers sadly were not impressed with the ride
quality, handling or road holding. But like every Volante ever built, long
term ownership can be highly recommended as values have always be
much greater then the closed cars.
|
Virage Volante Prototype DP2054
