This is the wrong way round, right? Seven months ago, Aston Martin showed us its V12 Speedster. An 88-off, £765,000 roofless special in all of its glory.

And here it is… as a lightly disguised prototype, testing on British roads. Huh?

To be fair, we’re not especially mad. Because shorn of show car chintz, it looks fantastic. Look at it, all matt black with blanked off badges. Subtle and eye-catching all at once, we’re kind of smitten.

The other point of note is that its driver is wearing a helmet. We suspect if you want to enjoy even a modicum of its 700hp, 3.5secs to 100km/h pace without a face dented by stones and dead flies, you will to.

So, now you’ve seen it finished and unfinished, which look do you prefer?

STORY Stephen Dobie