Aston Martin Zagato thrives
The Aston Martin’s Vanquish Zagato family is set to grow by two models following the British marques announcement that both a Speedster and Shooting Brake derivative will enter production.
The two new models arrive in the wake of the Vanquish Zagato Coupe and Volante models released last year and further solidify the relationship between Aston Martin and the prestigious Zagato design house, based in one of the fashion capitals of the world- Milan, Italy.
It should come as little surprise then that the two new arrivals could be described as bold, striking and drop-dead gorgeous (Although perhaps the Shooting Brake lies more on the ‘bold’ and ‘striking’ side of drop-dead gorgeous. Just like the other members of the Vanquish Zagato family, the two new arrivals will be powered by Aston Martin’s naturally aspirated 6.0L V12. This is good. 442 kW of good. The kind of good that will get you to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds. Top speed figures haven’t been released but they’ll be in the region of 320km/h…
“Why create a family of Zagatos? Well, many of our customers want different things. Some prefer the purity of a coupe, but others love the idea of something more extreme, like the Speedster. And yes, some of them have ordered one example of each.’’ Said chief creative officer, Marek Reichman.
“There’s always an over-demand from our clients and patrons. We could easily fulfill demand for more cars than this, but we want Zagato to remain something very special. We’re creating collectibles, future concours cars,” said Reichman, referring to the extremely limited production run of just 28 Speedster units and 99 Shooting Brake units.
Both new models are based on the Vanquish S chassis (as are the previous two) and feature various Vanquish S underpinnings such as increased spring rates, retuned dampers, a thicker rear anti-roll bar and revised hydraulic steering. The Speedster, like all Zagato models, features carbon body panels, as well as ‘blade’ rear lights like those found on the Vulcan. The remanence of Zagato trademark ‘double bubble’ roof is arguably the most distinguishing feature of the speedster, while a few Zagato ‘Z’ badges adorn the bodywork in case, you know, someone doesn’t realize it’s something special.
