The Short Chassis Volante (also known as the Short Wheel Base (SWB) Volante) was the first Aston Martin to be called an Aston Martin Volante, 'Volante' meaning 'Flying' in Italian.

As it was the first Aston Martin to be called a 'Volante' any 'drop-head' version of the DB4 and DB5 series should therefore be called a 'Convertible' and not a 'Volante', The car is a cross between the DB5 (same chassis) and DB6 (bumpers, rear church/TR4 lights, oil cooler, leather stitching), but is closer to being a DB5.

Calling it a "Short Chassis" is a bit of a misnomer; it is a unique Aston model.

The "short" comes from comparing it to the subsequent DB6, which has a longer chassis.

This article about a classic post-war automobile produced between 1945 and 1975 is a stub.