Imagine being a car designer at your desk in rainy England, having just been given the assignment of designing vehicle made for sunny California. No one could blame you for coming up with something fun, fast, and most importantly, topless. That leads to the Aston Martin DB AR1 (short for “American Roadster 1”).

The vehicle is based on the Aston Martin’s DB7 Vantage Volante, with styling provided by Italian coach builder Zagato. The roadster was produced with quite an optimistic design feature: The car has no roof. Nada. Not a convertible, not a Targa, not a T-top. Nothing between the driver and the sunny skies above.

The AR1’s angled stance creates a profile of a car that doesn’t plan on sticking around once the light turns green. And with the huge 5.9 litre V12, it doesn’t have to. Zero-to-60 in five seconds, flat, tells you everything you need to know about what’s under the hood. This car is much more than just good looks.

The interior of this Aston Martin is just as beautiful, with luxurious surfaces surrounding gauges and indicators. Interior controls are smartly consolidated into the center console, showcasing an elegant use of white space across the dash. Quilted cross-hatch stitching covers the ultra-supportive leather bucket seats.

In sticking with the California vibe of people wanting what they cannot have, only 99 of these cars were produced (plus one for Aston Martin’s own factory collection). Built-in rarity makes for an outstanding collector car – roof or no roof.