Spotted in Mallorca, next year’s DB9 and DB9 Volante

Two silver Astons in a parking garage in Mallorca, one a coupe, one a Volante. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But look again. This is a pair of next year’s DB9 model!

We’re lucky that photographer Michael knew he was onto something special and made these pics. Because let’s be fair, not everyone would be able to spot the difference between this year’s and next year’s Astons, or even the difference between a DB9 and a Virage.

Speaking of which… if it weren’t for the DB9 badges on the rear, I would have personally guessed this was next year’s facelift of the Virage. Just look these cars:
They’ve got the Virage front spoiler and headlights, the sills of the Virage and the Virage diffuser on the rear end. In fact, if you compare these cars to the current Virage, the main difference I see is the more pronounced spoiler on the lid.

If this is the MY2013 DB9, what’s the point of the Virage?

My prediction:
Next year, the Virage model will disappear. This new model, basically a facelift of the Virage, will be introduced as the new DB9. All of which will bring a much needed simplification of the Aston Martin model range (but that’s a different discussion).

Personally, I would have done it the other way around. That is, ditch the DB9 name, keep the Virage. Wich would leave Aston with 3 base models: Vantage, Virage and Vanquish. Wouldn’t that sound nice? But probably, the DB9 brand is too well known to discard.

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